Sky High Achievers Melandra

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The nursery is a hub of activity where children and their families are at the centre of everything it strives to achieve. Staff provide children with a broad and balanced curriculum. This helps children to gain the skills they need for later learning. Children, including those who are new to the setting, are settled, safe and happy. Children show they are developing increased confidence and independence. Staff provide lots of encouragement for children to have a go and complete tasks for themselves. For example, children fasten their own coats and put on their own wellington boots. Staff are good role models who treat children with kindness and respect. Children play cooperatively and they are beginning to understand their own feelings and emotions. Children receive clear messages about the benefits of being healthy. Children have increased social skills.

Due to the pandemic restrictions, parents' access to the setting is limited. That said, partnerships with parents are strong. This is due to the dedication and commitment of leaders and staff to continue to provide a high level of support for children and their families. Staff value the importance of maintaining close contact with parents. They make themselves available at the door to meet and greet their key children. Staff use this time to talk to parents about children's home life, give them hints and tips for learning at home and let them know how their children are progressing in their learning at the setting.

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

• Leaders and staff know the children very well. They work extremely hard to ensure all children get the support they need. Staff have developed close partnership working with other professionals. This ensures that all children, including those who are in receipt of funding and those who have a special educational need and/or disabilities, have continued access to the unique and specialist services they require. Staff are alert to those children whose attendance has been lower than expected because of the pandemic. Therefore, staff provide individualised emotional support so that children are ready to return to learning.
• Children make good progress across all areas of learning from their starting points. This is because, overall, staff plan an ambitious curriculum that ensures no child is left behind. Leaders have introduced new systems to help staff to plan even more sequenced learning opportunities for children. This is so that children can practise and embed their skills and extend their learning. However, some staff focus too much on the end goal. This means that children do not always understand what is being taught and, at times, they lose interest in the activity too quickly.
• Staff know that children need support with their communication and language skills. They help children to learn these skills because they model language well. Staff sensitively talk to babies and toddlers and encourage them to make sounds and copy words. They introduce older children to new words, such as 'dandelion', as they pick these from the garden.
• Staff know that boys need more opportunities to strengthen their mathematical understanding. They help them to achieve this as they introduce mathematical words and provide ideas as part of children's play. For example, they encourage children to count and recite numbers, compare the size of objects and discuss concepts, such as more and less.
• Children learn about their own and others' feelings and how to regulate their emotions. For example, they use 'emotion spoons' to express how they feel today, and this enables staff to offer the support children may need.
• Leaders, overall, provide regular training and keep a close eye on staff's well-being. Staff benefit from regular supervision sessions and appraisals with leaders. This helps to improve their performance and identify any additional training needs. However, new and less experienced staff are not sufficiently supported to help them to understand how to achieve the high expectations of leaders for the delivery of the curriculum.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure all staff know how to plan and provide children with opportunities that support them to practise and consolidate any new skills and learning
• strengthen the support offered to new or less experienced staff so they quickly gain the skills needed to have more meaningful interactions with children that further extend their learning.