The Homestead Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children happily arrive to a warm welcome from staff who greet them with a smile. Staff have good attachments to children and help them to feel safe and secure, ready to begin their learning. Staff are on hand to provide children with reassuring cuddles, encouragement and guidance. They are positive role models to children throughout the day. Children show a good attitude towards their learning and behave well. They show kindness towards friends as they wait their turn to choose the morning nursery rhyme. Children happily engage in activities which provide opportunities for curiosity and problem-solving. They cooperate with each other as they build a large road with planks for their trucks together. They talk with staff as they attempt to roll cars into a tube and discover that they need to tilt the large tube to recover their cars. They are not afraid to keep on trying. Children display confidence in their play and share, 'I hit a pothole,' as they play with their cars.

Leaders are ambitious for every child to make good progress, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The curriculum builds on what children know and is designed through discussions with parents and staff's observations of children. Planning for each child is based around what children need to know next, and staff use children's interests to engage them. Teaching is appropriately sequenced, so children build on their learning in small steps.

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

• Leaders have high expectations for every child. Maintaining teaching standards is a high priority. Staff attend regular training to ensure their practice and knowledge are up to date. The manager has regular supervision and updates with staff. Staff well-being is discussed, as well as areas of strength and areas for improvement which can be developed. Staff value the support they receive from leaders.
• Children develop good communication and language skills. Staff are skilful in talking with children, giving them time to respond. They ask questions which encourage children to think. They sing nursery rhymes, and young children follow actions to familiar songs. Older children are challenged at story time with rhyming books. Children enthusiastically share their knowledge of words that rhyme, such as 'house' and 'mouse'.
• Children enjoy sensory play to build their exploratory and creative thinking. Babies and young children show joy as they explore various textures. Babies sit on a large tray with flour as they learn to handle spoons and begin to scoop and pour. They enjoy getting messy. Toddlers enjoy using shaving foam to create marks on the window with large paintbrushes. They create patterns using large arm movements and share their achievements with staff.
• Children build their physical development in a range of activities. They use the large field outside to run, jump, hop and climb on equipment. In the playground, children use tricycles and cars to develop their gross motor skills. Outside, art helps children to learn how to hold paintbrushes. Indoors, older children have a regular play dough disco to help them to develop their small finger muscles. This supports early writing skills.
• Children enjoy learning about nature and the environment around them. Young children explore leaves and twigs. Older children learn about 'dark' and 'light'. Staff use small lights to light the darkened room and children talk about the effect on the room around them. Children sit to watch for bats outside, as the evening draws in, and share how they have seen them flying outside on previous days.
• Parents speak highly about the nursery. They appreciate how staff check each day, on arrival, how children are feeling and how they slept. Parents receive regular updates about their children and feel their children are making good progress. They report how children transition well to the next room with ease. Staff introduce children gradually to build their confidence and make sure they are ready for their next stage of learning.
• Children are well supported by staff who know them well. Staff ensure children are provided with healthy meals each day, which supports dietary requirements. Children's independence is promoted through encouragement and role modelling. Children learn to use cutlery from an early age and understand the routines to wash hands before mealtimes. However, sometimes, the mealtime routine is not planned effectively. Young children can wait for a longer than necessary period of time and become restless.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the organisation of mealtimes so young children are not spending unnecessary periods of time waiting and becoming restless.