Toye Box Early Years Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, settled and confident at the pre-school. Staff have high expectations for all children and their teaching is supportive of their individual level of development. Children enjoy the variety of activities and experiences available to them. For example, toddler children are fascinated as they watch the patterns and listen out for the sounds from the interactive lights. Children throughout the pre-school are well behaved. They build strong friendships from a young age and play imaginatively and collaboratively together. All children make good progress in their learning, including those with additional funding and with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Children play in a safe, clean and well-maintained environment. They benefit from the good focus on outdoor play, which supports them in being physically active. Children are supported to take risks as they use various equipment to climb and balance on. This promotes children's coordination and physical development well. Additionally, staff reinforce children's knowledge of safety rules as they remind them that they can only use the bikes when they have their helmets on. Children have many opportunities to investigate, and they enjoy exploring with sensory activities. For example, children have fun with different materials such as lentils in dough and enjoy making cereal bracelets.

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

• Staff have a strong understanding of how children are developing and have a clear understanding of what children need to learn next. They plan and provide a broad curriculum that is supportive of children's development and based on children's interests. For instance, children of all ages enjoy singing and listening to stories where they become absorbed as props and puppets are added to bring the stories alive.
• The quality of the curriculum is good. Staff support children's communication and language skills as they talk to them about what they are doing and what they could do next. However, on occasions, some staff do not give children sufficient time to think and respond to questions. Regardless of this, staff provide fun activities that interest the children. For example, children enjoy being creative with arts and crafts, making biscuits and exploring with various construction activities.
• Staff work in close partnerships with parents and other professionals involved in children's care. Parents do not come into the pre-school due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they speak positively about the staff, the activities provided and how their children are progressing. Staff regularly share updates with parents and gain relevant information from them to maintain continuity of care and learning.
• Staff encourage children's awareness of the wider world well. They include different festivals in many activities. This helps to support children's understanding of celebrations and faiths from around the world. Staff support children who speak English as an additional language effectively . They encourage children to use words from their home language in the day. This enables other children to hear and learn new words, which supports their awareness of different cultures.
• Overall, children behave well and are beginning to manage their own behaviour. Staff give gentle reminders as needed to help reinforce boundaries that keep children safe. They regularly praise children for helping, sharing and being kind to others, which helps to support their self-esteem.
• Staff teach children good hygiene routines. For instance, they educate them in the importance of washing their hands prior to eating. Children bring in their own lunches from home. Staff support children's self-help skills well. For instance, staff teach children how to open packaging and help them to learn the skills to pour their own drinks. However, when children are eating, staff do not consistently support children to understand how to maintain their well-being. For example, some children at times move around and play with toys while eating.
• The leadership team supports staff to ensure that their well-being is maintained. For instance, they offer time for staff to complete documentation and training within the working day. Staff comment they are well supported and state that they enjoy being part of the team. The manager offers regular supervision, discussions and team meetings to help staff reflect on their practice and to identify further training needs.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the organisation of some daily routines, with particular regards to mealtime, to ensure healthy practice is maintained
• strengthen staff practice to consistently give children the time they need think and answer questions.