Kid Ease Dover Buckland

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Children are extremely happy in this setting. They routinely show enjoyment and deep engagement in their learning. Children freely choose from an excellent range of high-quality resources that stimulate their imagination and curiosity.

Staff have very high expectations for what children can achieve in preparing them for the next stage of their learning. Children are tremendously confident and eager learners and demonstrate exceptional behaviour.Children love being in this setting and are very eager to get involved in the exciting activities.

They are highly engaged in role play. They spend considerable time, for... example, pretending they are on a pirate ship and creating treasure maps. Children are intrigued by the treasure that they discover hidden in the sand.

Staff are highly enthusiastic and encourage children to tackle more challenging activities. For example, children energetically use all their large body movements to manoeuvre large tyres for their pirate ship. They very quickly learn to balance on the tyre, distributing weight with their friends and staff to prevent it from tipping.

Staff prioritise children's language development right from the very start. For example, babies readily use signs to support their communication. They eagerly repeat words that they hear the staff say, for example numbers for counting.

Older children use more complex sentences and make rapid progress in their learning.

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

The managers are inspirational and share their ambitious vision for the nursery with every member of staff. The curriculum is clearly understood by staff, and they implement it exceptionally well.

All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language, make excellent progress.Staff encourage children to solve problems and think for themselves. They are skilful teachers and ask well-thought-out questions which help children predict what might happen next.

Staff listen carefully to what children say and model words back to them, such as 'float', 'sinking', 'gravity' and 'heavy', as they explore water they discover during their pirate role-play adventure. Children readily talk about number, size and weight as they compare the quantities of the 'treasure' they find before putting it in the water to discover what happens.Staff promote children's literacy skills particularly well.

Younger children love making marks with a wide range of media and materials, such as different-coloured paint under cling film. Older children know that their marks carry meaning. They become absorbed in making lots of careful marks on their treasure maps to represent writing and instructions, and explain that 'X marks the spot'.

The management team is highly committed to continuous improvement. All staff, other professionals, parents and children are fully included in the self-evaluation processes of the nursery. The managers use this information with precision, to ensure all children continue to receive outstanding care and education.

Staff's performance and continuous improvement are very carefully monitored. The managers provide exceptional support, organising training to enhance their skills and knowledge. For example, they ensure staff have appropriate training to support children with their language development.

As a result, they are able to provide high-quality care and learning. The managers act with integrity to promote staff's well-being.All staff have an exceptionally detailed understanding of what children need to learn next.

They skilfully observe and accurately assess what children can do. Staff use this knowledge, along with children's developing interests, superbly to plan an array of interesting and thought-provoking experiences. Staff carefully monitor children's progress and identify any emerging gaps.

They swiftly work in close partnership with a range of outside agencies to ensure that children receive the precise support they need to catch up rapidly.The caring and committed staff team follows robust procedures to support children's transitions. This promotes children's emotional well-being most effectively.

For example, staff provide extended settling-in sessions to help children quickly feel secure. Parents and key persons help to settle children when they change rooms in the nursery. They share detailed information about the children to help support them.

Staff prepare older children remarkably well for their move to school.Partnerships with parents are outstanding. Parents speak very positively of staff, and are enthusiastic in their praise of them.

They commend the consistent and effective support from highly skilled staff. Furthermore, they say children make excellent progress in their confidence and ability to manage their feelings and behaviour, especially during transitions within the nursery.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Children's safety and well-being are given a high priority in this setting. The manager and staff get to know families exceptionally well. They are highly alert to changes in circumstances which may put children at risk of harm.

The manager has rigorous systems in place to ensure that any concerns are recorded and reported correctly. Staff are very confident in recognising possible signs of abuse and are very clear on how to report their concerns. All staff can readily identify factors which may point to children being in contact with radical and extreme behaviours.