Toddle In Group

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children make good progress during their time in this setting. They receive a warm welcome from staff who show high levels of care through their kind and nurturing interactions with the children and their families. This helps children feel safe and secure.

Children develop strong social and emotional development through positive relationships with their peers and the adults that care for them. Staff model positive interactions and listen and respond as children talk to them about what they are looking forward to doing during the day. This helps children gain strong communication and language skills.

Staff model good manners, and this supports children to be polite and courteous to each other and the staff. They show good manners when asking questions or sharing their play. Children are curious and enjoy exploring the patterns they can make with water and paintbrushes. Staff join the children in making marks and painting with water in the garden.

Children have high self-esteem and confidence. Children develop resilience when they learn to negotiate and solve problems. For example, when they use a range of ingredients to make their own dough. They learn they need more flour when the mixture is too sticky. Staff encourage and praise children and their achievements.

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

• Senior managers have a clear ambition and vision for what they want children to learn during their time at the setting. They develop their curriculum and plan to build on what children know and can do. This supports children's next steps in learning and development. Managers have a strong focus on continuous professional development and share their learning and skills with staff. They build on the already good practice and develop staff knowledge and skills further. This helps staff plan teaching that is purposeful in helping children make good progress.
• Managers and staff build positive and lasting relationships with children and their families. This helps them plan based on children's interests and needs. Staff tailor a wide variety of challenging experiences for each child. They know children well and adapt their teaching to ensure that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), have opportunities to access and engage in play and learning.
• Staff build positive partnerships with parents. They share daily feedback about what children have been learning. Staff offer support and reassurance for any questions or concerns parents may have. Parents are assured their children are making good progress and developing excellent communication and language skills. Staff use strategies such as a lending library to support this approach. Children and parents borrow books to read at home and build on their language skills further.
• Children develop good independence skills overall. Staff support them in making decisions that help them build on these skills. Children are asked to vote for one of two activities each day. The activity with the most votes is then set up for the day. This helps children gain a sense of belonging and inclusion in their choices of play and learning. Children can then engage in their chosen activity and explore their creative skills in arts and crafts. They particularly enjoy exploring textures of paints during Easter activities. However, for the younger children, there are times when staff do not consider how to encourage them to be more independent when engaging in creative experiences and instead direct what they do. This does not fully support them to be curious and test out their own ideas.
• Staff provide a range of activities that challenge and support children's physical skills. They explain and model safety when children are managing risk in climbing, balancing and jumping. Children develop the confidence and resilience they need to explore and practise their skills and abilities. Staff encourage and praise children as they explore the garden space. Children show pride in their achievements. For example, children climb the apparatus as staff explain how they can balance and hold on to climb over the top and come down the other side. Staff offer a helping hand for those that need it.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's understanding of how to support young children in exploring and developing their own ideas and finding things out for themselves.