Spring Hollies

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision requires improvement Children arrive happy and settle well.

Babies benefit from familiar staff who meet their care routines consistently, settle them well to sleep and provide a calm space for bottle feeds. Children confidently make their own choices in play. They develop independence and learn to manage tasks efficiently for themselves.

Older children put on their coats and learn to chop their food and pour drinks at meals. Staff have expectations of children's behaviour. However, at times, some staff do not help children to understand these and how to play safely, such as when they run at speed indoors.

Staff provide a range of act...ivities to support children's interests, and special events to broaden their experiences. For example, older children learn about transport in a road safety talk, build vehicles in creative play and enjoy playing imaginatively in the pretend car wash. However, the quality of staff's interactions is variable.

Not all staff encourage children's learning well or adapt activities to meet the developmental needs of some younger children. At such times, these children lose interest and miss out on learning opportunities.

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

Staff monitor and assess children's learning from the start to identify gaps in their development.

They plan a balanced curriculum to support children's progress. However, some of the activities lack purpose and are too challenging for some younger children. At times, the main playroom becomes very noisy, and the voices of quieter children are not heard by staff.

This does not help to support their communication and language skills well.Some more-skilled staff support children's next steps for learning. For example, they ask questions to encourage them to think, teach them new words linked to topics, such as 'viaduct' and introduce mathematical language.

However, this is not consistent. Some staff do not encourage children to engage in the activities to build further on their learning. For example, some children wander by themselves and on occasions staff sit silently with them in activities.

Staff do not all manage children's behaviour consistently and positively. For example, they do not guide children on the risks of licking knives at meals and how to use scissors safely in creative play. Children do not always learn why they need to follow instructions, such as when told 'stop' repeatedly without staff explaining why.

Children enjoy creating and playing with imagination. Babies explore textures in sensory play and painting. Older children create models, paint pictures and act out their experiences in pretend play.

They involve others in their play, such as giving friends lifts in their pretend cars outside.Children enjoy regular activities to support their physical development. Babies learn to crawl and walk in safe spaces, and older children enjoy lots of active play in the spacious garden.

They benefit from healthy meals and snacks throughout the day, and drinks of water at all times.The management team follows robust recruitment and vetting procedures to ensure all staff are suitable to work with children. This includes an induction process to prepare them for their role.

However, the management team does not ensure staff coaching and supervision is targeted to improve weaker practice and to help all staff understand how to support children's learning well.Staff understand their safeguarding roles and responsibilities. They know the correct procedures to follow in the event of any concerns about a child or adult to safeguard their welfare.

The management team has made some improvements to the quality of the provision. These include strengthening the procedures for outdoor play to keep children safe and supervised when moving between the indoor play areas and the garden. Parents share positive views regarding the care of their children.

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 provide older children with more consistent guidance to learn what is expected of them and how to behave safely 09/05/2024 improve the quality of staff interactions to support quieter children's engagement and communication and language development further 23/05/2024 improve the curriculum and use of activities to ensure all children benefit from appropriate challenge that build further on what they already know and can do 23/05/2024 improve staff coaching and supervision to ensure all staff support children's learning well.

23/05/2024