The House Of Rompa

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff actively involve children in decisions about their care and learning. For example, menus include children's favourite foods, and leaders seek their input when recruiting suitable staff. This shows that children's views truly matter.

Children demonstrate an exceptional ability to understand and express their emotions, showing genuine care and empathy for others. For instance, they recognise when their peers need help and offer them their assistance. Staff guide and support children to engage in meaningful conversations about their experiences. For instance, children listen carefully to the questions staff ask and feel encouraged to express how fireworks make them feel both 'happy' and 'scared'. This highlights a trusting and safe environment.

Staff expertly design activities that stimulate children's thinking and problem-solving skills. For instance, they purposefully place a bucket of potatoes up high, challenging children to find creative solutions to reach it. They encourage children to plan and create their own Chinese dragon, thinking about the materials, colours and tools that they wish to use. Children's recent experiences often inspire activities. For example, staff introduced a 'hot chocolate shop' after children enjoyed having hot chocolate on a recent trip. As a result of staff consistently tuning in to their interests, children are highly engaged and develop a love of learning.

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

• The curriculum is expertly designed to support children's learning through a clear, step-by-step progression. For example, staff offer mark-making opportunities and activities such as tearing paper, before gradually introducing children to more complex tasks, like writing. This approach ensures that all children are fully prepared for the next stage in their development.
• Leaders create highly focused development plans that incorporate a wide range of perspectives, including those of local authority advisers. Every decision is guided by the needs of children and is based on a clear rationale. This ensures that all actions are purposeful and lead to children's best outcomes.
• Staff are highly skilled and possess extensive knowledge of child development, enabling them to support children and foster their exceptional progress effectively. If children show any signs of falling behind, staff know to quickly identify areas of concern and seek guidance. This ensures that children receive the precise support they need to continue thriving.
• Staff work exceptionally well together, creating a supportive and respectful environment. Their enthusiasm is evident, and the training they receive has a positive impact on their practice. For example, after attending 'baby development training', staff create 'song bags' for parents to use with babies at home. This demonstrates their strong commitment to enhancing children's learning.
• Children develop a deep understanding of the world around them. For instance, they learn practical skills such as how to pay for items in a shop, using real-life tools like watches and phones. Children gain an awareness of challenges different people face, such as the long journey children in Ghana must make to collect water. Parents and carers highly praise staff for these efforts, sharing how they 'even slept under a bridge' to raise awareness of homelessness. This clearly demonstrates staff's exceptional commitment to social responsibility.
• Parents speak very highly of staff, praising how they go 'above and beyond' to support their children. For example, when siblings are born, key persons help prepare children for the changes, which parents believe has strengthened their children's bonds. When children struggle with bathing at home, staff enhance water play activities to build on their confidence in the water. As a result of these efforts, parents feel truly heard and valued.
• Children demonstrate impressive early language and literacy skills, with their passion for books being visible in their imaginative play. For example, pre-school children list many words starting with the letter 'B'. They confidently recognise their peers' names, which helps them to give out the correct place mats at mealtimes. Staff encourage children's love of reading by talking about their favourite books and ensuring that the books children enjoy at home are also available in the setting. They teach children how books are structured, such as how the text flows from left to right, and they introduce children to new words. Babies point to familiar pictures and repeat words like 'sheep'.
• Staff expertly foster children's independence by providing just the right level of guidance to nurture their skills. For example, they encourage the most capable children to tackle tasks independently, such as putting on their own aprons. They compare this to putting on a coat, which helps build their confidence and perseverance.
• Children learn fun songs that remind them to ask for supervision when using technology. They participate in checking the garden for potential hazards. This teaches them valuable lessons on how to stay safe.