The Drive Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff warmly welcome children on arrival, helping to create a friendly and emotionally secure environment. Children arrive happily and excitedly. They show strong bonds with staff and a clear sense of belonging. All children join in self-registration by choosing their name. Older children do this independently, while younger children receive support suited to their developmental stage. Staff support children's social development effectively. For example, they encourage children to share, take turns and consider others. Staff model positive behaviour and guide children to manage their interactions. This helps children to build key personal, social and emotional skills.

Staff support children's sensory and imaginative play, such as by setting up a large mud kitchen with real utensils. They incorporate home-grown herbs, encouraging children to explore nature through smell and touch. Children help to plant, care for and harvest herbs. Staff use these opportunities to help children to develop responsibility, and learn about life cycles and sustainability.

Overall, staff know their key children well, understanding their abilities and next steps in learning. They work closely with managers to plan a curriculum that supports positive outcomes from each child's developmental starting points. Regular observations and interactions help staff to identify children's interests and inform their planning. Staff take account of children's interests when they design learning experiences. This helps to promote children's positive attitudes towards learning.

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

• Staff plan activities that support children's core strength, balance, coordination and gross motor development. They encourage children to take manageable risks during their play, such as climbing higher or navigating obstacle courses. Children often create these obstacle courses themselves, promoting their independence and confidence. Staff offer reassurance and guidance as children face physical challenges. This helps children to build resilience and self-belief.
• Staff support children's language and communication skills effectively through interactive play and meaningful conversations. They join in children's play, narrate on their actions and model language to build their vocabulary. Children explore a wide range of books, including core texts, regularly. Staff use puppets and props to engage children during story time and support them to retell stories. This approach strengthens children's communication skills.
• Children extend their imaginative skills through role play, such as at a greengrocer's area featuring real fruit and vegetables. Staff set up this area to boost children's awareness of different cultures and knowledge of the world.
• They encourage respect, turn taking and language skills during their interactions.
• Children show strong independence through the daily tasks that staff plan. For example, children clean their noses at the 'nose-blowing station' and use the hydration station independently. During snack time, staff provide trolleys with utensils, such as tongs and spoons, to allow children to self-serve. These activities help to support the development of children's independence.
• Developing healthy attitudes is a key focus at this setting. Staff use placemats with pictures of fruit and vegetable during snack time, to encourage discussions about healthy eating benefits. After lunch, staff help children to brush their teeth and talk about the importance of oral health care. These activities promote children's understanding of nutrition and hygiene.
• Overall, staff create an ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum that supports children's learning effectively. It builds on children's interests to develop their skills and offer new learning opportunities. However, staff do not consistently organise group times to support all children consistently. As a result, some children lose interest and are not always engaged in their learning.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive good support. Staff work closely with parents and carers and external professionals to identify children's needs and plan targeted support. This collaborative approach ensures early intervention and helps children to make consistent progress.
• The managers ensure that they and their staff complete all mandatory training. They work collaboratively to reflect on the provision and actively seek feedback to drive improvements. However, staff do not consistently receive targeted professional development to deepen their knowledge and create opportunities to extend children's learning further.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Staff regularly share key information, including targets and strategies to support children's learning at home. This ensures continuity between the setting and home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review group activities, to ensure that all children are included and engaged in their learning
• focus professional development opportunities to support staff to extend the quality of education even further.