St Mary's Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are keen to attend this friendly and welcoming playgroup. Children are confident to separate from their parents and chat with staff and their friends, showing they feel safe and secure. Children show they know the routines and follow the rules of the group. They sit together and chat with staff while they get ready to go outside for their daily walk and physical play. Children line up, hold hands, and walk around the track together before going into the play area.

The manager has improved the curriculum since the last inspection. She knows what skills and knowledge she wants the children to gain to help them prepare for their move to school. Staff know the children well and monitor their progress carefully. They work with parents and outside professionals to put in place support where there are any possible gaps in children's development. All children make progress from their varying starting points and any gaps in children's learning are closing well overall.

Children show a positive attitude towards their learning and spend a long time engaged in activities. They persevere when peeling cabbage leaves and Brussel sprouts, when practising using screwdrivers and when colouring in their pictures. Children confidently cut out their creations and show they are strengthening their hand muscles in readiness for early writing. Children show they are developing a love of books. They confidently recall their favourite stories and independently look at books. Children are gaining good skills in their early literacy development.

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

• The manager and staff have made improvements to practice since the last inspection. They have welcomed support from the local authority and taken on board advice and training. Staff feel well supported in the playgroup and have received training that has had a positive impact on the delivery of the curriculum. Staff report they now use 'Pass the Bear' more regularly following communication and language training to support children's confidence in speaking in a group more effectively.
• Children's behaviour is good. Staff teach children to learn to share and take turns and use effective methods to help children follow the routines, such as sand timers. Staff praise children for their achievements, which has a positive impact on their self-esteem. Children form good relationships with their peers and play well together cooperatively.
• Children have plenty of opportunities to develop their physical skills and are keen to go outside and play. Children develop their core strength as they climb using ropes, balance on beams and go up the steps to slide down the slide with confidence. They run around and negotiate space well.
• Staff focus on promoting children's independence skills in readiness for school. Children take off and put on their shoes and coats, put spread on their toast and pour their drinks, for example. They use the toilet independently, blow their noses and wash their hands afterwards, showing an understanding of how to support their own self-care.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills well overall. They engage children in conversations and talk about what children are doing as they play. Children enjoy participating in story and singing times and are becoming confident communicators. At times, staff do not use effective questioning to encourage children to think, respond and to extend their language even further.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported in the playgroup. Parents report staff support their children's individual needs very well, through liaising with professionals and implementing specific strategies. On occasion, where there are possible concerns about children's development, strategies used are not always effective or flexible enough to meet their specific needs.
• Partnerships with parents are very positive. They report that they are very pleased with the progress their children are making. Parents say that they are regularly informed of their children's progress, through an online application, parents' evenings, newsletters, and daily conversations, for example. Children say that they really enjoy attending the playgroup and look forward to going to play with their friends.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff use more effective questioning to give children more time to think and respond to extend their language even further
• improve support for those children with possible gaps in their learning so it is tailored more closely to their individual needs to help them move on more quickly.