Trinity Playcentre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy to attend this setting. They are nicely settled and display a positive attitude to learning. Children form strong and warm relationships with the staff, who support their emotional well-being, self-esteem and resilience. Children are very familiar with the setting's established routines. For example, as soon as children arrive at the setting, they proudly find their name tags and post them in a letter box, showing good early reading skills. Staff encourage children to talk about how they are feeling, to learn more about their emotions and how to manage them.

Children navigate around the setting with curiosity and interest, choosing activities that spark their interest and excitement. Staff often use visual prompts and cues to support children who speak English as an additional language. Children enjoy pretending to serve drinks and food in the home corner. They use their previous experiences to engage in role play with their peers, which helps them to strengthen their social interactions. Children enjoy exploring messy activities, where they have meaningful opportunities to investigate different textures and mix different colours. Staff support the children to explore, discover and make their own predictions. They learn that mixing red and blue makes purple. As a result, children feel proud and accomplished. Children also enjoy making their own healthy choices at snack time. This helps to boost their self-esteem and confidence.

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

• Staff offer a rich environment with plenty of meaningful learning opportunities. Children choose the activities they would like to explore. They learn to share and take turns with ease and confidence. For example, children take it in turns to decide what song they would like to sing next. They enjoy their favourite nursery rhymes and smile and giggle with excitement.
• Staff model language well and engage in conversations with the children. They use open-ended questions and introduce new vocabulary. However, staff do not use all opportunities to encourage younger children, or children requiring further support, to repeat these words to secure their knowledge.
• Children have good opportunities to build on their fine motor skills. They concentrate well to trace patterns and shapes, to build on their pencil control and hand-to-eye coordination. Staff talk to the children about their pictures and praise them for their achievements.
• Children enjoy exploring different media and materials to create beautiful cards. They concentrate well for extensive periods of time and persevere when challenges occur. This helps support children's creativity and imagination, as well as their fine motor skills and dexterity. Children are happy to display their own cards, smiling and feeling very proud.
• Children enjoy books and develop a passion for reading. For example, they really enjoy listening to their favourite story about the 'The Gruffalo's Child'. They look at the pictures with curiosity and great interest and engage in discussions with their peers. This helps to support children's literacy skills and imagination.
• Staff have good knowledge of children's learning. They understand what children need to learn next and use information from their observations of children to guide their planning. Staff also support children who speak English as an additional language by using visual cues and modelling language effectively. However, occasionally, staff do not identify when children need more challenge to extend their learning further.
• Leaders' vision for their setting is ambitious. They continuously strive to improve the quality of care and education to benefit all children. This includes working in close partnership with external agencies and offering additional support to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders value their team's well-being and career development. They organise regular meetings and training to ensure they keep their knowledge up to date.
• Parents have a good rapport with all staff. They are highly positive about the setting's approach to children's learning. They praise the flexibility and inclusiveness of leaders and staff. Parents regularly meet with staff to discuss their children's progress and how to support their learning at home

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide opportunities for children to hear and learn a wider range of new words to broaden their vocabulary, particularly for younger children and children who require extra support
• strengthen the quality of teaching and education to ensure children benefit from extensive and challenging learning opportunities.