Sheffield Woodland Kindergarten ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and babies are warmly welcomed by a friendly and nurturing staff team. They develop trusting relationships with the staff who care for them. Staff support children to understand their emotions exceptionally well. They teach children to consider the feelings of their friends and find respectful solutions. This helps children to feel safe and secure.

Children benefit from a much-improved curriculum that gives children the skills and knowledge for their future learning. Staff provide stimulating activities and experiences in the outdoor environment. This helps to provide children with an understanding and value of nature. For example, children wiggle their fingers as they talk about the birds and squirrels that live in the trees and the worms and insects that live in the earth. Children learn to take care of the planet by recycling and using natural products. Children make good progress in their learning, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Children freely explore their natural environment, gaining confidence as they climb trees and transport logs and branches. They use planks of wood and pallets to create bridges that they later use in their storytelling. Children work together to make dens. This helps children to develop good physical skills and demonstrate a strong belief in their abilities.

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

• Children use the environment to recall stories that they have learned and enjoyed. For example, they use a bridge that they have made to tell the story of 'The Three Billy Goats Gruff'. Children decide which characters they will play. As the story is narrated, they walk across the bridge and recall what the characters say. This helps to instil within children a love of books and stories.
• Babies develop good physical skills as staff support them to be independent. They navigate the steps on their own, often sitting on them to ponder at the world around them. Babies have a wealth of sensory experiences to explore, such as sand, soil, leaves and dough.
• Children learn to manage their own risks and make calculated decisions. For example, when listening to a story about fire, children confidently recall the rules for sitting around the fire. They demonstrate their understanding of these rules as they walk safely around the seating area.
• Children enjoy mealtimes, which are social events. Staff promote and encourage healthy eating and support children to develop their independence. For instance, staff provide children with small tasks, such as collecting and preparing their lunch and washing their dirty dishes. There are good personal hygiene practices in place. Children independently wash their hands before eating and after personal care routines.
• There are effective procedures in place for children starting at the kindergarten. This enables parents and children to get to know the staff and understand the ethos of the kindergarten. As a result, when children start, they settle very quickly and have already made positive relationships with their key person.
• The special educational needs coordinator is knowledgeable about the children in attendance who require additional support. She works closely with each child's key person, family and agencies to ensure that children receive timely interventions and targeted support to meet their development needs.
• Partnership with parents is good. Parents know about what and how their children are learning through the online system and daily communication. Discussions between staff and parents help to extend children's learning at home.
• The manager offers opportunities to support staff's professional development through external training or from more experienced staff sharing their knowledge. The manager provides regular supervision meetings for staff. These aim to check on staff's well-being and to identify any concerns or issues they may have.
• The manager has inspired staff to work well as a team. She uses staff's strengths to ensure that they are motivated to provide a wonderful environment where children can thrive.
• Staff carry out regular assessments of children's learning and development. New information sharing procedures have been introduced between staff to quickly identify what support children currently require and when they have achieved this. However, due to the limited time since this has been introduced, this is not yet fully embedded into practice with all staff.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue to implement the new procedures for information sharing between staff, with regards to children's next step in learning and any interventions that may be required to ensure that children make even better progress.