The Children of One End Street

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy to attend. They are welcomed into the kindergarten by the kind and nurturing staff and separate from their parents and carers with ease. Children excitedly greet their peers. They independently take off their coat and hang this on their peg.

Children display positive attitudes to learning. They are familiar with their environment and learn to respect the resources. Children work together as they build structures with large, wooden blocks. They communicate well and negotiate as they decide how to create an 'aeroplane'. Children are thoughtful and explain to visitors that 'it needs two wings or it will be lopsided'.

Staff invite children to help them make bread for their snack. Children follow good hygiene practice. They develop their arm strength and coordination. Children mix liquid into the flour to create a thick dough. Staff support children to recall past learning experiences. For example, they ask children if they can remember the name of the ingredient they use to make the dough rise. Staff praise children's efforts and remind them that this is called 'yeast'. Children proceed to use their hands to roll the dough into balls. They place these on the tray, spacing them evenly, ready for baking.

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

• The manager and staff have a clear vision of what they want children to learn during their time at the kindergarten. They provide a stimulating environment, which supports children to lead their own learning. Staff plan a range of experiences to build on what children already know and can do. Children make good progress in their learning.
• Mealtimes are a social occasion. Children learn the importance of good table manners. They consider the needs of their peers and offer to pour water for children who still find it difficult. Children enjoy home-cooked snacks and are keen to spread the butter and jam on bread for themselves. Although staff provide children with wholesome food, they do not always support children to fully understand why a healthy diet and lifestyle is important for their overall health.
• Children display high levels of creativity. They use wax crayons to draw detailed pictures to take home for their family. Children concentrate and take their time to carefully draw a series of characters. They give meaning to the marks they make and proudly explain what they have drawn. Children use colour intentionally. For example, they state: 'The sea is blue'.
• The manager is the key person for all children who attend. She has an in-depth knowledge of each child's stage of development and skills. The manager visits children at home to get to know them and their families and to find out about children's previous experiences. She uses this information to plan for children's learning from the onset. The manager observes children regularly to monitor the progress they make. She shares this information with parents in a range of ways. Although a key-person system is in place, it is not fully effective. The manager is yet to share responsibilities with staff and assign them key children to fully promote strong relationships between key staff and key children.
• Staff develop children's mathematical skills well. At circle time, they skilfully incorporate the vocabulary of shape, size and measure. As children sing together, they pretend they are balancing on stepping stones to cross the water. Staff encourage children to count, and they support children's imaginations as they ask them questions about the speed of the 'flowing water'. They introduce the word 'wide' and explain that they need to hold their arms out to balance.
• Children enjoy daily opportunities for outdoor play. They learn how things grow and plant seedlings into pots they have created from paper. Children watch with interest as a member of their community plants flowers in a pot on the pavement outside.
• The manager and staff have regular discussions to evaluate the service they provide. They receive support from the local authority adviser and attend online professional development meetings with other early years professionals to share ideas and discuss best practice. Staff feel supported by the manager and state that they enjoy their role at the kindergarten.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide children with even more experiences to support their understanding of why a healthy diet is important for their health, to develop their knowledge of healthy lifestyles further
• review the current key-person system to help staff and children form even stronger bonds and help them to make even better progress.