Poppies Maidenhead

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are highly motivated, engaged and demonstrate superb levels of concentration. They take turns and share resources within their activities exceptionally well, for example when they learn to combine ingredients to make the correct consistency of dough. Children use excellent manners, confidently asking staff 'Can I have some more please?' Children benefit from swift and highly effective support from staff when they encounter difficulties. This helps them to regulate their emotions superbly.

Children are happy learners. They are eager to demonstrate their achievements in the well-planned range of activities on offer. Older children show visitors the badges they have made using scissors, paint and glue. They introduce themselves and talk about how they use tools, such as knives to chop fruit safely for snack. Young children show a keen interest in visitors. They hand them toys, such as a rain maker and a sparkly disk. They happily involve them in their play.

Children develop good levels of language in relation to their age. Young babies benefit from eye contact with staff. They look and listen intently as staff identify items in books, such as an aeroplane or flowers. Children babble and imitate word patterns excitedly. Toddlers enjoy singing familiar songs and rhymes. This helps them to develop their range of vocabulary.

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

• The management team is highly ambitious. Since the last inspection, managers have worked together effectively to raise the quality of education to a consistently good level. This is demonstrated by the manager's development of an achievable action plan, which she has empowered her wider team to implement with her step by step.
• Staff share a secure understanding of what they want children to learn. They focus on the aims they have created together for the curriculum. However, on occasion, staff do not fully capture opportunities to teach children the knowledge and skills they need to take their learning to the next level.
• Staff have reviewed daily routines. This has had an excellent impact on the flow of children's play and their attitudes to learning. Staff now ensure suitable resources are available to avoid bringing play to an abrupt end. This means that children can continue to follow their lines of play, for example when they are outdoors in inclement weather.
• Staff support children's behaviour exceptionally well. They create and use resources superbly to help children learn to manage their feelings and emotions. For example, staff and children use a lending library with books about feelings, worries, kindness, boundaries and sadness. Parents have the option to take these books home. This enables children to talk about their feelings and their impact on others, which in turn is helping them to recognise and regulate their emotions.
• Staff consistently provide plenty of positive praise and encouragement to children. They explain what children are doing well and why. This helps children to secure an excellent understanding of right and wrong, which they reflect in their play with their peers.
• Staff support diversity and difference effectively. For example, children make books about their family members. Staff celebrate different family make-ups and share their own family make-up to help children feel valued and included. Children in the baby room enjoy looking at family books and naming their family members.
• Managers ensure that staff's well-being is well promoted. For example, staff have access to a designated room for their break times. The provider also has a mental health and well-being representative available for staff to speak to when needed for support and advice. Staff report that they are very well supported in their roles.
• Staff are enthusiastic about the professional development that they complete. For example, the deputy manager is currently sharing training with the team relating to identifying and making the most of their strengths. This is helping staff to recognise what they are doing well and helping them to share their good practice with each other. This in turn is having a positive impact on children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen curriculum implementation by helping staff to capture every opportunity to give children the experiences they need to develop their skills and knowledge to the highest level.