The Treehouse Goole

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide an extremely nurturing and welcoming environment for all children. They warmly welcome children when they first arrive and help them to settle. Children find their names and photos of themselves, and they self-register. They form close relationships with their key person from the start. Staff find out detailed information about children from parents during visits, for example babies' feeding routines, allergies and intolerances and about their family members. Children have a strong sense of belonging within the nursery. They show that they feel safe and emotionally secure.

Staff successfully implement a curriculum to meet children's individual learning needs and interests. They observe children and ask parents for information about children's learning and development at home. This helps to maintain a positive partnership with parents. Staff plan regular outings. For example, they visit local shops and play parks and go for walks along the riverbank. These help to promote children's sense of self within the local community.

Children enjoy interesting activities, such as sensory play with soil and sand. Staff extend children's language by providing them with descriptive words, such as 'scoop', 'dig' and 'splat'. Staff support children well as they play with them. For example, they challenge children to identify and understand the concepts of shape as they build with construction resources. Children learn to describe and count as they explore toy dinosaurs in sand. Staff support children to develop their physical skills well. For instance, they squeeze and manipulate dough to strengthen small muscles. Staff encourage children to practise their larger-physical abilities as they 'stomp' like dinosaurs in the garden.

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

• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents feel that the staff are very good at communicating and speak highly of the staff team. Parents receive regular information regarding their children's learning and development. They comment that they think staff are friendly and polite. Staff invite parents to attend stay- and-play sessions throughout the year, for example at Halloween, Christmas and Mother's Day.
• Children benefit from exciting and interesting opportunities to help them to focus on their learning. For example, older children develop their literacy skills and knowledge of the world, as they draw and learn about sharks living in the sea. Staff help children to understand that sharks have 'fins' and 'tails'. Younger children are fascinated rolling balls and cars. They enjoy shaking instruments to make interesting noises. Staff are attentive to children's interests.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points. Engagement with external professionals is effective. For example, management seek advice from specialists and provide targeted support for children who have gaps in their learning. Any additional funding the nursery receives is used to support children's individual needs.
• Staff are kind and respectful to children. They model good manners and talk to them in a caring manner. Children's behaviour is generally good. However, staff do not always offer children explanations for why some behaviour is undesirable. Consequently, children do not develop the level of understanding of the behaviour rules that they are capable of.
• Leaders have a clear and ambitious vision for providing high-quality, inclusive care and education for all children. They focus on improving staff's knowledge and skills to help enhance their teaching skills and the quality of education. For example, staff are encouraged to attend training, such as specific baby training and safer sleeping. Staff take part in regular supervision sessions. They feel well supported by the management team.
• Management is proactive in making improvements to the nursery and the experiences children receive. They feel that they have benefited from the good support from the local authority to help them to make continuous improvements.
• Staff promote children's emerging self-help skills effectively. Children learn to serve their own portions of fruit at snack time. They put on their own coats before going out to play, and older children are encouraged to use the bathroom independently. These skills help to prepare children for their future move to school.
• Children benefit from lots of fresh air and physical exercise. However, staff do not yet do enough to support children or parents to make good choices around eating healthily. For example, children bring food from home, which consists of unhealthy items they eat at lunchtime. As a result, children do not fully understand how to keep their bodies healthy.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help children gain a clearer understanding of why some behaviour is undesirable, so they show they know why behaviour rules are in place
• provide clearer, consistent messages regarding healthy eating for children, so they build their awareness of the importance of a healthy diet.