Skendleby Playgroup

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision requires improvement There is a variation in the support children receive from staff to build on their learning. Older children are encouraged to talk about and understand their feelings and emotions. For example, when staff ask children how they are feeling and why, older children say they are good because their mummy gives them cuddles.

However, younger children are not supported as well by staff. For instance, they do not receive the same level of attention from staff to communicate their needs, such as pointing out what they want.Older children are supported by staff to follow their interests.

For instance, when they tell staff that they ...want to send a card to Santa, staff help them to do this. Children use glue to stick pretend stamps onto envelopes that have cards inside. They post the envelopes into a pretend letter box, showing their imagination.

During mealtimes, staff hold discussions with older children, encouraging them to share their thoughts and views. Older children confidently interact with staff and their peers. They have opportunities to share and take turns.

For instance, when staff play games with children, they explain the rules and encourage children to be patient and wait until it is their turn to play.

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

Managers and staff understand how to plan a curriculum to support the different ages of children who attend the playgroup. However, staff do not implement the curriculum effectively with younger children to help them make good levels of progress in their development.

For example, when staff identify that younger children need to build on their communication and physical skills, they do not support them to do this.Staff encourage older children to complete tasks by themselves. For example, they provide hand-over-hand guidance for some children, showing them how to use tongs to select fruit and use jugs to pour milk.

Some older children manage these tasks on their own.Staff attend meetings with managers to help them reflect on their practice. However, staff are not supported to develop their skills and knowledge of how to support younger children's development.

This results in younger children not being able to build on their learning. For example, staff do not give older and younger children an equal amount of support and attention. Furthermore, staff try to involve younger children in activities that are not suitable for their stage of development, such as learning about the weather.

Staff help older children to understand rules and boundaries in the playgroup. For example, during a group time, staff remind older children to use their ears for listening, their eyes for looking and their mouths for singing. Older children show that they understand how to behave positively.

Staff help older children to remember previous learning. For example, when children ask to make paper chains, staff ask them to remember how they did this previously. Children remember to peel back the paper to make the paper pieces stick together.

Staff support older children to develop their communication skills and imagination. For example, outdoors, older children use sticks as pretend wands. Staff model saying magic words, such as 'abracadabra', to help the children build on their vocabulary.

Older children copy the magic word and pretend to make staff disappear. However, staff do not always help younger children to build on their speaking skills, for example, by sharing age-appropriate books with them.Parents say that staff keep them informed about activities their children enjoy.

However, staff do not help all parents to understand how they intend to support their child's development and how parents can contribute to this at home.Staff use characters in stories they read to older children to help support children's physical skills. For example, when staff read a story about a penguin, they ask older children to walk like penguins.

Children learn how to move their bodies in different ways, pointing their feet to the side, holding out their arms and waddling from side to side. However, when staff identify that younger children need to begin to learn how to walk unaided, they do not provide them with opportunities to develop the skills they need to do this.

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 meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage, the provider must: Due date ensure the curriculum for younger children is implemented effectively 06/01/2025 increase staff's skills and knowledge so they are able to support younger children's learning and development.06/01/2025 To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support all parents to understand how staff intend to support their child's development and how they can continue this at home.