Kids Planet Lawley

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are warmly welcomed as they arrive by staff who know them well. They settle quickly to their chosen activities, which demonstrates that they feel safe and secure in their surroundings. Staff are attentive to children's individual needs.

They know each child well and can recognise when they need additional support to complete tasks or for reassurance. Children happily seek out staff for cuddles or to join in their play. The curriculum is planned to meet each individual child's learning styles and interests.

Staff plan a wide range of activities to capture and sustain children's attention and motivate them to le...arn. Babies and younger children eagerly explore trays, which staff have filled with hay, wooden objects, pinecones, mud and plastic farm animals. They name the animals and begin to repeat the sounds that they make.

Older children enjoy water play. They squeeze tea bags into the water and staff extend children's language as they encourage them to describe how the water feels. Staff promote children's independence.

They encourage children to make choices as they play. Older children choose which fruit they want at snack time and peel it for themselves. They carry out simple tasks, such as scraping their own plate at lunchtime and helping to tidy away.

Behaviour throughout the nursery is good. Children form positive relationships with their friends. They learn to share, take turns, and negotiate with each other as they play.

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

Leaders have worked tirelessly since the last inspection to implement changes that have significantly improved the quality of the provision. They are highly focused and passionate about providing the very best for the children in their care, and this is reflected by the staff team. Staff attend copious amounts of training based on their individual learning needs, and leaders encourage staff to take responsibility for their own professional development.

That said, the changes are not yet embedded fully into practice to ensure that they are consistently implemented throughout the nursery.Staff well-being is given high priority. Leaders have introduced many different incentives to raise morale and embed a culture of teamwork.

For example, each room has incentive jars with tasks for them to complete through the month, and the winner receives a prize. Staff say they feel supported and that they now have a real sense of pride in their work.Leaders and staff are vigilant to ensure that staff to child ratios and qualification requirements are met at all times throughout the nursery.

Leaders regularly monitor staff and encourage them to reflect on what improvement can be made to enhance the already good practice even more.Leaders have implemented significant improvements to the way that staff plan activities and assess children's ongoing learning. Staff actively differentiate activities to meet each child's individual next steps for learning.

However, there are times when staff focus too heavily on one aspect of learning during activities. As a result, they do not extend the activities to challenge children as well as they could across all seven areas of learning.The support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is highly effective.

Staff ensure children with SEND receive high-quality support at the earliest opportunity. They consistently use simple visuals and signs to help children know what is happening next and to aid their understanding. They work in close collaboration with parents and professionals to ensure that children with SEND achieve the best possible outcomes.

Leaders make good use of additional funding to meet the needs of the children who receive it.The key-person and buddy key-person system ensures children develop close and trusting relationships from the outset. Staff provide children with opportunities to express their feelings and emotions safely.

This supports children to express themselves from a young age and builds on their self-regulation skills.Equality and diversity are embraced and respected. Parents are asked to share songs, recipes, artefacts and clothes from their own culture.

These are displayed, alongside books about different festivals, in a cosy seating area, where children and parents can sit together and learn about cultures and customs beyond their own experiences.Children relish the time they spend outdoors. They splash in muddy puddles, explore the texture of pumpkins and make 'cakes' and 'milkshakes' in the mud kitchen.

Staff introduce different levels of challenge for children as they climb and jump. Children problem solve as they work out how to climb up a smooth slope and persevere until they achieve their goal.Staff continually promote children's communication and language skills.

Children thoroughly enjoy looking at books and listening to stories, which are told with intonation and expression. They happily join in with the actions to familiar songs and sing the words with great gusto.Partnerships with parents are a real strength.

Leaders get to know the children and their families extremely well. Staff collaborate closely with parents to ensure a consistent approach to children's learning, both in the nursery and at home. Parents speak very highly about the nursery and staff members, as well as the experiences that they plan and provide for children.

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: nembed the recent changes to ensure they are consistently applied across the nursery, to further build on the overall quality of the provision and sustain the improvement that has already been made continue to enhance staff's understanding of how to incorporate different areas of learning into activities, to extend children's learning even further.