Skendleby Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are greeted warmly by staff when they arrive. Staff invite children to attend for shorter sessions before they attend full time, helping them to become gradually familiar with the routines, environment and staff. This helps children to settle. Very young children benefit from staff providing them with comfort and reassurance. For instance, staff stroke the side of children's faces to help them fall asleep. This contributes to children feeling safe in staff's care.

Children are supported to be independent. When children arrive, they know the routine implemented by staff. This includes children selecting items from their lunch box to put into the fridge. Older children take responsibility for wiping wet equipment in the garden before using it.

Children develop their physical skills. For instance, staff hold very young children's hands to support their balance when they begin to walk. Very young children reach for balls that staff suspend in the air, encouraging them to reach, grab and develop their hand-eye coordination. Staff show young children how to stack blocks on top of each other, giving them encouragement and praise to celebrate their achievements. This encourages children to keep trying and persevere. Older children show an enjoyment of listening to staff read stories. They remember familiar phrases in the stories from memory.

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

• The staff team works well together to meet children's needs. Many improvements have been made since the last inspection, including support for staff to build on their professional development. For instance, staff attend meetings where they discuss the curriculum for all children and how to support their learning. Furthermore, staff working with the very young children attend training courses to develop their knowledge of how to build on children's mobility.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills well. For example, staff ask older children questions to encourage their thinking skills. This includes staff asking children what animals have stripes and children replying 'tigers'. Staff use simple and repetitive words when speaking to younger children. This helps to build on their understanding of words and emerging speech.
• Children are supported by staff to develop their mathematics skills. For example, staff help older children to identify written numbers and shapes. Children are encouraged to solve problems in their play. When older children roll balls down a pipe and they get stuck, staff ask how they can get the balls out. Children decide to wiggle the pipe so the balls roll to the end.
• Children show they are keen to join activities that staff plan for them. However, sometimes staff do not support all children in remaining focused or building on what some children need to learn next. As a result, some younger children become disengaged, and some older children are not sufficiently supported to build confidence in social situations.
• Parents receive information from staff about activities their children enjoy. Staff support parents to continue their children's learning at home. Parents say that when staff help their children to learn words to describe parts of their bodies, they continue this learning at home. This partnership working helps provide consistency for supporting children's development.
• Staff provide children with nutritious snacks. They receive donations from a supermarket, and any leftover food is given to parents, helping contribute to their child's healthy eating at home. Parents say that they appreciate staff supporting children to sit when they eat their lunch. They explain how this helps their children to sit when they eat at home.
• Staff help children to show positive behaviours. For example, staff praise children for passing toys to their peers. Children receive praise from staff when they answer questions correctly, such as getting a high five. Staff remind children to take turns when they play games together.
• Staff share information with schools about children's learning and development when they move on. However, they do not share or gather the same information from other early years settings that children also attend. Therefore, they do not gather a full picture of children's abilities, enabling them to complement the experiences they receive elsewhere.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to involve all children during planned group time to encourage them to focus and build on their learning
• share and gather information about children's development from other early years settings children also attend.