The Avenue Children's Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish at this welcoming and supportive setting. Children quickly build strong, close relationships with staff. They often seek out their key person for support and to share their interests. For example, young children bring books to read with their key person. This helps children to feel emotionally safe and secure.

Children show a keen interest in their learning. They fully enjoy the activities provided for them. Younger children giggle as they play peekaboo with staff, while older children focus on using a wooden spoon to scoop balls into coloured cups.

Staff know children exceptionally well and focus on each child as a unique individual. Staff use this knowledge to plan meaningful activities to motivate and engage children in their learning. This supports children to become confident learners and helps them to achieve their goals and next steps.

Children's behaviour is especially good. They learn the routines and boundaries quickly and follow these throughout the day. For example, older children sit and wait patiently for their lunch, and younger children return their bottles to the correct place after they have had a drink.

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

• Staff have a secure knowledge of child development. They use this to construct a curriculum that is ambitious and balanced. This supports children to make good progress across all areas of learning and development.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has a strong understanding of her role. She supports staff to provide individual plans for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). She engages effectively with parents and professionals to ensure that children with SEND make timely progress.
• Leaders have a clear vision of the quality of care and education they aim to provide, and they share this with all staff. The manager supports staff to be reflective in their practice and to keep their training up to date. For example, staff use their recent physical development training to plan opportunities for children to be more physically active during time spent on stories and nursery rhymes.
• Staff encourage children's independence. They help babies to find their own shoes and support toddlers to wash their own hands ready for lunch. However, staff miss opportunities to extend older children's independence skills, such as getting ready for mealtimes and to go outside.
• Staff expertly develop and extend children's language development. Staff skilfully talk to children, narrate their play and introduce new vocabulary when playing with children. For example, staff use 'till', 'scan' and 'receipt' while pretending to be shopkeepers in the role-play area. They ask appropriate questions and allow children time to think and give their response. Children learn to communicate appropriately and to express their views, needs and wants effectively.
• Children are offered a varied menu of healthy, balanced and nutritious meals for lunch. Staff encourage children to try different foods and teach them how to use cutlery. However, children are not supported to understand the benefits of healthy eating and how to practise good dental hygiene.
• Staff use effective assessment to review children's learning regularly. They engage in dialogue about children's achievements throughout the day. For example, staff talk enthusiastically to each other when they observe a child using verbal communication for the first time. This careful observation enables staff to look for any gaps in children's learning and plan their next steps accordingly.
• Parents are highly positive about the setting. They appreciate the regular communication about what children are learning and the progress they are making. Parents comment on children 'beaming when they see staff' and how children 'practically leap through the door'.
• Children benefit from the challenging opportunities staff provide for them to be physically active throughout the day. For example, babies and toddlers have space and resources to practise crawling, walking and climbing. Older children have fun as they cooperatively move plastic crates to build large structures.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide regular opportunities to extend older children's independence skills
• support staff to teach children about the importance of healthy lifestyles and good dental hygiene.