Rosebery Avenue Community Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children happily leave their parents at the door and enter the playgroup. They are warmly greeted by nurturing and kind staff, which helps children to feel valued and secure. Children instantly interact with the staff and engage with the resources on offer. They make friends and enjoy their play with each other. Children are interested and motivated learners, who enjoy the activities that are linked to their interests and next steps in learning. Particularly popular is the role-play hairdresser and nail studio. Staff and visitors are treated to a new hairdo and children pretend to paint their nails. Children show excellent imaginative skills as they re-enact what they have learned from outside of the playgroup.

Children thoroughly delight in listening to and singing songs. They smile, clap and sing with great enthusiasm to the familiar rhythms and rhymes. They join in with repeated words, which help to develop their early vocabulary. Children demonstrate strong self-care skills as they cover their mouths when they cough and fetch tissues to blow their noses. Staff gently remind children to wash their hands after wiping their noses and sneezing. Staff have high expectations of what children can do for themselves. When children spontaneously say please and thank you. Staff thank them for their good manners. This helps to raise children's self-esteem.

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

• The manager leads the playgroup staff well. The staff team is well established, they comment the team is like a family. A recent addition to the playgroup is the sensory mood room. This is a calm and safe haven, where children can take themselves away from the main room during times of upset or when they want to take some time away. This shows sensitivity and contributes well to children's well-being.
• Staff plan their curriculum around children's interests and what they need to learn next. Overall, staff plan activities well. For example, they introduce children to new experiences, such as the opportunity to use their fine muscle skills to explore ice with brushes and paint. However, occasionally, although children enjoy the staff's interactions, they do not consistently challenge children's learning to build on what they know and can already do.
• Staff have a strong ethos regarding encouraging a healthy lifestyle. During snack time, staff talk to children about healthy and unhealthy food. Furthermore, children proudly explain that they brush their teeth at home and understand this is a healthy thing to do.
• Staff provide good opportunities for children to develop physical skills and take appropriate risks as they play and explore. Outdoors, children eagerly climb steps and go down slides. Indoors, they explore with confidence the soft-play equipment.
• The manager uses additional funding well to enhance individual children's development. For example, every week the children meet new adults, who provide singing sessions and sports coaching. This promotes their self-confidence with new people and contributes to children being ready to move on to school.
• Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and attitudes. There are playgroup rules in place, and children learn to use 'looking eyes' and 'listening ears'. This helps to focus children at certain times, such as when children sit in a group. Children respond quickly to cues, such as they know to stand still and listen when they hear the bell for a five-minute warning before tidy-up time.
• There is a high number of children who speak English as an additional language (EAL) in the playgroup. Overall, staff are keen to support these children to gain good communication skills. For example, staff use gestures alongside words to help children to understand what is expected of them or what is going to happen next. However, staff have not yet considered a range of strategies to help children who speak EAL to extend their understanding of English.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Staff work hard to develop valuable relationships with all families. Parents express their thoughts and comment extremely positively on the playgroup. They highlight the kind and caring manager and staff. Staff provide popular books to help parents extend their children's interest in listening to stories at home. This helps to promote a united approach to their care and learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue to support staff to challenge and extend children's learning, to help them to achieve as much as they can
• strengthen strategies to extend children's communication and language, particularly for children who speak English as an additional language.