The Den Farmside

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children in the baby room access equipment to help develop their physical skills. They climb steps and receive reminders from staff to sit at the top of slides before they go down, promoting their safety. After children go down a slide, they smile in recognition of staff clapping their hands to reward their achievements. Children in the baby room have opportunities to develop their speaking skills. For instance, when staff play alongside them during a painting activity, they talk to children about the colours they use. Children begin to copy staff's words as they begin to identify different colours themselves.

Older children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are supported to develop their mathematical skills, such as their understanding of numbers and counting. For instance, when children sit on a swing, staff ask them to count backwards from 10 as they swing forwards and backwards. Staff take turns with children to say the next number. In the woodland area, pre-school children show excitement when they take and manage risks as they climb low-level trees. When they want to jump from a low branch, they hold a member of staff's hand to support their balance. Children jump in muddy puddles with staff, laughing together and showing positive relationships with staff and their peers.

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

• Children are supported to develop their literacy and communication skills. For instance, when staff read children in the pre-school and toddler rooms books, they leave off the end of sentences in familiar stories for children to finish. This helps to build on children's speaking skills and their understanding of the story.
• The management team and staff focus some aspects of the curriculum on supporting children to be independent. In the toddler room, staff offer minimal support when they ask children to look into a mirror when they wipe their noses themselves. In the pre-school room, children manage their own shoes and coats by themselves.
• Children who speak English as an additional language make good progress with speaking English. When necessary, staff use key words in children's home language to support their understanding of words.
• Staff support children with SEND well. For instance, they identify and implement targeted plans to support children's development. Staff make referrals to other agencies and invite them into the nursery to support children's individual needs. Staff use visual prompts to help children understand the routine of the day. For instance, when children want to play outdoors, staff show them a picture of outdoors.
• Staff help children to understand expectations for their behaviour, such as during group times. They talk to pre-school children about remembering to look and listen. Children wave their hands in the air when staff talk about using their hands to be kind. Different rules are embedded when children play in the woodland area. For instance, when staff ask children to remember who they need to tell if they need the toilet, children say that they tell an adult. This shows children's understanding of how to behave positively.
• Staff are supported with their practice. They attend in-house training with the management team to help develop their knowledge of how to build on some aspects of children's learning. However, sometimes, staff do not use the knowledge that they obtain from training. For example, staff do not implement the management team's expectations of singing to children when they change their nappies, or to wait for children to respond to questions they ask them.
• Children are supported by staff to clean their teeth, promoting their oral health. They have their own toothbrushes, and staff ask them to clean their teeth for a set amount of time to ensure children do this thoroughly. Children say that they clean their teeth because they are dirty and they might fall out.
• The management team reflects on the experiences it offers children and parents. Recent changes include using a different app to share information with parents about their children's achievements. However, staff do not offer all parents ideas about how they can continue their children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to implement knowledge from in-house training to help build on children's learning
• help staff to offer all parents ideas about how they can continue to support their child's individual learning at home.