Down On The Farm

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Familiar staff warmly welcome children on arrival and help settle them into taking part in the activities available.

Staff are attentive to the care and emotional needs of children and develop close relationships with them. Children are clearly happy and confident in their environment and enjoy their time at nursery. Staff provide excellent first-hand experiences to help children learn about the food they eat and the harvesting process.

For example, children observe how wheat and potatoes are harvested and use them as ingredients in a wide variety of cooking methods. Staff are knowledgeable and use children's interests... well to motivate them to learn. For example, staff use the children's current interest in light and dark to teach them about colours, hibernation and nocturnal animals.

Staff are creative in their approach and skilfully use stories to capture children's imagination. Staff caring for younger children inspire their interest through turning off the light and using a torch as they read a story about the moon, space and stars. Children are inquisitive and eager to explore.

For example, older children use pipettes to transport coloured water and think about how colours change. Staff place a clear priority on closing gaps in children's learning. They swiftly identify any children who may benefit from additional support and adapt activities according to children's different abilities to help them make as much progress as they can.

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

The manager, who has been appointed since the last inspection, is motivated and keen to build on the good practice already achieved. She works alongside the staff team and offers good guidance and support to staff to help them build on practice. Staff speak positively about the manager and the support they receive.

All staff, including those who are new and unqualified, benefit from regular supervision and training to help improve their knowledge and skills.Teaching is good and overall, staff provide a rich range of activities to engage children in learning to help prepare them for school. Staff use the farm as an excellent resource to help provide children with meaningful opportunities to learn about the natural world and living things.

Staff regularly observe and assess children and plan for their next steps in learning to help them progress. However, staff do not always use this information to help identify how they can challenge children to the highest level in order to help them make the very best progress.Staff place a high priority on promoting children's communication and language skills and their listening and attention skills.

For example, staff read to children in a way that excites and engages them and make good use of visual props to capture their attention. Children are keen to make marks and write as they play.Staff place a sharp focus on introducing new words and concepts during their interactions with children.

However, mathematical activities are not always inspiring enough to motivate boys, in particular, to explore concepts, such as quantity, weight and measurement, and to identify numbers.Staff are inclusive in their approach and adapt activities to ensure all children can fully participate. They provide targeted interventions for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and they make good progress from their starting points.

The staff are part of the local community and know children and their families very well. Each member of staff greets and welcomes their assigned children and their parents every morning. They give daily verbal and written feedback about children's care and achievements.

Parents report high levels of satisfaction and are very pleased with the progress their children make.Staff use visits to the farm extremely well to help teach children about danger and how to manage controlled risk safely. Children behave well and learn to respect each other and how to work together as a group.

For example, children are clearly motivated to earn a stone to put into the 'good deed jar' and know once it is filled they will receive a group prize.Staff help children learn about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. For example, children help care for fruits and vegetables and cook with them and learn about the benefits of fresh produce.

Children have ample opportunities to be outdoors in the fresh air and use a range of equipment that challenges them and extends their physical development.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.There are robust recruitment procedures in place to ensure staff are suitable to care for children.

They benefit from a detailed induction to ensure they are clear about their roles and responsibilities, and their ongoing suitability is assessed. Staff have a good understanding of child protection and wider safeguarding issues to help promote children's welfare. They carry out daily checks to ensure the premises are safe.

There are detailed risk assessments in place to ensure children are kept safe during high-risk activities on the farm. Children are supervised well and learn to handle tools safely and about the risks associated with farm animals and machinery.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nuse more robustly the information collated about children's progress to help identify highly challenging next steps to enhance teaching even further and help all children make the very best possible progress build on practice to motivate all children to learn more about quantity, weight and measurement and identify numbers.