St Cuthbert’s Playgroup

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive at the playgroup happy.

They move around the hall choosing what they want to play with. The staff provide children have a wide range of interesting activities to support their learning and development. Children develop their physical skills as they confidently balance on beams.

Older children help the younger children to balance by holding their hands and saying, 'You can do it.' Children relish playing outside. They pedal tricycles around the playground safely.

Children jump up and down in puddles with excitement, screaming and shouting with delight.Children behave well and understand what the... staff expect of them. They are eager to join in activities and stay for long periods, concentrating at their chosen tasks.

For example, children use recycled boxes and materials to make items of their choice. During this activity, younger children let glue drizzle onto paper, and older children use glue spreaders with control. They cut and snip and use scissors safely as they make their creations.

Children listen to stories read by the staff. They thoroughly enjoy a story about a cat who is forgetful. They remember phrases such as 'bother that cat' and have a discussion with staff about the big dog hurting the cat.

They talk about the cat's name. This evolves into a conversation about the children's names. Staff use this opportunity and help children to recognise the letter sound their name begins with to support children's early literacy skills.

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

The manager and staff provide a broad curriculum which follows children's interests and helps them to solve problems for themselves. They plan activities to broaden all children's learning. For example, staff know the children enjoy playing outside.

They encourage children to make marks by providing a large piece of paper for children to paint on. Younger children paint lines and circles, whereas older children draw houses and talk about where they live. These skills help children's future learning and readiness for developing their writing skills.

Parents speak highly of the playgroup. They comment on the good progress their children are making. Parents know what their child needs to learn next and say that the staff share their children's achievements with them.

Staff send home photos and comments to parents, so they know what they are doing while at playgroup.Staff help children to develop their personal skills and growing independence. They are effective in how they provide guidance and use demonstrations to support children.

Children learn to do simple tasks for themselves. For example, rather than staff hanging up children's coats, they show children how to do it.Children then attempt to do this for themselves.

Staff continually celebrate and reward children for their achievements, and children take great pride in their successes. For example, children proudly move around the room as they show staff their creations. This enhances children's self-esteem.

Staff have high expectations for all children and are good role models. They teach children right from wrong. Staff gently remind children to follow the rules and boundaries in place.

Children take turns to play with the toy fish in the water. They willingly share the tools as they use play dough with their friends.Staff find out about the experiences children have before they attend the playgroup, to support them with their future learning.

For example, staff know most children travel in cars. Therefore, to extend their understanding of travelling, they take children on bus journeys. For example, they go on the bus to the local library.

This also extends the children's love of books.Staff interact with children in a positive way to support their learning. They talk to children about what they are doing and promote children's language skills.

Children play in the mud kitchen and pretend to bake cakes. Staff hold conversations about cooking at home with the children to extend their vocabulary. However, staff do not fully support children to extend their mathematical skills during spontaneous play.

For example, staff do not help the children to count, for example, how many jumps they do or how many containers they fill with mud.The manager and staff continually review their practice to highlight areas where they can make improvements. Staff receive good levels of training to build on their professionalism and increase their knowledge.

Recently, they attended training on developing children's imagination. They now provide resources such as boxes, materials and tubes so that children can use these in their own way.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

All staff know and understand their duty to protect children from harm. They have sound knowledge of the signs of abuse. The manager keeps her safeguarding knowledge up to date through regular training.

She shares this information at staff meetings to make sure that staff also acquire further child protection knowledge. The manager and committee members carry out thorough recruitment procedures. They also carry out appropriate checks to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children.

Staff ensure that all resources are fit for purpose, and all hazards are identified and removed to keep children safe. Staff supervise children well to keep them safe.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: make better use of spontaneous opportunities to support and extend children's early mathematical skills.