Woodhouse Community Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are happy, busy and learning in this well-run, welcoming and homely playgroup. They are strongly nurtured, supported and encouraged by the experienced and knowledgeable staff team. Children make good progress overall in all areas of their learning and development. They are well prepared for the next stage in their education, including starting school. For example, children learn to pay attention to adults and each other. They take turns as they experiment with magnets to find out whether they attract or repel other magnets and different objects.

Children settle in well to playgroup life and soon learn to feel confident and safe. Staff make very good use of detailed information from parents about children's interests and preferences to support children. This helps children to feel happy while away from home for the first time and to trust others. For example, staff encourage children to join in singing their favourite songs or nursery rhymes, and to listen to others sing their songs. Parents comment very positively on how well staff encourage their children's social skills, behaviour and sense of well-being, particularly after difficult circumstances, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

• Staff support children's developing communication skills well overall. They help children to listen well and look at the person talking to them, for example, by using engaging signs and pictures or entertaining glove puppets. They make good use of songs to help children to recall and repeat phrases with softer and louder voices. However, staff do not fully extend children's vocabulary, for example, by introducing new, more-exciting and memorable words during their interactions with them.
• The experienced and well-qualified manager provides strong and clear leadership to her long-standing team. There are robust procedures for planning and developing the curriculum, which are built on a thorough knowledge of children's needs and the expectations for their age group. Staff review children's achievements, share the outcomes of training, and evaluate their practice through well-managed supervision sessions and daily morning meetings.
• Staff nurture and support children to feel good about themselves and become increasingly self-aware. Children take pride in their achievements and learn to care for themselves and others. They are very good at tidying up throughout their play and they help each other. For example, children stack the large construction blocks in a safe and organised way.
• Children are encouraged to develop a love of books and learn more about the world through them. For instance, two-year-old children eagerly anticipate what animal is behind the different-shaped flaps in the popular story 'Dear Zoo'. Staff create imaginative opportunities for children to experience different kinds of literature, such as looking at plant catalogues for their gardening activities or non-fiction books about tools and buildings in their construction area.
• Staff nurture and support children with SEND and other vulnerable learners very well. They use their good knowledge of children's development to identify potential concerns or gaps in children's learning and development at an early stage. Staff recognise when they need to involve other professionals, such as speech and language therapists or inclusion services. They support parents well to make full use of the support and funding available.
• Children behave well and learn to be polite and considerate. They respond positively to staff's high expectations. For example, staff help them to make decisions about the healthy snacks on offer. They encourage children to respond with 'please' and 'thank you' appropriately. Staff help children to use cutlery and drink from open cups with care. Staff help children who sometimes find it difficult to manage their emotions and to play and dine safely with others.
• Parents are very proud of the playgroup. They particularly identify the 'home-from-home' care that their children receive and the good preparation for their later learning. This is further recognised in the playgroup's achievement of a national 'Make a Difference' community award.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• focus staff's professional development on fully enriching and extending children's vocabulary and language skills.