Worth Park Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff greet children with enthusiasm as they arrive to playschool. Children eagerly find their named cards that staff have put out for them and they independently put their belongings away. Staff are warm and friendly towards children. This helps children to form special bonds with staff. When children need emotional support, they seek out staff for comfort. Staff readily provide this for children, which helps them to quickly settle.

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They teach children the playschool rules during circle times. Children show that they are familiar with these rules by showing an interest in helping others. For example, when children indicate that they want to pour drinks for their friends, staff help them to do this, which encourages children to be kind to others.

Staff implement strategies for all children to develop their communication and language skills. For example, staff chat to children as they engage in their play. Children also enjoy listening to stories being read by staff, and joining in during singing sessions. Staff encourage children to talk about the book, which helps them to practice their language skills. Additionally, staff use visual aids to support children with speech delay and those who speak English as an additional language. This supports children to be able to communicate their needs.

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

• Leaders design an ambitious curriculum that supports all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to make good progress. This is shared well with staff through regular meetings and discussions. This enables staff to arrange the learning environment to promote children's development.
• Staff incorporate effective risk assessments into the daily routines. For instance. they display the total number of children present and in the garden on the whiteboard. This helps to assist staff to account for children at all times.
• Staff consider ways to enable children to develop an understanding of risks. For example, they practis e fire drills on a regular basis. When staff blow the whistle, children stop what they are doing and follow the instructions given to them. They quietly line up at the door and wait patiently to find out what they need to do next. Afterwards, staff ask children about the process, and they show that they understand that this is to keep them safe if there is a fire. However, staff have not extended this to promote children's understanding of how to keep themselves safe when they use online devices. This does not fully support children to learn to manage risks for themselves.
• Staff ensure that they gather appropriate information about children. This includes building strong partnerships with parents and other agencies involved in children's care. This enables staff to have good knowledge of their key children so that they can implement effective strategies to promote their learning.
• Staff organise the learning environment to provide children with opportunities to develop their physical skills. For example, children enjoy building and climbing across the soft play resources. Staff remind them not to build them up too high so that they do not hurt themselves. Additionally, children spend time using collage material to make pictures. Staff support them to safely cut up pieces of fabric with scissors. This enables children to build on their large and small muscle skills.
• Overall, children behave well. Staff put strategies in place to encourage children to take turns, such as playing games and through daily interactions. Children demonstrate what they have learned by independently sharing the resources with their friends. They respond appropriately when staff intervene to help them to regulate their feelings. However, staff do not extend this to enable children to develop an understanding of the impact of their behaviour on others. This does not fully support children to understand the consequences of their actions.
• Staff support children to develop their mathematical skills. For instance, as children play with wooden puzzles, staff use this opportunity to help them to recognise the numbers. When children are unable to find the correct number, staff implement different strategies to help them. This includes counting the numbers sequentially and encouraging children to look at the colours and shapes of the pieces. This enables children to build on what they already know.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support children to develop an understanding of how to keep themselves safe online
• enhance staff practice to develop a more consistent approach to helping children to understand the impact their behaviour has on others.