The Treehouse

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and safe at the setting. They are confident and engage in a range of activities independently and with staff's support. Learning experiences and spaces are well thought out so that children are challenged. For instance, older children have time away from babies as they practise drawing and painting farm animals in the adjoined sports hall. Later, they participate in a farm-themed yoga session to promote wellness and calm.

The local community and nature play an important role in the setting's curriculum and ethos. Managers and staff want children to know about nature, the world around them and the great outdoors. Staff plan a range of outings and organise visitors to come to the nursery to give children new experiences. For example, children regularly visit the local nature reserve and enjoy collecting natural objects. They bring them back to nursery to explore and use in their play. As children learn about the life cycle of a caterpillar, they delight in hatching caterpillars and watch with wonder as they change into butterflies. Staff use songs and books to further extend and support children's knowledge in this area.

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

• Children enjoy their time in the setting and have secure attachments with kind, caring and sensitive staff. They settle quickly and staff spend time getting to know children's individual personalities and what they like to do.
• Staff observe children as they play to find out what they know, understand and can do. They use their assessments to identify any gaps in children's learning and plan experiences to close these. Staff use their knowledge of how children learn and develop alongside children's interests to plan a diverse curriculum that helps children to make progress. All children are challenged. Staff adapt activities to meet their individual needs. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well.
• Children develop well in all areas of learning. They play alongside each other and form good relationships with staff and peers. Children enjoy a range of experiences to support their physical skills. They climb on logs outside, manipulate play dough and visit the local playground. Children engage in endless stories and singing to support their communication and language skills. Babies join in with making animals sounds as they listen to staff singing familiar songs. Staff use puppets and props to further support their understanding.
• Staff have high expectations for all children and are good role models. They teach children right from wrong and support children to follow the rules and boundaries in place. Older children help to tidy away resources and encouraged younger children to do the same. For example, when younger children are reluctant to help to tidy away, older children give them suggestions such as to have three more goes with a toy before putting it away.
• Parents are happy with the setting and say that they chose it because of the community feel and number of outdoor opportunities children receive. They praise the loving, caring nature of the staff and say that children settled quickly because of this. Parents are kept informed about what children do on a daily basis in the setting through an online app. However, staff do not always share information about how parents can support their children's learning and development further at home.
• Leaders and managers offer staff support through online training. They hold regular team meetings where they discuss children's learning needs and how they are going to meet these. Managers are building a new staff team. However, they have not fully embedded their tools for monitoring staff performance that help to enhance the quality of their teaching practice.
• Self-evaluation is effective. Leaders and staff work together to reflect on what works well and drive forward improvements. The manager is ambitious and prides herself on using the local community and nature to inspire children's curiosity, awe and wonder.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the arrangements for monitoring staff and help to provide consistently high levels of practice
• explore more ways to effectively engage all parents in their children's learning as part of their continuing involvement in their children's developmental progress.