Alexandra House

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive happily at this warm, welcoming setting. Friendly, attentive and nurturing staff greet them with smiles.

Children show they feel safe and secure as they confidently say goodbye to their parents with ease. The highly effective key-person system is firmly embedded within the setting. Children have formed strong bonds with staff, who know them very well.

Staff have high expectations for children. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and their families, are very well supported. The setting is fully inclusive, and staff ensure that all children have full ac...cess to the curriculum.

Children have excellent opportunities to develop their small-muscle skills. For example, children strengthen their hand muscles as they investigate a range of activities. Younger children roll dough and press cutters to make different shapes.

Older children concentrate as they use their fingers to grasp small pegs, which they attach to peg boards to form coloured patterns. Children are forming special friendships with each other as they initiate their own play. For example, children engage in imaginative play together.

They make vegetable soup for their 'babies', who they say are 'poorly'. Children giggle and laugh as they explore real vegetables, adding them to pretend cooking pots to make 'soup'. Children say they are feeding the soup to their 'babies' to make them feel better.

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

Leaders and staff implement an effective curriculum that supports all children, including those with SEND, in their learning and development. The setting's special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is highly experienced in her role. She has a wealth of knowledge and understands how to fully support children.

The SENCo works closely with each child's key person and their family to plan targeted support to meet children's individual needs. Staff plan activities based on children's interests, which builds well on what children already know and need to learn next. All children are making good progress.

Leaders are aware of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on children's communication and language development. To help narrow these gaps in children's learning, leaders and staff have completed speech and language training. They have utilised skills from training across the setting to promote learning.

For example, staff use sign language, visual cues and pictorial representations. This nurtures children's understanding and communication effectively. Staff model language clearly, read stories and encourage children to join in with rhymes and songs.

Children's communication and language skills are developing well.Children enjoy a good range of activities. During adult-led activities, staff engage children in learning effectively.

For example, during group time, staff show older children letters on image cards. Staff say the sound of a letter clearly to children. They listen carefully and successfully say the letter and repeat the sound back to staff.

Children enthusiastically explore a box of items to recognise which items begin with the same letter, such as 'newspaper' and 'nurse'. This reinforces children's learning further and promotes their literacy skills. However, occasionally, the quality of some teaching does not always encourage children to interact during child-led activities.

Therefore, some children lose interest and wander off.Children's independence is very well supported. For example, older children are proud to take on responsibilities.

They confidently dry the trikes made wet from the rain before riding them. Staff support children to learn to use the toilet independently. They use visual aids displayed in the toilets to remind younger children what do to at each step and reward charts to monitor their progress.

This builds children's self-confidence and develops their self-care skills effectively.Generally, children behave well. Picture timetables displayed in every room help children understand their daily routines.

When it is time to tidy up, children listen well to staff and help to put toys and resources away. However, on occasion, when minor disagreements arise between children during play, staff do not always support children to learn how to resolve these conflicts for themselves.Partnerships with parents are strong.

Parents describe the setting as 'amazing'. They say children are happy and thoroughly enjoy the time they spend at the setting. Parents say staff go 'above and beyond' to meet the individual needs of their children.

They are regularly updated on their children's care and education. Parents express how grateful they are for the advice and support they receive from leaders and staff.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and staff complete regular training to ensure their safeguarding knowledge is up to date. They are vigilant and understand the signs and symptoms that may lead to a concern about a child's welfare. Leaders and staff know how to record and report any concerns they might have about a child in their care.

There are robust recruitment procedures in place to ensure all staff are suitable to work with children. Staff ensure the building and outdoor areas are risk assessed to minimise hazards. Security measures are in place to maintain children's safety.

For example, doors have a key-coded system in place to prevent any child leaving the premises. Staff carry out regular checks on sleeping children to ensure children are safe on the premises.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff to raise the quality of teaching to encourage children to consistently engage and interact during child-led activities help children to learn how to resolve minor conflicts themselves, to develop their social skills further.

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