Excel Kids Romford

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff greet children warmly in the morning. Children separate from their parents quickly and come into the setting happily, demonstrating they feel safe and secure. Staff relationships with children are warm and supportive.

Children are quick to be given comfort and reassurance when required, and seek out key staff for cuddles, which they are quickly given. Leaders confidently describe their curriculum priorities for children. They place an appropriate focus on language development due to the high number of children that speak English as an additional language.

This is seen in practice as staff constantly model languag...e and narrate to children throughout the day, using warm and enthusiastic voices. For example, staff eat lunch with children and use this opportunity to promote discussion around the table. As such, children make good progress in their development of spoken English.

Staff are quick to step in when children require support with their behaviour. They are clear in their expectations and take the time to explain possible consequences of unwanted behaviour. For example, when children run, staff explain this could result in an accident.

Children are generally quick to follow adult instructions and modify their behaviour, leading to an environment that feels calm and purposeful.

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

This unique setting has a large soft play at the centre of its provision, providing ample opportunity for children to develop their gross motor skills. There are many other resources available and plenty of space to explore and play.

However, there are limited cosy spaces and resources to promote discussion and interest. Children sometimes play quietly by themselves in this large and open setting as the environment has few communication-friendly spaces.Staff know their key children well and can confidently describe their likes, interests, and next steps of development.

They aim to plan for individual children based on this knowledge. However, there is a tendency to plan fun activities rather than focusing on what they want children to learn and achieve. That said, due to skilful staff interactions, children do make good progress over time.

The setting demonstrates a good understanding of their role in helping prepare children for school. For example, staff support preschool children with activity books, and explain this is to develop their attention and listening skills and their ability to understand and complete simple tasks. Staff understand the fundamental skills that children need to be ready for their next stage of learning.

Staff are good models of spoken English. There are strategies in place to support children that speak English as an additional language, such as visual cards to support routines. However, these are not consistently used.

This is particularly notable at transition points. For instance, children are taken by the hand for a nappy change without any prior communication. This sometimes disrupts their play and can be confusing for children.

Staff actively listen to children and respond to everything they say. They value children's ideas and allow them to make choices. For example, children share they want to read a certain story, and this is quickly accommodated.

Children grow in confidence and learn that their voice and their ideas have value.Leaders and staff provide good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders are quick to secure support from other professionals and to involve parents in discussions about children that are not meeting their milestones.

Staff know these children very well and fully utilise their strong ratios to work towards individual targets. As such, children with SEND make good progress from their individual starting points.Staff share that they are happy working here and feel well supported.

However, inductions for new staff are not robust enough to ensure they have the knowledge they need to keep children safe. Other staff demonstrate very secure safeguarding knowledge so this is a weakness in induction rather than a safeguarding concern. This is further mitigated as new staff are not left unsupervised with children.

Leaders have a clear view of the strengths of their nursery and their areas for improvement. They prioritise the continued professional development of their staff and support them to progress in their careers. Parents comment that their children are very happy here and have made notable progress with their language development.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: review the environment to develop spaces and resources that are more enabling for language development nensure staff plan activities with clear learning intents to better support children's next steps of development nembed strategies to provide more consistent support to children that speak English as an additional language, particularly during changes in routine nensure induction procedures for new staff are more robust to fully equip them with the knowledge they need to keep children safe.