SWK Whiteley Woods

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive and make excellent progress in this outdoor setting. There is a strong focus on building children's characters. Staff help children to think critically and to develop a wide range of vocabulary. They consider what children need to be able to do by the time they start school. As a result, children start school with a wide range of skills and knowledge that ensures their success.

Staff are excellent role models who children build deep bonds with. They feel safe and secure with staff. Relationships are key to the ongoing social and emotional development of all children. They make genuine friendships and work together, to solve problems and take on challenges. Children learn about the impact they have on others and how they make a positive contribution.

Staff help children to develop their individual characters. They model for children how they can ask questions or how they can effectively communicate with their peers. For example, staff make suggestions of how children could ask a friend for help. Staff consistently praise children. They use specific praise so that children know where they are excelling. For example, staff praise them for their patience. Children develop positive self-esteem and become confident individuals. Children's behaviour is exemplary, as staff hep them to understand what is expected of them.

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

• Staff support children to develop a wide range of vocabulary. They repeat back words to them and help to them to extend single words into sentences. The impact of this can be seen across the provision. For example, children stretch and say, 'I am touching the tip of the lion's mane'. They learn to use descriptive language and regularly engage in detailed conversations.
• Staff are skilled at introducing mathematics into the environment. They provide opportunities for children to transport items in containers. They help children to learn about capacity, shapes, number and colour. They learn about patterns, height and distance. They use tape measures with confidence and compare different sizes. Children learn a wide range of mathematical concepts.
• Children learn about how to keep themselves safe and healthy. Staff teach them about staying safe in the sun and the effects of not wearing a hat or sun protection. They allow children to take risks in the environment, whilst being nearby enough to keep them safe. Children develop resilience and knowledge of the world that they live in.
• Staff promote children's independence in many ways. Staff show children how to use equipment safely and children listen and learn. For example, they skilfully chop tomatoes and avocados. They peel off lids and dispose of their rubbish without being asked. Children become confident and independent individuals.
• Staff help children to learn about the recycling of plastics and food waste. For example, children are encouraged to get as much out of the avocado as they can, so that, they do not waste any. They are highly valued individuals who contribute in many ways right across the provision.
• Staff ask children provoking questions to help them to think independently. Children tie string from one tree to another and when the string is too short, staff ask, 'what can we do?'. Children say, 'maybe if I unroll it like this'. When they cut the string too short, they say, 'I know, we can tie two pieces together'. Children are confident problem solvers.
• Key persons know the children well. They are sensitive to their needs. They ensure that intensive support plans are put in place for those children who need extra support. This ensures that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make rapid progress from their starting points.
• Highly effective monitoring of staff practice and children's progress, ensures that children receive consistently engaging learning that helps them to make excellent progress from their starting points.
• Parents benefit from workshops, where they receive information that helps them to support their children's communication and language or personal development. There is strong engagement from parents and an effective flow of information.
• Managers ensure that any individual funding that they receive for children, is used to further support their needs and development. For example, they use the funding to offer individual support or to offer additional opportunities that children might not otherwise have. This contributes to children's ongoing progress.