Spinduliukas

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a welcoming environment where children are happy and develop strong relationships. Pre-school-aged children place their belongings on their pegs and walk into the playroom to begin their day. All children are confident to leave their parents and demonstrate a sense of belonging at the setting. This helps to support their emotional health.

Children make good progress from their starting points in development at the setting. Staff know children well and carry out their key-person role effectively. They take time to observe children. Staff play alongside children to support their learning and find out about their interests and stages of development. They consider this information when planning stimulating learning experiences. The special educational needs and disabilities coordinator is knowledgeable. She works with external professionals to seek advice and make relevant referrals where necessary.

Staff are good role models and have high expectations of children's behaviour. They encourage and help children to kindly pass resources to each other. For example, children wait for their turn to use and then pass a large spatula to each other as they put their pizzas into a pretend clay oven. Children treat each other kindly and with respect.

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

• Staff understand how to support children's physical development well. For example, young children use their hands to splash and explore foamy water. They use alternate feet to walk up the steps of a climbing frame. Pre-school children enjoy drawing pictures and riding bicycles and scooters. All children enjoy moving to music. Staff promote children's small- and large-motor skills, such as climbing and jumping, and support them to develop their hand-eye coordination.
• Overall, staff teach children good communication and language skills. For example, children sing nursery rhymes and action songs. They enjoy repeating phrases. However, some of the youngest children frequently have dummies in their mouths when they play and learn. This reduces the time that the youngest children have to practise and develop their speaking skills.
• Staff ensure that children have experiences to help them to learn about themselves and others. For example, staff sing nursery rhymes in children's home languages and English. This helps children to learn English alongside their home languages and further develop their sense of identity.
• Staff consider how to develop children's mathematics skills. They use key mathematical language, such as 'full' and 'empty'. Additionally, staff support children to develop an understanding of number through the careful counting of objects during experiences and activities. Children develop a good understanding of early mathematical concepts, which are appropriate to their age and stage of development.
• The manager and staff help children to develop their independence skills. For example, pre-school children put on their coats, hats and footwear before they go outside to play. They learn to use a knife as they cut up food, such as peppers, cucumbers and feta cheese, to make a salad for snack time. This helps children to prepare for their next stage of learning.
• The manager supports staff well and they enjoy working at the setting. Staff receive one-to-one meetings with the manager every two months to discuss their practice and training needs. Staff comment that this helps them to improve their practice. Staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities. This helps to support children's learning and enjoyment.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents receive regular communication about their children's progress. They say that they feel supported by the manager and their child's key person, and feel confident to talk to them about any concerns they have. Parents appreciate the tips they receive from staff to support their children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend staff's understanding of how to further support the youngest children's communication and language skills.