Tunstall Methodist Church Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The manager and staff provide children with an outstanding start to their education. All children flourish and gain an excellent foundation in their learning. Staff prioritise helping children to form close attachments so they feel safe, relaxed and happy in their care. Younger children are comfortable and confident to make themselves understood to express their needs and wishes. Older children have a strong sense of belonging and show the inspector around the nursery. They know what the rules are and explain these articulately. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive outstanding support.

The manager and staff place the development of children's listening and attention at the heart of their curriculum. This ensures that children are ready to learn. Two-year-old children learn to gain eye contact. They learn to listen and watch as part of their early communication skills. Pre-school children show high levels of concentration during animated discussions with staff. Staff skilfully adjust the volume of their voice to support the children with their listening and attention skills.

Children's behaviour is exemplary. Staff model how to conduct themselves as well-mannered and respectful individuals. Children also learn to develop their sense of belonging and their shared cultural heritage. This includes finding out about the lives of people in the past that shaped their community.

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

• The manager goes above and beyond to ensure that the service they provide fully benefits the children and their families. She continuously reflects on staff practice and the provision for children to provide high-quality, early education and care. Children's well-being is paramount to the manager and the staff. For example, the manager liaises with the local authority to ensure that funding is accessed by all families who are eligible.
• The manager is committed to providing staff with precisely focused professional development so they all continue to extend their practice. All staff are highly skilled and knowledgeable about child development and how to help children to achieve their full potential. Recent training has supported them to further secure their knowledge to provide outstanding teaching for children with SEND. The manager has also focused on helping staff to use the local community as a teaching tool to enrich children's learning experiences. Staff feel extremely well supported, and appreciate how their well-being is also important to the manager.
• The manager and staff monitor children's progress meticulously. They work extremely closely with parents and other professionals from the start to ensure that children's starting points are analysed fully to inform teaching. The special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator (SENCo) and staff ensure they provide children with SEND the educational programmes that precisely match their learning needs. Staff work diligently to ensure that children with language delay receive highly focused teaching so they also have the opportunity to excel.
• The manager has developed a comprehensive and bespoke curriculum that precisely targets the needs of the children and addresses gaps in their experiences. Staff use their expert understanding of child development to ensure that children gain the essential skills and knowledge they need. For example, staff use snack time to deliver some key aspects of their curriculum. Children learn to recognise their own needs and choose to have snack when they feel hungry. Two-year-old children learn to make choices and to communicate these using single words or gestures. They look at images of healthy snacks, decide what they want to eat and then indicate their wishes to staff. Older children organise their snack routine for themselves. This includes learning good hygiene routines and cleaning the table before they eat.
• The manager and staff are highly intuitive in their observations of children. They use this information expertly to shape the curriculum and plan the learning environment. This ensures that the available resources are matched to children's specific stage of development. Staff provide two-year-old children with learning experiences that they can identify with. They make careful adjustments to ensure that two-year-old children can relate to the learning experiences, such as role-play opportunities. Pre-school children benefit from an extensive range of resources that encourage their developing language during imaginative play.
• The manager and staff place a strong focus on supporting children's resilience so they understand the importance of persevering. Staff model to children how sometimes things don't go to plan. Children advise staff to try again when they attempt to make a balloon stretch without it springing back. Children enthusiastically join in a song about trying again and not giving up.
• The excellent parent partnership arrangements ensure that parents are fully supported to help their child's continued learning at home and to be part of their child's learning journey. Parents talk enthusiastically about their experiences of the nursery and the wealth of support that the staff provide them with. They say how sending their children to the nursery is the best decision they have made.