Piglets Day Care

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and excited to begin their day. They separate from their parents and carers with ease as friendly staff welcome them inside. Children feel safe and secure. They build sensitive relationships with staff, who know them well. Children have access to a variety of toys, resources and well-planned activities. For example, toddlers explore sand and soil, and use different tools to scoop and pour. Older children learn to sound out words and learn to recognise different shapes and colours. Staff engage with children as they practise their mark-making skills. Children make marks that have a meaning to them and proudly show their creations to their key person. Staff encourage younger children to take their first steps and congratulate them enthusiastically as they achieve their goal.

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and encourage them to be kind and respectful to each other. Children listen attentively to staff and their behaviour is very good. The close partnerships established with parents, as well as the effective key-person system, mean that children's needs are well known and understood. This, in turn, creates trusting relationships between children and staff that help children to feel safe and secure. When upset or unsure, children seek comfort from staff, who readily provide it. When children achieve something, they share this proudly with staff.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• Staff use a variety of strategies to monitor children's learning and development, including observing children's play and gathering feedback from parents. The manager consistently monitors the development of all children to ensure that any learning gaps are being addressed promptly. All children make good progress, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• Staff support children to develop strong physical skills. They arrange climbing equipment and balancing beams to challenge children's abilities. Children build their confidence as they climb, jump and balance. Staff adapt their support, depending on children's level of ability. Children develop good decision-making skills, such as when they learn to manage risks for themselves.
• The manager and staff establish positive partnerships with parents, who speak fondly of them. Staff involve parents well and keep them informed about their children's development and what they have been doing, including their next steps in their learning. They share helpful advice with parents, such as toileting tips. Parents state that their children 'thrive and flourish'.
• Staff take part in a variety of training to support their development. However, the supervision of staff is not yet highly effective at ensuring their practice is monitored and continually enhanced. Managers do not fully evaluate staff's practice to help to ensure it is of the highest standard.
• The manager and staff plan a broad and interesting curriculum that inspires and motivates children. Staff know children well and plan for the next steps in their learning. Occasionally, during activities, staff do not recognise when to use incisive questioning techniques to help extend children's learning even further.
• Children communicate their needs well. Older children confidently vocalise their thoughts and needs to staff. Staff are responsive to this and provide activities that encourage children's communication and language development, such as sharing familiar songs. Children confidently join in with singing and using the actions, such as for 'The Wheels on the Bus' song, and excitedly create their own pretend bus outside.
• Staff provide opportunities for children to use their senses. Children explore play dough and smell lavender and mint. Staff talk to children about the different textures and smells. They model how to use the rolling action with play dough and encourage children to move forwards and backwards with rolling pins. This help children to develop their fine motor skills.
• Staff promote children's independence skills to support their transition to school. Children carry out hygiene routines themselves, such as washing their hands and toileting. Staff perform care routines sensitively. They promote positive conversations during nappy changing and explain each step to children. This helps to increase children's knowledge of positive personal care routines.
• Children enjoy healthy and home-cooked food and snacks each day. Staff support children to grow their own vegetables in the nursery garden and help to cultivate their crops. Children excitedly tell visitors about the pumpkins and beans they are growing.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance the supervision of staff so that it is highly focused on helping staff to continually enhance their practice
• develop staff's questioning techniques to provide greater challenge to children and extend their learning further.