The Beehive Childcare Group

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff warmly greet the children as they arrive. Most children confidently separate from their parents and eagerly enter the setting. Those who are new are provided with reassurance and additional support, to help them to settle. Staff use their good knowledge of children's individual abilities and interests to plan and provide a broad and varied curriculum. This includes outings within the local community and inviting 'people who help us' to come and talk to the children. Children understand what happens in the setting because routines are embedded. These routines support children to be as independent as they can be. They know where to hang up their coats and understand about washing and drying their hands. Children know how to wipe their noses and pop the tissue in the bin.

Staff get down to the children's level, showing a genuine interest. Children are supported to play cooperatively together, share and take turns. Staff encourage children to listen as they talk about the range of activities on offer. Staff use recall effectively to help children remember previous learning. Children practise taking off and putting on their shoes and socks, before eagerly taking part in regular yoga sessions. Here they follow simple instructions. They learn breathing techniques to relax, how to twist their bodies and to how to rely on their friend for balance and support. Staff model expected behaviours and praise the children, which builds their self-esteem. Children know and follow simple rules. They learn to be polite and remember to say 'thank you'. Staff help children to recognise and speak about how they are feeling. When children find it hard to regulate their own behaviours, staff provide them with some strategies and resources to help them.

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

• Management work well together to lead the staff team. There is a focus on staff well-being. All staff have clear roles and responsibilities, which they know and understand. Staff are confident in what they want the children to learn and why. Good use is made of training opportunities and staff receive effective mentoring and supervision, using new knowledge gained to further improve their practice.
• Staff use observation and assessment effectively to monitor children's progress. They are swift to identify areas of concern and put plans in place to ensure targeted intervention. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (send), are well supported. Where further or external support is needed, the setting's special educational needs coordinator (senco) is swift to work in partnership with other professionals.
• Staff encourage children to explore and recognise number as they play a game using dice. Children count forwards and backwards as they sing a range of familiar action songs and rhymes. Staff help children develop a love of books, capturing children's interest as they read stories with energy and enthusiasm.
• Children choose books from the well-resourced book corner. They learn how to use these as a source of information, as they compare different insects.
• Staff ensure all children, including those who are learning English as an additional language, hear plenty of spoken language. Staff provide commentary and pose simple questions, pausing to give children time to respond. They introduce and explain the meaning of new words, such as udder. Sign language and pictorial images are used to further enhance communication skills. However, staff do not consistently provide children, particularly those who are slower to speak, with regular enough opportunities to practise their speaking skills.
• Children learn how to care for living things as they feed and handle the resident guinea pigs. They learn to problem solve as staff help them to work out how to build a roadway to drive their cars along. Staff support children to create shapes, using a mirror to check for symmetry. Children play imaginatively in the role play hairdressers, as they 'write' appointments and style each other's hair. Children get to spend time outside each day. They learn how to kick a ball, pedal tricycles and negotiate an obstacle course.
• Parents have daily opportunities for a verbal catch up and receive regular updates via an online application. They have access to a range of good-quality information and receive valuable parenting advice. Parents have regular opportunities to discuss their children's progress. They are provided with ways and ideas to carry on their children's learning at home. Parents comment on the good support they have received and how much progress their children have made since attending the setting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to plan and provide more regular opportunities for children, particularly those who are slower to speak, to practise their speaking and pronunciation skills.