Winterbourne Early Years Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children behave exceptionally well. They take turns with resources, show respect for each other's ideas and play beautifully together. Staff use their training and experience highly effectively to support children in their behaviour, especially following prolonged absences due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff implement consistent strategies, for example gentle reminders to children about using kind hands and providing clear behaviour expectations to calm enthusiastic action games.

Children thoroughly enjoy stories that help them to recognise how they feel and help them to match their emotions to a colour. Children are beginning to use these visual reminders to identify facial expressions and draw their own to show how they feel. Friendly and approachable staff are highly respectful and acknowledge children's emotions to help them make good choices and improve how they feel. Children make independent choices and are motivated to learn in a stimulating learning environment. They actively choose resources from the art trolley and are encouraged to develop their creative ideas. Children choose whether to take their creations home or to display them on a low-level display board, which they are encouraged to do for themselves.

Children feel safe and have a strong sense of belonging. They learn about themselves and the different families that attend the setting. For example, staff use the family display board well to spark conversations to help children think about their own family and those of their friends.

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

• Staff carefully consider the learning environment and provide a wealth of exciting and enriching experiences. These reflect children's interests and support their next steps successfully. For example, staff readily adapt the home corner to represent the children who attend and their home experiences. There are a good range of visual reminders to support children's learning and their developing communication skills. For example, there are photographs of children engaging in cooking activities placed strategically in the home corner. Staff ensure that there are appropriate resources and the corresponding recipes for children to use in their imaginative play.
• Staff know their key children well. They assess and monitor children's progress accurately, and actively involve parents in their children's learning. Parents provide essential information when children start at the setting. These are regularly updated to ensure that staff have a clear picture of children's learning at home and any changes in their home life.
• There is effective support for children with additional needs. Staff carefully consider each child's individual needs and provide tailored support. Leaders and managers use additional funding successfully to provide a broader range of experiences to progress learning. For example, additional resources have been acquired to support children who learn better outside and resources to encourage children's concentration.
• Staff working with the younger children model language well to extend children's thinking and vocabulary. For example, they encourage children to think about where they may find worms. Staff commentate on their actions as they move stumps and artificial turf to provide a greater range of vocabulary. Older children confidently explain how to use tools to make 'dragon sneezes'. At times, staff do not give children the time they need to process questions and to think of a response before staff answer for them.
• Staff provide children with clear explanations to help them learn to keep themselves safe. During forest school activities, older children complete risk assessments before they start exploring the woodland area. Children decide to mark an area where there has been fox activity with flour, showing excellent understanding of how to identify when an area is not safe. Children use tools safely, such as the drill to make holes in the tree stumps. They listen carefully to instructions and wait patiently for their turn. Children explore nature confidently, showing curiosity in the range of creatures they find.
• Younger children engage in 'risky play' enthusiastically, under the close supervision of staff. For example, children move a small ladder to the tree and keenly show how they can climb the tree to look for bugs. Children show pride in their achievements and develop high levels of self-esteem.
• Younger children relish activities, such as the 'blue bucket'. They are focused and show good listening and attention. Children understand the expectation to look and not touch the exciting resources. Children's behaviour is impeccable. However, at times, the quality of staff interactions during these group activities does not always model the purpose of the activity.
• Leaders, managers and staff evaluate the setting well. They regularly reflect on the experiences of children and have a clear plan for improvement. For example, in the pre-school room, staff have created choosing boards. This has particularly supported those children who are less confident and/or less verbal to be involved in their own learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide children with time to respond to questions to support their language and thinking skills even further
• develop further staff understanding of their roles in group activities to better support children's learning.