Queensway Children's Centre Daycare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are exposed to a wide range of experiences and activities. They learn about the environment and growing, as they produce their own fruit and vegetables. They learn about how the produce can be used in their own food. Children develop an understanding of life cycles as they watch tadpoles and cocoons developing. Staff extend children's learning as they refer to books to check the next stage in the life cycle.

Children form close bonds with their caregivers. Staff are extremely nurturing and caring in their interactions. They cuddle younger children close who have just woken from sleep and gently re-engage them into play. They ensure children's individual needs are met, recognising when they need additional reassurance and comfort. Consequently, children feel safe and secure.

Children's learning is tailored to their individual needs. Staff know the children well and what interests and fascinates them. A supportive key-worker system ensures all children are supported to reach their potential. Staff are aware of children's starting points and can focus their learning to enable them to progress.

Children display good behaviour. They use good manners, mirroring the positive interactions demonstrated by staff. They patiently wait their turn to go on the slide and show empathy towards their friends.

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

• Staff demonstrate a clear intention about children's learning. They identify the skills they would like children to acquire before they move on to the next stage in their learning. For example, children in the baby room are supported to move around the outdoor area, developing their crawling skills, practising balancing before they progress to walking. They use soft-play resources and outdoor equipment to promote physical development and their climbing skills.
• Staff are very skilful at extending children's vocabulary and developing their communication skills. Staff use Makaton to ensure all children can express their needs. This benefits those children who may have speech difficulties and those who speak English as an additional language. Staff are adept at encouraging dialogue through effective questioning and recapping on previous events. Children talk about their home lives with staff and invite staff into their discussions.
• Staff enable children to respond to others appropriately. Children are able to express their emotions. They are encouraged to talk about their feelings and use mirrors to look at their reflections. They are reminded about being kind to friends and praised for sharing. Children behave well, however, at times staff do not explain why some actions are unwanted to keep children safe. For example, if children are climbing or not sitting on chairs correctly.
• Staff are knowledgeable about how they want to teach children about good hygiene practices and self-care. They assist children in teeth brushing and talk about germs. However, staff do not always respond quickly to dirty noses or remind children about handwashing afterwards.
• Staff encourage children to demonstrate their independence from an early age. They self-serve their snack and lunch. They help to tidy away in preparation for lunch and wash their hands. Children practise putting on their own shoes, in addition to other skills needed for transitioning to school.
• Regular assessments enable staff to monitor children's progress and respond quickly to any emerging additional needs. Staff work with children extremely well, ensuring routines and activities are adapted to support inclusion. Staff work with parents and other professionals to ensure children have the appropriate support to enable them to progress.
• Parents speak positively about the care and education provided for their children. They feel their children's individual needs are met and any additional support is readily given. Parents feel the children's development is communicated well to them and they are aware of the areas of learning staff are focusing on. They value the bonds key persons build with their children.
• Staff feel fully supported by leaders and managers. They benefit from regular supervision, which enables them to reflect on their practice and identify strengths and weaknesses in their practice. Staff feel managers are approachable and mindful of their physical and emotional well-being.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consistently follow and teach robust hygiene practices at all times, to promote children's good health and their understanding of how to keep healthy
• develop children's understanding of safe practices by helping children to be aware of why we do things and giving explanations to help them make sense of our actions.