Silverhill Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children begin their day by entering a welcoming space with lots of choices available to ignite their interests. There are strong relationships between children and their friends, as well as with staff. Children's curiosity is captured by a large pile of cardboard boxes and the chance to play inside them. They observe a jar of frogspawn and explore what will happen next by looking at reference books and images. They settle quickly and feel safe and secure in the spacious environment.

Staff plan carefully for children's learning and provide activities that appeal to their interests. They know children individually and how to take them forward to develop their knowledge and skills. Children show excitement to take home 'Bonnie' the cooking bear, and staff are keen to hear about their experiences at home.

Children have an enthusiastic attitude and behave well. They approach staff for help with disagreements, which promotes a culture of respect. Older children negotiate their ideas in play and decide together what they will pretend the cardboard boxes are and where they will enter them. Younger children enjoy taking it in turns to scoop flavoured ice creams to each other when pretending to be a shopkeeper.

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

• Children develop good communication and language skills. They walk to the local shop to buy ingredients to make pancakes. During the outing, they learn new words and use them in real-life situations. Children with speech delay are well supported and staff are passionate about making improvements. Adults and children use simple sign language to support those who need further development in their interactions.
• Children benefit from many opportunities to practise physical control and spatial awareness in the large indoor play space. All children also enjoy the free flow to an outside area. They care for plants and flowers and explore water in buckets and jugs.
• At snack times, children practise independence by pouring their own drinks. They take turns to be a helper and serve a variety of snacks shared from home. Staff encourage good manners and model using full sentences to request and decline offers of different items.
• Staff monitor children's progress and take into account their interests and next steps. They successfully teach children new skills through planned activities, such as small-group work. However, at times, staff do not offer consistent encouragement and resources to help children to practise these new skills during their independent play.
• Children play well together. Staff support their social skills by intervening promptly to ensure that play continues without interruption and conflict. Children enjoy being rewarded through a 'star chart' that encourages kindness, helpfulness and sharing. If children need further support, staff make specific provision to ensure that there is a fair and consistent approach. Children access stories about different emotions, such as feeling worried, and there are 'feelings dolls' in a quiet area to help them to talk about how they feel.
• Partnership with parents is good. Parents comment that staff are friendly and welcoming. Staff use a two-way daily communication book to share important information and updates about children's developmental progress. Parents feel that their children enjoy the playgroup and have settled well.
• Children hear about their friends' cooking experiences with 'Bonnie' bear and have some opportunities to learn about diversity and the wider community. However, staff do not consistently encourage all children to share and delight in their various backgrounds and experiences at home.
• Leaders offer staff regular support and supervision and encourage them to make use of opportunities for professional development. They continually reflect on the provision to identify any areas to improve. Leaders use funding effectively to offer a variety of well-targeted learning experiences which help to quickly close any gaps in children's development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide more support for children to practise and further develop the new skills they learn in small groups, during their independent play
• extend opportunities for children to share their backgrounds and home experiences, to further develop their understanding of different people and communities.