Rossington Early Learners LTD (Holmescarr)

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive in the care of the dedicated staff team. They are settled and extremely confident. Staff have high expectations for all children's behaviour. They teach children to show kindness and are excellent role models. Staff encourage children to share their toys and carefully intervene when some children struggle with this. Staff form positive relationships with children and their families. This helps children to feel safe and secure.

Staff place a focus on supporting children's communication and language in the setting's curriculum and ethos. Children enthusiastically join in with the story of 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' outside. Staff encourage children to use their imaginations as they navigate obstacles to reach the bear. Children laugh and have great fun as they continue recalling and acting out the story, building on their language and vocabulary. Children cuddle up with staff to read their favourite book. They join in eagerly when they sing action rhymes. Staff display photos of themselves and children's families. They encourage children to talk about themselves and each other. This helps to promote children's sense of belonging and self-esteem.

Staff support children's physical development very well. They provide a wealth of opportunities for children to be physically active in the large outdoor area. Children take and manage risks as they move wooden logs or use tools in the allotment. They make wonderful progress with their physical skills.

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

• Leaders implement a curriculum that teaches children the skills and knowledge for their next stage in education. They follow children's interests during activities. However, leaders have not consistently considered how staff can broaden children's view of the world and provide new learning opportunities that will spark children's curiosity and promote new learning interests.
• Children help themselves to quality resources from accessible units. They confidently initiate their own play and are constantly busy, showing an enthusiasm to learn. For example, children bath and dry dolls, demonstrating tenderness. They develop their fine motor skills as they carefully dress the dolls. Children make good progress in their learning and development.
• Staff are skilful in their interactions and engage children in meaningful conversations. They have a clear understanding about how children develop their conversational skills and introduce some new words to increase their vocabulary. For example, when supporting children's creative development, staff talk about the different textures, such as 'spiky', 'smooth' and 'rough'. Children confidently describe their Christmas decorations at home using words such as
• 'baubles' and 'tinsel'. Children develop good speech and language skills.
• The support for children with a special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is exceptional. This is due to the outstanding work of the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) and the staff team. The SENCo works tirelessly to ensure that children's needs are met immediately. She supports parents in any way she can. The SENCo ensures that children's targets are in place. She celebrates and encourages any achievements that children make.
• Leaders make sure that any additional funding is used to enhance children's learning experiences. This enables staff to spend effective time with children to build on what they already know to enhance and deepen their learning. Staff use regular assessments of children's learning to identify that all children, including children with SEND, make wonderful progress in their learning and development.
• Staff promote children's good health well. They provide healthy meals and snacks, and children learn about different fruits and vegetables. Children learn about what is healthy to eat and how to care for themselves. For example, they learn good hygiene routines, such as washing their hands before meals.
• Leaders understand staff's work demands and are supportive of their well-being. They have regular meetings to ensure that concerns are shared quickly. Leaders identify staff's training needs and put their requests for training in place swiftly. This builds on staffs skills and knowledge.
• Parents praise the staff team and express how happy their children are to attend the nursery. Staff regularly share information regarding children's progress and ideas for home learning. Parents comment that staff are very approachable, friendly and have a positive relationship with their children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend children's learning opportunities to spark their interests in new learning experiences to further develop their skills and knowledge.