F.I.S.H Ladysmith Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

This provision meets requirements Children are happy, secure, and actively engaged at the setting.

Staff safely collect children from their classrooms and escort them to their rooms, where others welcome them on arrival. Children have positive relationships with staff and some receive hugs from the children, who are pleased to see them. Staff gather the children to check they are all present and inform them of the activities available.

Children are then eager to explore and soon settle to their chosen activity with their friends. There is a busy but calm environment. Staff join in with children's games and engage children in lively discussions, using words... such as camouflage as they play with foam.

Staff plan exciting activities, that children are eager to take part in and build on skills they need for school. For example, they provide resources, such as scissors, to help children practise their cutting while having fun. They involve the children in the planning and they can request further resources, so they are motivated to take part.

Young children persevere at new skills until they can manage independently. For example, staff clearly explain and demonstrate how to make pictures using salt. They support younger children and confirm the order they need to do things.

Eventually, children show that they understand the sequence and no longer need any help. Children gain a strong sense of belonging and clearly enjoy their time at the setting.

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

Staff are deployed successfully.

They enable children to make good use of all the facilities, indoors and outdoors. Staff engage children in meaningful discussions, supporting them well in developing their ideas and vocabulary. For example, children discuss what they can see in the pond and recall seeing frogs.

Later, staff involve them in making frogs from play dough, identifying that they no longer have a tail as they did as a tadpole.Young children have strong relationships with the older ones. For example, young children are inquisitive to find out how others are building a shelter.

When staff help them to think what else they need, to hold up the canopy, they confidently go off and come back with a stick. Their contributions are acknowledged, and they discover for themselves that the stick is too thin and go find a thicker one. Other children excitedly join the older ones in discovering bugs under a tree log.

Staff sensitively support children who become upset. For example, when children spoil their own picture by knocking over a pot of paint, staff calmly reassure them that they can rescue it or make another. They are soon happy again, supporting their resilience well.

Children manage their personal care well. They arrive, knowing where to store their belongings and wash their hands, understanding the routines and staff's expectations. Children choose when to have their snack and staff support them effectively with buttering bread, adding fillings, and pouring their own drinks.

Children gain a positive awareness of their own uniqueness and other people's differences. For example, they celebrate the Paralympics, taking part in activities with one child blindfolded and another leading them and play hockey on their bottoms, to help them appreciate the skills involved.The setting has strong links with the school and talk to staff daily to know how to meet any individual needs and to pass on information to parents.

Senior staff at the school confirm the good communication, especially in knowing exactly which children attend the setting every day. Staff know what the children do at school and use this well. For example, children are eager to talk to staff about their day at the theatre and staff extend their thinking and language by asking them good open-ended questions.

Parents are very positive about the information that staff share with them. They comment on how quickly staff get to know children and their families, saying settling in is handled really well. Staff find out as much as they can in order to meet children's needs and help them feel secure.

Every day, parents get verbal feedback, as well as receiving newsletters and having further information on the company website.There is a strong leadership and management team. Most staff are qualified or have the opportunity to gain a qualification.

They confirm that they receive good support for their professional development. Staff do peer-on-peer observations and use these to ensure consistency and develop their practice. Managers evaluate their practice, seeking children and parents' views to make sure they provide the best provision they can.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Managers and staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities. They all receive training and regular updates to have a clear knowledge of all aspects of child protection, such as online abuse and radicalisation.

They know who to contact should they have concerns about a colleague. The management team follow safe recruitment procedures to help ensure children are only cared for by suitable staff. Staff carry out effective risk assessments to minimise risks to children indoors and outdoors, including ensuring first-aid equipment is available in all areas.

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