Wolstanton Kindergarten

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are welcomed by happy and enthusiastic staff as they arrive at this nursery. They separate easily from their parents and settle quickly into activities with their key person. Children develop warm relationships with the kind and caring staff. Staff have a consistent approach to their high expectations for behaviour and conduct in the nursery. They support children to learn how to recognise their emotions and build on their understanding as they get older. Children behave well. Staff reinforce the rules and boundaries of the setting. They praise children for using positive behaviours, such as when children use manners, share or wait their turn.

Staff implement a sequenced curriculum that is broad and balanced and focuses on the theory that children learn through active involvement with their environment and the importance of learning outdoors. Staff provide a stimulating environment, where all children made good progress. Children enjoy freshly made meals and access to the outdoors every day. Children relish their time outdoors, and consideration is given to all areas of learning in the garden. For example, outdoors, children develop their physical skills, using the climbing frame and skilfully using ride-on toys. Children kick and throw balls, collect water and sand and use their imaginations in the pretend ice-cream parlour.

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

• Staff know the children incredibly well and are highly attuned to their developmental needs and interests. They use this knowledge along with their ongoing assessments to build on what children already know and can do to continually move their learning forward.
• Leaders and managers reflect well on their practice and provide relevant staff training. For example, recent training on the use of natural resources and ways to extend children's vocabulary has been implemented well by staff. Leaders and managers carry out regular supervision meetings with staff to understand and provide support for individual staff about their well-being and to plan for their key children.
• Staff use the information they gain from parents when children start, to plan and deliver learning opportunities that match each child's needs and interests. Staff plan a wealth of adult-led activities that intrigue and excite children. However, occasionally during free play, children become distracted and are not challenged and engaged in purposeful learning.
• Babies explore their environment with confidence and ease. They perfect their walking skills and balance, and they relish exploring inviting sensory activities. Babies cuddle up with staff to look at books and feel the different textures on the pages.
• Toddlers learn to take turns when choosing nursery rhymes depicted on wooden spoons and squeal with delight when it is a familiar song. Children use puppets and soft toys to retell stories, which helps to develop toddlers' literacy skills. Staff interactions are calm, positive and effective. They get down to children's level when speaking to them and make good eye contact. This supports children's communication and language skills.
• During planned activities, staff ensure that questions are relevant and helpful to extend learning even further. For example, during a fruit activity, children are encouraged to explore the pineapple's texture and use words, such as 'spiky,'prickly' and 'sharp' to describe the fruit's skin. Staff reinforce children's previous learning on patterns and sequencing as children select the fruits for their fruit kebab. Children show sustained concentration and perseverance as they attach the small pieces of fruit to sticks and peel their own orange.
• Overall, staff support children's independence skills well. They gently teach young babies how to feed themselves, and pre-school children confidently pour their drinks and use the bathroom independently. However, staff do not always encourage older children to tidy away resources after they have finished with them and respect their environment. For example, creative resources are removed from the table and discarded on the floor. This does not support older children with the information they need for when they start school.
• Children learn about the diverse community in which they live and their own heritage. For example, staff planned a range of activities to celebrate the centenary of Stoke-on-Trent, marking one hundred years since it was granted city status. Staff take children to visit a local care home, where they sing and share stories and craft activities with the residents.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents feel well informed about how they can help their children's progress at home. Parents describe the trust and respect they have for staff and the sense of community created by them.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help older children to understand how to take more care of their environment and resources, particularly when they are leading their own play
• improve the implementation of the curriculum, particularly during free-play activities, so it is consistently ambitious and ensures children are engaged more consistently in purposeful play and learning.