Ladybird Childcare Brinnington, Westmorland Family Hub

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Leaders have a strong vision for the setting that places the child, and their families, at the heart.

There is a firm emphasis on staff gaining an in-depth understanding of each child in their care, in order to best meet their needs. This focus on knowing, understanding and meeting children's needs means children quickly become secure in their surroundings and ready to learn. There is a strong focus on children's personal, social and emotional development.

Staff plan many opportunities into the daily routine for children to come together and learn to participate in group activities. Pre-school children say good morning... to everyone as they gather in a circle for register time. This helps children to learn each other's names and makes everyone feel welcomed and included.

Staff take great care to help children understand the expectations of their behaviour. They speak in a gentle voice, ensuring good eye contact, and use age-appropriate explanations. This creates a calm environment where children know and follow the rules of the setting with pleasure.

Leaders have created a bespoke curriculum that carefully considers the needs of the children attending. The curriculum offers children a wide range of learning opportunities aimed at giving children the skills, knowledge and understanding they need to succeed in school and later life. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are progressing well.

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

Leaders use their curriculum well to help build on children's knowledge and skills over time. They recognise and act on children's different starting points and focus well on the skills children need to learn before moving on. This helps to build secure foundations in children's knowledge, making them effective and confident learners.

Support for children's physical development is a strength at this setting. Rooted in local authority research projects, the curriculum provides children with excellent opportunities to develop their core muscle skills. For example, children delight in laying on their tummies under a table with staff.

They use their upper body strength to hold themselves up so they can push a truck back and forth to one another. These exciting opportunities lay firm foundations for all the skills and movements children need as they develop, including later writing.The curriculum for personal, social and emotional development is highly effective in giving children many opportunities to practise a range of skills that encourage positive behaviour.

For example, frequent circle times and group activities help children develop their listening skills. Consistent use of the 'tidy-up time' bell gives children a clear signal of the expectation to help tidy away. Children are secure in what is expected of them and they excitedly show the inspector how they are helping.

The team's commitment to meeting the needs of children with SEND is impressive. Extremely well-established partnership with other professionals ensures continuity in children's care and learning. Key persons working with children with SEND demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of children's needs and are confident in their role in supporting these.

A well-established and collaborative approach ensures children with SEND are provided with the support needed for their own successes.Staff work in partnership with parents to promote children's healthy eating. Children learn to eat the savoury items and fruit in their packed lunch before they eat treats such as biscuits.

This helps to instil habits that promote children's good health. Staff take careful note of children's allergies to particular foods and cater for them safely.Overall, leaders monitor the provision and staff practice well.

There is a strong emphasis on staff reflecting on their own knowledge and skills, with agreed support to promote ongoing improvement. However, this does not provide the level of scrutiny required to help leaders understand gaps in staff knowledge and practice. As a result, there are some inconsistencies in staff's awareness of their roles and responsibilities and their understanding of the curriculum.

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: sharpen the focus for performance management to provide more in-depth evaluations of staff knowledge and practice, that better informs plans for improvement.

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