Sammy Snail Day Care

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children feel safe and secure to introduce themselves to the inspector and engage them in their imaginative play. They thrive in social situations. For instance, children enthusiastically search for 'bad guys' as they travel across the garden in a ride-along car. They share their location using an invisible two-way radio that they pretend to talk through.

Children's interests and views positively contribute to how the setting is organised. Consequently, children behave well. For instance, they politely request the den to be put up outdoors, and they use the space to enjoy a story. Staff have high expectations for children's communication and language development. As a result, they promote a language-rich environment, such as photos displayed around the room and in books to promote children's conversations.

Children's mealtimes are a recipe for happiness as children of all ages come together to build positive relationships. For instance, conversations with staff encourage children to try new healthy foods, such as lettuce. Children demonstrate high levels of capability in their self-help skills. They confidently collect their own cutlery and plates and use tongs to serve the salad. This independence and staff's support contribute to children's positive relationships with food.

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

• Staff benefit from various opportunities to train. Their skills are utilised effectively to strengthen the curriculum intent. For example, when staff demonstrate a passion for yoga and fitness, the manager appoints them as the designated person to promote children's good health and well-being. However, there is scope to improve staff deployment, particularly when children free flow between the indoor and outdoor environments. Consequently, children do not always receive consistently high-quality interactions from staff.
• Since the last inspection, the manager has put some strategies in place to promote children's focus and engagement, such as 'Lola the leopard' who helps children to listen. However, on some occasions, staff do not fully extend children's learning to help them to maintain their engagement for longer. This does not help children to achieve their highest potential.
• The curriculum is designed to complement what children already know or have experienced. For instance, staff invite visitors into the setting, such as a police officer to provide children with a positive experience of policing. Staff identify that children who live in flats may not have access to the outdoors, therefore they plan for daily experiences in the garden and the wider community. This supports children to become well-rounded individuals.
• Staff have embarked on an ambitious programme to improve children's health and physical development. For example, they send activities home to encourage children to be active during the holidays. Parents comment positively on the impact the programme has had on their family. They explain how their children understand more about portion sizes and how yoga techniques have helped to regulate children's behaviour at home. This helps to build the foundations for a healthy future.
• Parents and carers recognise that parent partnership is of high priority to staff. They describe the setting as 'family orientated'. Parents comment on the excellent communication, which has highly supported those children who have been faced with significant changes in their life.
• Staff have high expectations for all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They plan interventions, such as regular meetings with parents to encourage a joint approach towards children's learning. The parents of children who speak English as an additional language support staff to use 'speech and language screening tools'. This helps staff to plan effective next steps for children's language progression.
• Staff encourage children's school readiness by instilling confidence. For example, they encourage children to talk about their recent visits to school. Children practise their 'good sitting' as staff call out their names to register their attendance. This prepares children for life in school.
• Children develop a secure understanding of mathematical concepts through play. For example, children show curiosity as they 'pop' the peas from pea pods and they quickly count the number of peas inside. Staff promote children's mathematical language. They introduce words such as 'heavy' and 'light' as children add rice to a set of weighing scales.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• revise the deployment of staff to provide all children with consistently high-quality interactions during opportunities to free flow between the indoor and outdoor environments
• support staff to evaluate children's learning experiences to help children to maintain their engagement for longer.