The Beehive At Lindford

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a warm and stimulating environment. They welcome children with a friendly smile and immediately engage them in conversation. Children demonstrate they feel safe and secure, and confidently investigate the wide range of resources available. They are motivated to learn and show high levels of determination. For example, they persevere and work out how to position themselves, so they can balance and successfully draw around their feet. Staff praise children and delight in their achievements. This helps strengthen children's positive attitude towards learning.

Staff are good role models. They help children develop important skills for working cooperatively with others, which supports their future life skills. For example, when children find it difficult to choose which food colouring to add to their water play, staff suggest they vote and decide together.

Leaders spend time getting to know children well. They plan a curriculum that closely follows children's learning needs and changing interests. Children are resilient and curious in their play. They manage simple risks by carefully moving and balancing objects to create an obstacle course. They delight in exploring the natural world and use magnifying glasses to examine the insects they find. Staff incorporate additional resources, such as books, to help aid further discussion and exploration. This enhances children's vocabulary and language development even further.

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

• Staff accurately assess children's on-going progress and are vigilant to any signs of delay. For example, children needing extra support, such as with their speech, are helped at the earliest opportunity. Leaders place a strong emphasis on working with other professionals. This helps staff put targeted plans in place to ensure they close gaps in children's learning swiftly.
• Leaders plan a curriculum that places a strong focus on children's language and literacy development. Staff use strategies, such as visual aids and sign language to ensure every child is able to express themselves and join in discussions. All children join in group activities and show a high level of confidence as they stand up and sing songs to their friends. As they cuddle up with staff to share their favorite books, staff encourage them to recall key words and phrases. This supports children's developing speech and vocabulary highly effectively.
• Staff introduce children to early mathematical concepts as they engage in their play. For example, younger children count and explore the concept of number as they take part in their activities. Older children use descriptive words, such as 'heavy' as they fill up and carry buckets of water. However, staff do not foster opportunities to challenge and build on this area of learning even further. This means children do not consistently deepen their understanding of mathematical ideas.
• Staff actively support children in learning to share, respect others and resolve conflicts. They create a nurturing environment and promptly identify when children need extra help to understand the feelings of others. Children show they feel emotionally secure. They build positive relationships with their peers and use kind words, such as 'caring is sharing.'
• Staff encourage children to take responsibility for simple tasks throughout the day. For example, children pour their own drinks, serve their own snacks and tidy up after activities. Staff offer gentle prompts and praise, which help to build children's confidence in completing tasks independently. This supports school readiness.
• The dedicated staff have highly effective settling-in procedures. They tailor this process to reflect the individual needs of each child and their family. This helps children settle quickly. However, while strategies for sharing information with parents are in place, the staff do not ensure all parents are fully aware of their children's ongoing learning. This does not provide consistent continuity in children's development, to help them make the best possible progress.
• The leadership and staff team work closely together effectively to reflect on their practices and the needs of the children. For instance, they have introduced a partitioned area where children can relax, play, or read either by themselves or with their friends. This nurtures children's independence and promotes positive social interactions.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on opportunities for children to explore mathematical concepts to further encourage this area of their learning
• provide parents with more specific information about children's individual next steps to help them extend learning at home.