Woodlands Playgroup Community Interest Company

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enter the setting happy and eager to explore the range of activities on offer. They have a wide range of opportunities to develop their physical skills. Older children climb on large play equipment and race their friends round the garden. Children show determination as they attempt to use scissors and pull up the zip on their coat. They develop their hand-to-eye coordination skills as they use tweezers to move cereal from one container to another. Furthermore, children practise cutting with scissors and use brushes and pens to make marks. This helps them to develop their small muscle skills.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, staff now greet all children and their families warmly at the nursery's main entrance. On arrival, most children confidently leave their parents and eagerly seek out enjoyable activities in their nursery rooms. Children who are a little unsettled are quickly provided with cuddles and reassurance by the caring staff. This helps to support their emotional development.

Children have many opportunities to develop their early mathematical skills. They play with wooden trains and vehicles, and staff encourage them to count the carriages. Children fill buckets with sand and recognise which bucket is 'full' and which is 'empty'. Their behaviour is good. Staff teach children about the nursery rules and boundaries and what is expected of them.

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

• Overall, relationships with parents are a real strength of the setting. Parents comment how supportive the staff are and how much progress their children have made. Staff gather crucial information from parents about what children know and can do when they first start at the setting. They talk to parents at the end of the day and share information about their child's daily activities through an online system. However, staff do not share enough information with parents about what children need to learn next, or how to further support their learning at home.
• Staff work well as a team. They have regular meetings to reflect on their practice and the learning experiences they provide for children. The manager makes good use of supervision meetings to support staff's well-being effectively. Staff are happy and feel well supported in their roles. However, the manager has not yet identified further training and development for staff to help raise their practice to an even higher level.
• Staff make regular observations and assessments of children's learning and progress. They use this information to plan exciting activities that focus on what children need to learn next. However, some parts of the daily routine, such as snack time, do not always meet the needs of all children. This means that some children's learning is not maximised.
• Children foster a love of reading as they spend time looking at books independently and with each other. Staff read 'We're going on a bear hunt' and encourage children to act out parts of the story. Children go in search of the bear, hunting round the setting with magnifying glasses and binoculars. They excitedly pretend to swish through grass and walk through the mud. This helps children to develop their early literacy skills.
• Children are confident and they have secure attachments with key persons and other members of staff. They understand the expectations of the setting and listen to staff when they need some guidance and support. Staff encourage, praise and acknowledge good manners. As a result, children are beginning to manage their own feelings and behave well.
• There is very good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The special educational needs coordinator works closely with key staff and parents to develop support plans and ensure that children's individual needs are met. All staff work in close partnership with a range of professionals to support children to reach their full potential.
• Staff focus strongly on supporting children's language skills and personal and social development. They are positive role models for children and provide them with lots of support. For example, staff introduce new vocabulary and help children learn to take turns and share during activities.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the information shared with parents to enable them to support and encourage children's learning and development at home
• review the deployment of staff during snack time to ensure all children are appropriately supported to develop their learning even further
• seek wider training opportunities to further develop staff's skills and knowledge.