Hunstanton First Steps

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive happy and excited to begin playing.

They are greeted warmly by staff, with whom they have formed warm, loving bonds. Children are positive in their approach to learning, showing excitement to try out new activities, such as painting pictures with frozen paint and water. They are confident to make their own choices and to have a go at tasks, such as completing a jigsaw or attempting to walk across a balancing beam.

Children display real confidence in the setting. They are chatty with peers and staff as they play. They show perseverance when something is challenging, such as winding in a large tape measur...e, but they happily approach staff to ask for help or for something they want or need.

Children play well with their friends and are kind. At snack time, they invite their friends to sit next to them and compliment them on their clothes. In role play, children play together well to make up their stories and put narratives to their play.

Outside in the mud kitchen, children work together to share the resources to make pretend porridge, pies and soup using real ingredients. Children enjoy moving their bodies. They enthusiastically join in games, which encourages them to use their listening skills to follow instructions, such as patting their heads and rubbing their tummy to develop good coordination.

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

Since the last inspection, staff have worked hard as a team to create and implement an effective curriculum that helps to build on what children know and can do. More focus has been placed on children's individual learning needs and the planning of motivating activities that help inspire children to learn. Positive changes to the indoor learning environment have also been beneficial for children's learning experiences.

Staff are now implementing plans to enhance the garden areas and further improve learning opportunities outdoors.Key persons know their children well and can talk confidently about their learning needs and next steps in their education. Staff are quick to identify children who may need additional support with their learning.

They work closely with parents and other agencies to implement strategies to help meet these children's needs.An ongoing programme of professional development opportunities has helped staff to improve practice and raise their teaching skills to a good level. However, on occasions, some staff do not maximise every opportunity to extend learning.

For example, overall, the language they use is not always ambitious to build children's vocabulary. Also, when staff introduce new words, they do not always check that children understand the meaning.Parents receive regular information about their children's progress and their time in the setting.

Sharing resources, such as books through a lending library, encourages parents to be involved in their children's learning. This also emphasises the importance of reading with young children to develop their communication and language. Parents are very happy with the care provided and feel that staff's communication is excellent.

Children understand the behaviour expectations in the nursery. They are learning to be patient as they wait to take turns and they know how to share resources. Overall, children demonstrate respect for the rules, such as tidying away toys and not running inside.

They are quick to remind others, who sometimes forget. Staff help to build children's confidence and self-esteem by consistently praising them for their achievements.Singing songs and listening to stories are weaved naturally into the day.

Children often ask to have stories read to them. Staff understand the importance of this in helping to support and develop children's communication and language skills. They ask children questions about the story to encourage them to think about what they have heard and what they think might happen next.

Staff help prepare children for school. They support them to become independent and make their own choices. For example, children place their own belongings on their peg.

At snack time, they collect their placemats, help to prepare their own snack, such as buttering their toast, and scrape their own plates. Staff have formed strong links with the local school that children will attend to aid a smooth transition.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff understand their responsibilities to safeguard children in their care. They can recognise the many signs and symptoms of the different types of abuse and are alert to children's backgrounds and home lives. Staff demonstrate that they know how to report their concerns about children and adults to the appropriate authorities.

Robust recruitment procedures are in place to ensure the suitability of all staff who work with the children. An ongoing process of risk assessments ensures the premises and equipment are safe and suitable.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nextend existing systems for the teaching and monitoring of staff performance to continue to strengthen and improve on good practice and raise the quality of teaching even higher.