Railway Kindergarten

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision requires improvement Children are happy and settled at the nursery. However, weaknesses in leadership and management have led to limited oversight of the setting. Leaders are not readily available to support staff in rooms, which means staff practice is not always monitored effectively.

Furthermore, leaders lack understanding of additional funding that is available to support children who are disadvantaged.Despite this, children are well cared for. Staff have caring and nurturing relationships with children.

For example, when a drink spills and children are upset, staff reassure them. Staff readily offer cuddles and sing songs to comfort babi...es. Children are confident and expressive, eagerly sharing news from home with children and staff.

Children have access to dedicated outdoor spaces, where they develop their physical skills on bikes and climbing apparatus. On the whole, children behave well. The curriculum broadly supports children's development.

Children are delighted as staff read stories to them. For example, children are engrossed as staff read 'Dear Zoo' expressively. Each child holds a toy animal, eagerly awaiting its appearance in the story.

Staff encourage children to make predictions about what animals they will see and they practise their animal noises. This helps children to develop a love of stories. Children join in adult-led activities that are engaging and capture their attention.

For example, children make their own shakers in bottles, developing their coordination as they add rice and bells.

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

Leaders have not ensured they have a robust knowledge of how to support children who may be disadvantaged. They lack awareness of funding available to support children.

This means that children who are entitled to this support may not receive it.Leaders do not manage their time effectively to support staff. Monitoring of staff is lacking, leading to variances in staff practice.

For example, leaders do not identify and address weaknesses in staff practice. This means staff do not always know what they need to do to develop their practice.Staff demonstrate good teaching skills.

They use questioning effectively to support children's learning. For example, when children ask what is for dessert, staff encourage children to think about who they could ask. Children think carefully and together they decide to ask the cook.

This helps children develop their problem-solving skills.Children's behaviour is generally good. However, strategies for behaviour management are not consistently effective.

There are times when staff have to repeat instructions multiple times, for example, when children stand on chairs.This demonstrates that strategies are not yet fully embedded.There is good support for children's communication and language development.

For example, babies have an excellent vocabulary, telling staff 'mine is hot' and 'it's yummy' at mealtimes. Staff repeat key words as toddlers play with dough. Children copy the words 'tap tap tap' and learn new words, such as 'stamp' and 'roll'.

Pre-school children hold thoughtful conversations with children and staff. Children become confident and expressive communicators.At times, staff encourage children to develop their independence skills.

For example, pre-school children wash their own hands, helping each other to pump soap onto their hands. However, this support is not consistent. For example, toddlers frequently have their noses wiped for them.

This means that children's skills in independent self-care take longer to acquire.Children learn about feelings and start to recognise them. For example, pre-school children tell staff when they are feeling sad.

Staff encourage children to think about what makes them feel sad and what might cheer them up. Children decide a hug would make them feel better. This helps children to regulate their emotions.

Staff teach children about different festivals, such as Diwali and Christmas. However, children are not always supported to acknowledge, share or celebrate their own culture and heritage. This means that children do not always have a full understanding of what makes them unique and how differences can be celebrated.

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: nensure leaders fully understand what funding is available to support children who are disadvantaged and how to use it monitor and support staff to ensure practice is consistently good develop effective behaviour management strategies so that children understand what is expected of them support children to develop their independence skills consistently help children to identify with their own culture and heritage and celebrate this so that all children learn to appreciate people who are different to themselves.