Tiddlypeeps Forest School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

There is a friendly, inclusive and warm welcome at this happy outdoor setting. Children, parents, carers and staff gather in the morning sunshine and have lengthy conversations about the children and their needs. Children settle into their play immediately. They choose from a wide range of activities. Children demonstrate their creativity as they decide to paint a picture of a flower. They confidently tell visitors, 'I am painting a rainbow sunflower.' Children develop an impressive vocabulary. For example, they correctly identify a colour as 'indigo'. Children display good physical skills. They zoom around the playground safely on wheeled vehicles. Children investigate the texture of dough and create different marks and textures as they imprint with shells. Staff expertly understand when to engage and when to stand back and give children the freedom to make their own choices and immerse themselves in play. Children are engaged, highly motivated and eager to learn.

Staff ensure children take joint responsibility for their own safety. Staff have a clear understanding of how children learn by taking well-managed risks. Children learn that fire needs to be respected, and they understand that strict rules are in place to keep them safe. For example, children learn not to run in the tepee and not to enter unless there is an adult in there. Children follow these simple rules and behave well.

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

• Staff follow children's interests very well. They prepare interesting activities that excite children's curiosity. For example, a 'potion' station in the meadow keeps children entertained and curious for extended periods of time. Children use lavender seeds, coloured water, pots and pans, and cups and saucers to create potions. They giggle as they mix, pour, scoop and combine ingredients. Children are confident learners.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points. The manager ensures she seeks advice from external professionals and acts on this to benefit children's development in a timely manner. However, on occasions, staff do not make sure that children's targets and support plans are specific enough. This means that not all staff respond to children's emerging communication skills in a consistent manner.
• Children have ample opportunities to build on core muscle strength and develop good hand-to-eye coordination. They learn to climb trees while checking they only climb on branches that are at least as 'thick as your arm'. Children straddle large logs, weave in and out of tall grass and scoot up and down mud banks.
• The manager is highly reflective and evaluates her provision very well. Leaders act with integrity when using additional funding to support children. They work well with external agencies to benefit children. However, many of the children attend more than one setting and these partnerships are not so well developed. Information is not routinely shared for all children to ensure continuity and consistency in their learning and development.
• Children's emotional well-being is supported. Leaders and staff recognise that children may become frustrated in the early stages of managing self-care. Therefore, staff carefully plan small steps to promote children's sense of achievement.
• Staff play alongside children and role model language. They provide a narrative for their interactions and repeat words to help children pronounce them correctly. Older children engage in meaningful conversations with staff. Older and younger children play and interact together. Staff recognise the importance of peer-led development. All the children sing well known nursery rhymes around the campfire. Staff model communication through these rhymes, stories and conversations.
• Parents are very complimentary about the setting. They say how open and friendly staff are. Staff inform parents regularly about their children's development. They gather useful information when children start, so they understand children's likes, dislikes and strengths. The setting finds ways to engage with families outside of the setting. For example, they offer support sessions for parents in the tepee.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance links with other providers and share information about every child's development when children attend more than one setting
• further support staff to plan more precisely for children with additional needs so that staff respond consistently when developing children's emerging communication skills.