Playtots @ Princess drive

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children at this setting benefit from good care and education. Leaders and managers are passionate about giving all children the best possible outcomes. Leaders have built a curriculum that is ambitious for all children. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit from a curriculum built around their needs. Staff are positive role models for children. They speak to children with a calm tone while maintaining eye contact. This helps children to feel secure and valued. Children and staff have developed strong bonds, including young babies who have only been at the setting for a very short amount of time. Staff work carefully with parents during the settling-in period. They spend unlimited time getting to know the children and their families. Transitions are effective.

The setting's routines and behavioural expectations are understood by the children. Children are polite and kind to their peers and the staff. They show enjoyment as they play in the home corner making pizza with staff and discussing their pizza toppings of choice. Staff have developed a pretend ice-cream shop where children take turns to choose and buy ice cream. Staff provide role play equipment, such as a cash register, which helps to develop children's imagination skills.

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

• Staff create meaningful learning experiences for children. They carefully consider the children's next steps along with the curriculum goals for the children. For example, staff are supporting children in the baby room to develop their physical skills. They encourage younger babies to pull to standing on furniture and provide sensory experiences to support fine motor skills. However, staff do not provide as many purposeful activities for older babies. This means that these children become bored and are not as engaged in their learning as they could be.
• Staff support children to learn to manage their personal care needs. Children are supported to wash and dry their hands before their snack and when they have played in the garden. Staff promote the use of cutlery for children to feed themselves during mealtimes. Furthermore, staff work with parents to help register them at local dentists and talk to children about the importance of good oral hygiene. Children are learning essential knowledge to help them lead healthy lifestyles.
• Overall, children's communication and language skills are supported well. Staff sing the song of the week and read the story of the week regularly to the children. They rotate the songs and stories, so children revisit them and become familiar with them. Staff in the toddler and pre-school room consistently model correct language and engage in discussion with the children. They communicate with children what is going to be happening next. However, interactions in the baby room are not as consistent, as staff do not always share and model language as much. This means that some children are not consistently getting the language-rich experiences they should be.
• Leaders and staff work well to support all children and enhance their well-being. Children who are transitioning to school have the opportunity to meet their new teacher. Staff also visit schools with some children. Leaders and staff assess children's development, and where there may be a concern, interventions or referrals to the appropriate agency are put in place. This supports staff and parents to help close any potential gaps in children's development swiftly.
• The provision for children with SEND is of high quality. Staff identify children's emerging needs quickly. They work closely with other agencies to provide the support needed. Children with SEND have daily access to the setting's nurture room, which is equipped with resources to support their development. Staff who work in the nurture room have received training to support these children. Children with SEND make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff have ongoing supervision from leaders and managers. Supervision sessions provide staff with opportunities to identify any areas for development they may want to work on and discuss their well-being. Staff praise the manager's attitude to supporting their well-being and workload. The manager acts swiftly on any identified training needs. This helps staff to feel valued and confident.
• Leaders and staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. Staff teach children to manage their feelings through discussion. Pre-school children talk daily about how they are feeling during their self-registration session. Children in the toddler room respond well when they are reminded about the nursery rules, such as 'no running indoors'. All children behave well.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to provide purposeful age-appropriate learning opportunities for all children to help them develop a positive attitude to learning
• strengthen staff interactions with babies to further support their language development.