Robertsbridge Children’s Services

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Children are incredibly confident and happy at the extremely safe and secure setting.

All children are enthralled by their amazingly motivating learning experiences. Their behaviour is impeccable and they are incredibly polite. Children gain excellent levels of empathy and kindness.

For example, they regularly visit older people to share stories, songs and activities. Children gain an excellent understanding of healthy eating. For instance, they harvest their own vegetables such as marrows and cabbages.

Children have outstanding opportunities to challenge their physical skills. They negotiate more compl...icated equipment with excellent confidence, such as rope and tree swings. Staff build on children's interests incredibly well.

For example, when children are fascinated by building with blocks, they go on to visit the local building site. They have 'meetings' with the site manager weekly to discuss the progress being made. Children talk about 'foundations', 'structures' and 'groundwork' and have plans of the buildings.

They go on to research different types of homes and replicate them, such as mud huts and tepees. Staff use additional funding extremely well to support children to meet their individual learning needs. They have purchased additional training to support children to engage in games to enhance their listening and attention skills.

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

All staff establish incredibly secure and trusting relationships with children. They get to know children's individual personalities, routines and interests extremely well. All children have outstanding well-being, self-motivation and an exceptionally good sense of belonging.

Staff establish amazingly positive relationships with parents and keep them extremely well informed and involved in their children's learning. Staff routinely share children's learning experiences and training workshops with them. For example, parents are invited in to learn about the importance of physical skills.

They learn about and observe children participate in balance ability activities with bicycles.The manager and staff build and maintain extraordinarily good partnerships with other early years professionals and staff at other settings children also attend. Staff provide children with an incredibly positive approach to their shared care and learning.

They observe children together with staff at other settings and make consistent next steps in children's learning. Staff share ideas, strategies and training with other agencies, to help support children to make excellent progress. This includes speech and language therapists.

All staff have an excellent knowledge of the curriculum and the seven areas of learning. They provide children with extremely enthralling and motivating learning experiences. For example, children design and make their own resources such as wooden key rings.

Staff ensure that they provide children of all ages and abilities, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, with the skills they need to succeed. All children make outstanding progress and exceed their learning opportunities.Children have outstanding opportunities to respect and understand other people's similarities and differences outside of their own communities.

Children learn about the traditions of other countries. For instance, they learn about a Mexican celebration day where they make masks and dance to traditional music.Children have an extensive range of vocabulary and they speak fluently.

Staff encourage children to learn and use new words. This is illustrated when children learn the meaning of words that are more complicated, such as 'guilty' and 'curious'. Staff communicate with babies, using consistent signing.

All children are extremely confident to communicate and share their ideas.The manager and staff evaluate their practice exceptionally well together. For example, they observe each other teach children daily and set highly challenging targets to meet to enhance their performance.

The manager closely monitors the consistency of care and teaching staff provide. She holds daily evaluation meetings with all staff to discuss how well they met the aims of the day's activities. The staff are extremely passionate and enthusiastic about their roles and attend highly beneficial training to build on their already impressive skills.

Staff received feedback from the teachers at the school that they would like children to gain more writing skills. As a result, staff have learned about the different ways to engage children in more literacy opportunities.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The manager and staff have an outstanding and incredibly comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the safeguarding and child protection policies. They understand how to help keep children safe and protect their welfare. Staff teach children how to remain safe.

For example, children are encouraged to take an active role in risk assessing their activities and environments. Staff encourage children to really consider the consequences of their play. For instance, children are encouraged to learn how to play safely and responsibly if they choose to engage in fantasy play.