The Kids Playhouse Day And Afterschool Care

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle easily. They are confident, happy and eager to explore the inviting activities and resources. Children enjoy using shaving foam, wooden blocks and other resources. They create imaginative towers and homes for large plastic dinosaurs. Children explore what happens when they blow the foam off their hands and excitedly tell staff it looks 'like snow'. They find endless fascination in seeing their reflections in the many low-level mirrors around the rooms. Younger children carefully pull themselves to standing. They lean on low-level wooden units to look in the mirror and amuse themselves by pulling different facial expressions.

Toddlers use cut cardboard rolls dipped into paint to make marks on large sheets of paper laid out on the floor. They use their fingers and dry paint brushes in flour to create lines and swirly patterns. Staff constantly encourage and support them, demonstrating how to make shapes in the flour. Older children decide whether to play inside or outside in the garden. They recognise when it is raining and fetch their coats, so they can continue to play in the fresh air. Children make good progress in relation to their starting points. Babies make sense of the world around them as they explore using their senses of touch and taste. Older children learn to count and use mathematical language in play.

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

• Staff use a range of teaching methods that focus on igniting children's natural curiosity and imaginations. They encourage children to learn and make connections as they play. For example, children use all their senses to feel, smell and look at different coloured leaves, seeds and a wide range of natural objects. They use their developing knowledge of colours to describe the vibrant shades of autumn. However, staff sometimes, do not give children sufficient warning before essential daily routines, such as tidying up for meals. This means that children's engagement and exploration are interrupted before they have reached a natural conclusion.
• Children behave well. They share and take turns. Children wait patiently for their friends as they practise their physical skills, learning how to independently serve their own lunches. For example, children grasp serving tongs to pick up fish fingers and use spoons to add vegetables to their plates.
• Overall, children develop good communication skills. They confidently talk to staff and use increasingly complex language to share their thoughts and ideas. However, at times, staff are too quick to respond to the questions they ask children. This means that children do not always have time to think about and answer the questions for themselves.
• Staff work with external professionals, such as health visitors, to complete the progress check for children aged between two and three years old. This helps to identify and provide support for children who need additional help to close any gaps in their learning. Staff contact teachers at local schools. They share information about children's development and their achievements to help support continuity as they move on to the next stage of their education.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive good levels of support. Staff follow children's individual learning plans. They work closely with parents and relevant professionals to share children's achievements and plan for what they need to learn next.
• Children have secure, trusting relationships with staff, who know them well. Younger children giggle and smile at staff as they sing their favourite rhymes and songs. They remember some of the actions, rolling their arms around and around as they wind up the imaginary bobbin. Staff lay babies under wooden activity arches. This encourages them to use their arms and hands to reach out for objects dangling just within their reach. Babies excitedly wave their arms and kick their legs as they reach up for the shapes, responding to the heartfelt praise from staff.
• Parents comment that they are happy with the care and learning opportunities their children receive. Staff provide them with daily feedback about how their children have been and any achievements. Parents also access their children's developmental records online. This helps them to support their children's learning further at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review and develop ways to enable children to complete self-chosen play prior to daily routine changes
• build further on staff's questioning techniques to encourage children to think about and respond to questions in their own time.