Wonderland Early Years Day Care

Inclusion: Expected standard

Leaders are proactive in ensuring that the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to their learning are typically met. Leaders and staff work closely with families to understand their children's needs from the start and put support in place quickly. For example, their individualised settling-in process helps children separate from their parents and feel safe and secure in the setting.

Assessment, observations and close partnerships with parents and professionals ensure that early help is identified. For example, staff explain to parents how specific screening programmes will help to identify any concerns with speech and language. Assessments are shared with parents, and helpful strategies are discussed to assist them at home in order to provide a consistent approach in supporting their children, for example with toileting. This helps children to make progress in their learning and development.

Staff support children to learn about what makes them unique. For example, staff sensitively explain why some children wear specialist equipment to help them with their hearing. Children are provided with experiences to learn about festivals and spend time in a local care home. This helps children to understand their wider world and develop a sense of belonging.

Curriculum and teaching: Needs attention

Leaders have planned a curriculum framework to generally support all children's overall development. However, the curriculum is in its infancy and is not yet fully implemented and embedded by all staff. On some occasions, planned routines and activities do not meet the needs of all children. All children experience the same activity at the same time, so teaching and learning are not always differentiated to meet the needs of the mixed-age grouping. For example, during circle time, some children lose focus and become disengaged. Furthermore, when children arrive with items such as feathers that they have collected on their way into the setting, staff miss these cues and fail to deeply engage with the children. That said, leaders recognise that they need to drive the quality of teaching to the highest levels and consistently embed children's skills, knowledge and understanding across all areas of the curriculum.

Leaders have placed a focus on supporting children's personal, social and emotional development to help children build secure attachments with those around them. Staff are enthusiastic and committed to the caring and positive ethos that the setting promotes. They make some use of observations and assessments to understand what children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those facing other barriers to learning, need to learn next.

Overall, communication and language skills are promoted well. Staff use clear, age-appropriate language and use a range of communication strategies to help children with SEND and those facing other barriers to learning. All children are learning to communicate with confidence and are building language structures. Typically, staff are beginning to support children to develop important mathematical concepts, such as number and colour. However, some staff are less successful in teaching about wider aspects of mathematics, such as weight, volume and measure. As a result, children's experiences in these aspects of mathematics are not as well planned. Staff provide opportunities for children to be physically active through climbing and balancing equipment, as well as mark-making activities.

Achievement: Needs attention

Generally, children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing other barriers to learning, are making progress in preparation for the next stage in their learning. However, this is not as consistent as it could be, as staff do not always deepen and embed children's achievements. For example, staff do not always recognise when individual children are deeply engaged in their play and the whole group is moved on to the next learning activity. This means that some children may not make the progress they are capable of.

Children show increasing independence as they manage routines. For example, children recognise when they want to have a drink, and access their water bottles. At lunchtime, they are supported to self-serve and clear their plates. They show that they feel comfortable and secure in their learning environment and enjoy time with their siblings. Children experience daily walks in their community to visit local shops and parks and are beginning to understand the wider world around them.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Leaders and staff consistently model expected behaviours. Overall, children behave well and play alongside each other. Older children are kind and caring toward their younger peers, checking in with them during play. Additionally, they are respectful of their learning environment, helping to tidy away their toys when the tidy-up song is played by staff. When minor conflicts arise, staff sensitively support children to resolve the issue. This helps children to learn to share, take turns and play cooperatively.

Effective key-person systems are in place. Children have positive and secure relationships with those who care for them and know them well. Staff know about children's home lives and are aware of changes ahead of them. Secure partnerships are in place with parents to help ensure that strategies needed to support any behavioural concerns are applied consistently. Parents are extremely complimentary of the relationships they have with the staff, which have helped their children to flourish both in the setting and at home.

Children demonstrate positive attitudes and resilience in their learning. For example, children are supported by staff to build complex road and bridge structures. When they collapse, children simply try again and successfully accomplish their task.

Leaders have robust processes in place to follow up on children's absences. This helps to set good habits for future learning.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Leaders and staff greet children and their parents warmly when they arrive at the setting. They have designed flexible and robust settling-in procedures tailored to individual needs. This ensures that staff know the children well and that children settle quickly into the setting. All children, including those that need additional support, demonstrate that they feel safe, happy and secure.

Lunchtime is a social occasion where all children come together to chat with their friends. Occasionally, staff do not extend opportunities to develop children's awareness and understanding of healthy food and drink choices. Strengthening teaching in these areas will help promote children's attitudes to lifelong healthy habits. That said, staff help children to learn about how to keep themselves safe. For example, children know and understand why they need to wear their sun cream and hats. When walking to the park, staff support children to learn how to stop, listen and watch for traffic before they cross the road.

Leaders and staff promote children's physical health well. Children have plentiful opportunities for physical play. For example, children build structures and practise their balancing skills as they walk along them, then enjoy jumping off at the end.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders recognise that this is a developing setting and that their curriculum is in its early infancy. They have a robust understanding of the setting's strengths and priorities for development. They have a clear commitment and vision to provide high-quality learning experiences for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing other barriers to learning. Furthermore, they understand the value of continuous quality improvement. Leaders provide appropriate support and supervision for the staff team. Staff members who are less experienced are being supported by leaders to strengthen their teaching skills. However, these skills are not fully embedded yet. Staff say they feel well supported by the leadership team and their workload is manageable. Staff morale is high, which creates a positive learning environment for children.

Leaders and staff work in partnership with parents and external professionals to promote children's ongoing development. Parents speak very highly of the setting and recognise the personal support they are given, as well as the support to help them continue their children's learning at home.