Twixus (Garland Hill) Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, confident and secure. They are warmly greeted when they arrive at the setting for different sessions during the day. This helps children to settle quickly. Children are encouraged to explore and experiment. For instance, toddlers use their senses to explore a wide range of textures during messy play. Staff discuss how things feel rough and smooth. Children extend their learning as they search for different objects which they link to familiar stories. They sit and read to themselves, and they snuggle up with adults to hear stories being read to them. All children, including those who receive additional funding and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make secure progress in their learning from their starting points.

Children demonstrate a positive attitude to learning. For example, they take great delight in brushing the pretend teeth with real toothpaste and toothbrushes. Young children are developing good hand-eye coordination. In addition, they are developing an understanding of how to keep healthy. From a young age children listen and follow instructions. They respond positively to adults and each other. Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. As a result, children behave well. For example, during the fire-drill practice, children confidently follow staff to the outside area. Children are learning how to keep themselves safe.

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

• Managers and staff work closely with parents. For instance, they gather information about children before they start. They create portfolio displays to help support the staff's knowledge for individual children. Staff display babies' daily milk routines, likes and dislikes. Babies form good attachments with staff. However, managers and staff do not consider how to create opportunities for children to extend their awareness of different families, languages and cultures to gain a greater appreciation of the world around them. This would build on their understanding of their diverse community and world.
• Overall, staff support children's learning and development well through a broad and varied curriculum. They interact with children and ask questions to broaden their knowledge. However, on occasion, daily routines and group activities do not focus clearly on encouraging children to develop their independence skills. In addition, staff in the pre-school do not consider further challenging experiences for children during planned activities.
• The ambitious managers provide a curriculum with a broad range of activities for all children, both inside and outside. For instance, older children have the opportunity to go swimming. Children explore nature and develop their physical skills in the well-resourced garden areas. Children take risks and learn how to keep safe. For example, they learn how to build fires and climb trees. This builds on their confidence and resilience skills. Children's behaviour is good.
• Leaders have developed effective systems to monitor children's progress and identify any gaps in learning. Parents comment on how well children with SEND are supported. Managers work closely with other settings and professionals to support children's development and transitions to the next stage of their learning and school.
• Children are supported to develop their vocabulary. From the start of the day, staff repeat words and discuss with children what they are doing. They also ask questions to support children's conversation skills. For instance, pre-school children talk about the images they are cutting out and sticking from magazines. Children confidently identify 'mangos' in the pictures. Babies babble and join in songs as they explore different colours and textures, such as ripped tissue paper, in the garden. Children receive lots of positive praise for their efforts.
• Children develop their creative skills as they use paint, brushes and different resources during group activities. Staff encourage children to use their imagination and explore their ideas. Young children enjoy making their own choices about what to add to their creations. For instance, children count how many wiggly eyes they want to stick on their monster. Young children count 1,2,3,4,5, developing their early mathematical skills.
• Managers support staff to continue their professional development. They carry out peer observations and hold regular meetings to review the setting. This helps staff to develop their teaching of the curriculum.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen opportunities for children to learn about cultural diversity outside their own community
• extend opportunities for children to develop their independence skills and do more things for themselves
• improve the implementation of group activities to provide appropriate challenge for pre-school children.