Merry Go Round @ Green Croft

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children confidently and creatively combine and use the rich range of resources available. Staff support children to explore and investigate the materials in a safe environment.

For example, children help to open a can of baked beans and use their senses to explore, while others are busy using tools to make marks in potatoes. Staff caring for babies provide daily opportunities for them to make their own play dough and add items from around the room to capture their interest. Pre-school children skilfully cut, join and assemble as they make envelopes and wrap presents.

Children show sustained levels of interest in their... chosen activities. The knowledgeable staff team use children's interests very well to extend their knowledge and introduce new concepts and vocabulary. For example, the children's interest in the moon is used skilfully to help children research using books and learn the about planets, rockets and gravity.

Staff place a key focus on extending children's speaking skills. The chatterbox session is used daily as an opportunity for children to recall and share what they have been doing and to reinforce learning. Staff provide exceptional opportunities for children to use an excellent range of media and materials to help them make their creations.

For example, children decide to make their own Christmas tree decorations using slices of oranges and lemons covered in herbs, spices and rice, and staff support this extremely well. Children thoroughly enjoy writing and making marks in a variety of ways. However, they do not always show the same level of enthusiasm for some mathematics activities.

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

Leaders work well together and provide a good coherently planned educational programme across all areas of learning. They skilfully combine the ethos of the Reggio Emilia approach and provide an excellent range of experiences for children to create through drawing, painting, building and making sculptures.Teaching is consistently good and, on occasions, some staff demonstrate excellent teaching skills.

For example, when teaching is outstanding, staff skilfully facilitate children to express and communicate what they understand, feel and imagine. Children show excellent levels of motivation during these activities and are inspired to learn and explore further.Staff benefit from regular supervision and training to keep their knowledge up to date and to help build on their skills.

However, the manager does not focus sharply enough on raising all teaching to a consistently exceptional level. For example, she does not observe the quality of teaching often enough to help each member of staff identify precisely how they can raise the quality of their teaching even higher.Staff observe children daily and regularly assess the progress they make.

However, staff do not always use this information well enough during activities to help provide children with the highest level of challenge so they make rapid progress. In particular, in promoting children's mathematical learning even further in preparation for school.Parents report high levels of satisfaction.

They are impressed by how well staff know their children and meet their medical needs and dietary requirements, and by the range of experiences on offer. Staff use a good range of strategies to involve parents in their children's learning. For example, many parents take home the book and resource bags to support their children's learning at home.

Staff prioritise closing gaps in children's learning and swiftly identify any children who are identified as needing additional support. This helps staff provide targeted interventions for children who speak English as an additional language. Any additional funding they receive for individual children is used to help support the child and family.

For example, additional sessions and hot meals purchased, and specific staff training to support the child.Staff provide a range of controlled high-risk activities and help children learn how to follow rules to keep them safe. For example, children safely use the workshop area and wear goggles as they use tools, such as hammers and screwdrivers, to make wooden bird boxes, aeroplanes and helicopters.

Children easily follow instruction and behave well.Staff educate children and their parents about the importance of eating a healthy diet. For example, a display board showing the amount of hidden sugar in common foods and drinks helps parents provide children with healthy options in their lunch boxes.

Children use the allotment and help plant and care for the carrots, lettuce and strawberries, and learn that fresh produce is good for their bodies. Children are encouraged to drink water at regular intervals during the day and thoroughly enjoy being physical outdoors.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff have a good understanding of child protection and wider safeguarding issues to help promote children's welfare. They work closely with other professionals and agencies working with families to share information and safeguard children. There are effective recruitment procedures in place to ensure staff are suitable to care for children.

Staff are vigilant about children's safety and carry out daily checks to ensure the premises and outdoor areas are safe. Children are supervised well during high risk-activities, for example when using the workbench and tools and playing on the outdoor physical play equipment.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nuse highly effective monitoring systems and incisive staff development opportunities to help raise the quality of teaching to the highest level nuse more sharply the information collated about children's progress to help plan highly challenging activities to enhance teaching even further and help all children make the very best possible progress, in particular in mathematics.