Rainbow Hub NW Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The passionate manager has created a warm and welcoming environment for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children access a creative curriculum that focuses on personal development and communication. They benefit from the support of multi-agency practitioners to meet their diverse needs. Staff utilise their interactions with children well. This helps children to become engaged in their learning for longer periods of time. For example, children concentrate as they follow instructions when independently mixing ingredients to make play dough. This helps all children to achieve to the best of their abilities.

The dedicated staff provide care and education that meet all children's individual needs. Staff support children to remain focused in small-group activities. They take the session at the child's pace to ensure that children remain calm and comfortable. Staff sing to children to distract them when exploring sensory textures such as foam. These strategies help children to feel safe and secure.

Staff demonstrate high expectations for children's behaviour. Their interactions with children are calm and responsive. Children who experience sensory overload can access the soft-play area. The well-equipped sensory room has soothing lights and sensory resources. These quiet areas help children to reset their emotions and engage with routines.

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

• The manager and staff work well together to provide a well-organised curriculum that focuses on children's prime areas of development. They have the same ambitions for all children. For children with particular needs, such as those with high levels of SEND, their curriculum remains ambitious and meets all children's needs.
• Key persons know their children well. They plan next steps that consider children's interests and support individual needs. For example, staff build children's confidence as they explore the rebound trampoline. Staff hold children's hands and slowly encourage them to move independently. Children make good progress as they build confidence in their abilities.
• Partnership with parents is a real strength at this setting. Parents value and praise the positive support they receive from the hardworking staff. Staff share children's achievements and learning through detailed handovers and the online journal the setting uses. This helps to develop strong partnerships with parents.
• Children benefit from effective multi-agency working. Staff work closely with a range of involved professionals, such as speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and specialist teachers. This collaborative approach to children's care and learning helps to ensure that staff meet their diverse needs and that children make good progress.
• Staff skilfully adapt the way they communicate with children to meet their individual needs. They respond to children's non-verbal communication, such as gestures and body language, and use visual aid supports, such as pictures and Makaton. These tools support children to understand what is being asked of them. However, occasionally, when staff ask questions, they move on too quickly, asking further questions before children have responded. As a result, children do not always have time to process and share their understanding.
• The manager is an experienced and motivated leader. Supervision for staff is supportive. The manager continually reflects and monitors practice, identifying plans for improvements. This ensures that children are receiving the best care.
• Staff receive targeted training that impacts on the quality of care and learning provided for children. They speak with enthusiasm about their training and describe how they implement what they have learned. For instance, staff have attended technical training about eye gaze skills. This recent training has helped to raise staff's confidence, knowledge and skills when supporting children.
• The manager organises many trips for the children. They enjoy daily walks in the community, weekly swimming opportunities and regular trips to the local farm. This helps children to gain an understanding of the world and develop their confidence in new environments.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to enhance the quality of their interactions with children so that they consistently promote children's communication and language skills more effectively.