Each Peach Forest School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Staff use their excellent knowledge and experience to create a rich and inspiring learning environment where children thrive.

They meet children's individual needs extremely well. Babies show that they feel safe and secure in the care of the skilled staff team. They receive support from staff through positive praise and sensitive interactions.

They know who to go to for cuddles, which staff give willingly, calmly and with great empathy. Babies show extremely high levels of curiosity and perseverance. They listen with fascination to the sounds of rice as they pour it in and out of small metal scoops.

Bab...ies enjoy exploring the textures of soil and bark in the outdoor mud kitchen. Older children display excellent behaviour due to the clear boundaries and golden rules consistently implemented by the staff team. Children known how to feed and care for ducks in the outdoor learning environment.

They follow safety guidance that have been extremely well established. Staff focus strongly on ensuring all children develop their physical skills that will help them with their future learning. For example, staff provide resources to develop children's small hand muscle skills.

Children particularly enjoy using the handsaws and drills to cut up small branches in outdoor play. They use these tools with great care and precision. There is a high focus on children gaining a wonderful experience in a calm and nurturing outdoor learning environment.

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

The manager and her staff are highly effective in accurately assessing the quality of the provision and clearly identify areas for improvement. Staff have completed training and implemented the use of sign language and picture labels. This is having a significant impact on all children's communication skills.

Children with non-verbal communication now confidently communicate with staff and their friends. This creates a wonderful sense of inclusion within the setting and has improved children's behaviour greatly.Staff receive excellent levels of support from the leadership team.

This ensures that their workloads are manageable, which contributes to their overall well-being. They plan an exciting curriculum, with key learning intentions for each child, and what they need to learn next. Children are making rapid and exceptional progress in their social and emotional development.

The manager has successfully embedded a culture of reflective practice. This motivates and empowers all staff to continuously look for ways to improve the experiences they give children.Children spend significant amounts of time outdoors tending to the vegetable allotment.

They harvest their produce, such as corn on the cob, beetroot, pumpkins and soft fruits. They help prepare and eat these at snack times and take home excess produce. This supports them in learning to be resourceful and to eliminate waste.

This is part of the setting's healthy eating programme and lunch box challenge.Staff provide children with excellent opportunities to develop their speech and language skills. These include highly enjoyable activities outdoors.

For example, children learn new words, such as 'camouflage' and 'disguise', when building a bird watch area outdoors. They know to sit quietly, use binoculars to watch, and then excitedly record the names of birds that visit the garden. This activity truly captures the children's interest and resulted in them making bird feeders and identifying birds through their bird song.

In addition, children sing with enthusiasm and pleasure. They learn songs around the outdoor camp fire while toasting marshmallows during forest school sessions.Children have wonderful opportunities to develop a strong understanding of who they are and what makes them unique.

They proudly point out photographs of themselves and talk about their family members, such as older siblings. They experience equally rich learning experiences of the local community. They visit the beach and talk about passenger ferries that exit the local port.

Staff keep parents very well informed of their children's experiences and learning. The sharing of information lets parents know which activities and events have been planned for the coming weeks. Children's ongoing development and progress are shared in individual meetings, to help parents remain informed.

Parents comment that staff are extremely approachable and give excellent advice, for example on toilet training techniques, which is greatly appreciated.Staff work closely with other early years professionals to make sure that they identify children and families who may benefit from extra support. They seek additional funding that children may be entitled to, which helps to enable them to make the best possible start in life.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have an excellent knowledge of child protection procedures. They are confident in the procedures to follow should they have any concerns about a child.

Staff are vigilant about children's well-being. They monitor children's attendance and follow up any non-attendance to help ensure children are safe. Thorough and effective recruitment systems are in place to recruit suitable staff and to ensure their ongoing suitability.

New staff complete an extensive induction programme to help them fully understand the setting's policies and procedures. Staff deploy themselves extremely well to ensure all children's needs are met and that adult-to-child ratios are met throughout the day. Extremely detailed risk assessments for both indoors and outdoors help to minimise risk and safeguard children.