RAFA Kidz High Wycombe

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children's happiness, wellbeing and sense of identity are at the heart of this welcoming and nurturing nursery. Kind and attentive staff are highly responsive to children's individual care needs. They affectionately offer comforting cuddles and engaging smiles. From the outset, staff gather detailed information from parents to create an environment that complements home routines and helps children settle in smoothly. Each child's family album is shared within the group to promote a sense of belonging and security. This approach encourages children to explore similarities and differences among themselves and their peers and fosters their understanding of the diverse world we live in.

Leaders have developed a broad and varied curriculum for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and those who speak English as an additional language. Staff use topics and children's interests to provide fun, engaging and purposeful learning experiences. On the whole, their interactions are suitably tailored to meet children's individual abilities. For instance, in the home corner, older children are encouraged to distinguish between squares and rectangles, while younger children learn about concepts, such as 'hot' and 'cold' foods in the kitchen role-play area.

The setting has high expectations for children's behaviour. Staff regularly remind children to share, take turns and consider others' feelings. This results in consistently positive behaviour. Visual routines support children who benefit from additional structure. This contributes to a calm and respectful environment.

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

• The newly established management team places a strong emphasis on fostering children's key life skills, such as independence, confidence and resilience. Activities are thoughtfully planned and help to support children's readiness for school. Staff know children well and regularly assess their progress to set next steps that support their ongoing development. All children make good progress.
• Children delight in exploring the outdoor environment and actively engage in a variety of experiences. Staff effectively support their gross and fine motor skills. For example, children construct their own obstacle courses, where they climb and balance. Toddlers strengthen the small muscles in their hands in preparation for later writing, such as when manipulating play dough or use tweezers to pick-up small items.
• The curriculum for communication and language is generally well implemented. Babies are introduced to new vocabulary through playful activities, such as clapping games. Toddlers follow simple instructions, while pre-school children engage in discussions, such as exploring the life cycle of a butterfly. However, some staff interactions do not allow children enough time to process and respond to questions. This limits opportunities to develop back-and-forth communication, a critical skill for building strong language foundations.
• Children's awareness of the wider world is enhanced through rich experiences. For example, they observe the caterpillars transforming into butterflies and watch with wonder through binoculars when they are released into the garden. Such experiences foster curiosity and a deeper understanding of nature.
• Self-care and independence are promoted effectively, from an early age. Babies practise removing their shoes, toddlers learn to wash their hands before meals and pre-school children self-serve lunch and develop their competency when using knives and forks to feed themselves. These opportunities help build a sense of independence and responsibility.
• Overall, staff are well supported in their professional development. The provider is responsive to training needs and offers targeted opportunities, such as outdoor play training to enhance this provision further. While the leaders observations and feedback to staff about their practice is generally accurate, further refinement to ensure more personalised support and coaching is not yet consistently in place. As a result, some inconsistencies remain in the quality of teaching and its impact on children's learning across the provision.
• Support for children given additional funding, as well as those with SEND is robust and personalised. This is used effectively to ensure access to a full range of learning experiences that children may not have experienced before. Leaders maintain strong partnerships with parents and external professionals. They work tirelessly to secure any services to help children reach their full potential.
• Building respectful and trusting relationships with parents is a priority. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the care and learning experiences their children receive. They often replicate activities that are shared with them on the online application, which supports children's continuity in development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• refine curriculum planning and delivery to ensure all staff interactions consistently strengthen children's communication skills, and allow enough time for more thoughtful and accurate responses
• enhance staff development systems by offering more personalised coaching and training to ensure consistently high quality teaching across the setting.