St Michael's Family Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled at the setting. Staff focus their teaching on developing children's personal, social and emotional skills. They develop relationships, confidence and social interactions to build strong foundations for future learning. Families are welcomed in and numerous visits to the setting are provided before children start. Staff work closely with parents to gain information and support children well during the transition process.

Staff invite parents into the setting at the beginning and end of each day. Staff share information about the day and parents are well informed about their child's care and learning. Additionally, staff display photos of families in the hall, helping children to feel valued and develop their confidence. This also sparks children's language as they talk about the photos they can see, encouraging them to share significant events from home.

Overall, children behave well. They listen to staff and follow simple instructions. Children play together in small groups and invite their peers to join them. Occasionally, when children have a disagreement, staff quickly intervene and distract children to re-engage them in their play. Staff support children's understanding of being kind, by modelling expected behaviours and supporting children with spoken vocabulary that helps to resolve conflict.

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

• The management team has a robust safer recruitment procedure in place to ensure all staff working at the setting are safe to do so. Additionally, they carry out regular staff supervisions to reflect on staff's practice and discuss their progress and achievements. The management team has also begun to implement peer-on-peer observations to encourage staff to be more reflective of their practice and share ideas with colleagues, to help raise the standard of teaching.
• Children who speak English as an additional language make excellent progress. Staff provide opportunities that support children's learning well, developing their understanding and spoken English language. For example, children enjoy singing, reading and engaging in general conversations. Children demonstrate their good English speaking skills as they play with friends.
• Outdoors, staff provide a range of physical opportunities for children to explore. For example, children enjoy balancing across the wooden beams, climbing steps, digging in the sand and using various equipment to practise throwing, catching and kicking skills.
• Staff know children well. They track children's progress closely and plan clear and meaningful next steps to help children learn new skills. However, activities are not always well organised, and the management team does not always deploy staff effectively. For example, not all children benefit from additional experiences, and learning opportunities do not always support children's learning and engagement well, due to the organisation and staffing arrangements.
• School transitions are supported and staff ensure good communication with children's future teachers. Children have the opportunity to visit the school during holidays and this helps them to become familiar with their new surroundings. Additionally, staff share information with schools and teachers to support children as they move on to their next stage of learning.
• Children's speech and language development is well supported throughout the setting. Staff provide younger children with opportunities to hear spoken language through singing and reading. They model clear, single words for children to learn as well as using Makaton to support children's understanding and communication. This is extended for the older and most able children. For example, children engage in two-way conversations and staff model new vocabulary for children to hear. Children demonstrate excellent spoken language from a young age. A communication tracking tool is also used to monitor children's progress and highlight any delay, should it occur.
• Staff provide a high standard of support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They value the support and guidance offered by other professionals and facilitate visits and contact to ensure children and families receive support when needed. Partnership working is well embedded into staff practice and this helps children make good progress.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the organisation of activities and staff deployment to ensure a high standard of learning is provided for all children.