Pre-School Learning Alliance Bulwell Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children independently leave their parents and develop warm, trusting relationships with staff, who are kind and caring. They enthusiastically walk into the setting, happy and ready to learn. Staff greet them at the door and support them to quickly engage in play activities. Babies confidently communicate their needs at mealtimes, for example, by using simple signs to show whether they want more or have finished. Older children enjoy playing alongside staff and turn to them if they need help.

Children's behaviour is consistently good. They are friendly and sociable towards others and enjoy being independent and helpful. Staff gently support toddlers to share play dough and take turns using cutters. Older children take pride in having responsibilities, such as putting their plates in piles ready for washing when they have finished their snack.

Children demonstrate a positive attitude to learning and enjoy exciting activities that staff have planned for them. They can freely choose what activity they want to take part in and they happily engage in a variety of experiences. For example, toddlers plant flowers in plant pots as they learn about nature. Older children enjoy sharing stories and develop a love of literature.

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

• The dedicated staff team have a clear curriculum to support children's learning. They know what they want children to achieve and aim for all children to develop a love of learning. Children benefit from a broad and well-planned curriculum, which encompasses all areas of their development. They demonstrate enthusiasm for learning and concentrate well on the activities that they have chosen. For example, children are highly focused and excited as they mix paint and change colour. They paint their hands with different coloured paint and rub their hands together to mix the paints.
• Staff, generally, implement the curriculum well. They introduce new ideas, model skills to children and encourage them to join in and try things out. However, occasionally, the delivery of activities for older children does not challenge their learning. At times, staff do not focus on the intent of planned activities, consequently, children do not gain all that they could from these experiences.
• Staff model language for children to hear. For example, staff sing rhymes with babies and use actions to help them understand what words mean. Staff encourage older children to explain their thinking as they explore a sensory tent. They provide a running commentary as they play alongside children and model positional language as they describe how children have stacked coloured hoops. However, staff working with younger children do not consistently challenge toddlers to use two or more words together.
• Staff encourage babies to develop their balance to support their mobility. They gently hold hands with babies to provide support as they learn to stand and take their first steps. Older children and toddlers enjoy healthy snacks, which they select independently. Older children use tweezers to pick pieces of banana and pear onto their plates, which they carry to the table to eat with their friends.
• Children play cooperatively with their friends while at nursery and learn to share resources. They take turns to spoon sprinkles onto the ice creams they have made in the role-play area. Staff support children to share their ideas with their friends and talk to each other about the flavours of ice cream they have chosen.
• Parents praise the friendly staff and value the support they receive from the nursery. They comment that their children are eager to tell them about what they have enjoyed doing while at nursery. However, they do not effectively provide parents with information about what their child is learning and how they can support this learning at home.
• Leaders demonstrate passion and pride in the nursery and support staff with regular supervision meetings to check their well-being and set targets to enhance their skills. The team complete training together to improve their teaching. They reflect on any incidents and make adjustments to the environment to ensure the premises are secure and the setting is a safe place for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to implement activities for older children, so that their teaching is consistently focused on what they want children to learn
• help staff implement the curriculum for communication and language for younger children more precisely
• explore further ways to enable parents to gain information about what their children need to learn next and how they can support this at home.