Sunbeams Shillingstone

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive confidently, and kind, caring staff greet them.

Children seek the warm reassurance from staff when needed and respond well to the comfort they receive. Children behave well and have good manners. For example, pre-school children willingly share containers and spoons as they explore with coloured rice.

When minor disputes occur, staff teach children how to negotiate and take turns. For example, staff model using a timer to ensure that children have equal time with resources.Children enjoy music and rhyme from a young age to develop their language and creativity.

Babies play musical instruments, ...sway and smile widely as staff sing. Staff extend children's language well, adding new vocabulary and narrating children's play to give their actions meaning. Children learn about the natural world and enjoy visits within their local community to help them understand the world around them.

For example, they visit the nearby orchard and harvest herbs and vegetables in the garden.Staff have a good understanding of the curriculum they teach and know their key children well. They organise exciting activities to help children reach the next stage in their development.

Staff support children to make good progress from their starting points to help ensure that they have the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in school and later life.

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

The management team plans a curriculum with a clear focus on developing children's personal, social, emotional and communication skills. Staff use assessment well to identify any gaps in children's development and take swift action to close them.

For example, they work with parents to share information and seek support from external agencies when needed.Staff organise settling-in sessions in a flexible way that meets the individual needs of children and their families. The key-person system is very effective.

As a result, children build strong attachments with staff and show that they feel safe and secure. Children's emotional well-being is well supported by the dedicated team that creates a calm and nurturing environment for children.Children use language well.

For example, pre-school children use construction bricks to make a 'flying car' and explain how the wings make it fly. Babies babble with excitement and staff respond positively, valuing babies' speech to build their self-confidence and develop their communication skills.Children enjoy a wide variety of sensory play to develop their hand-to-eye coordination and fine motor skills.

For example, babies mark on chalkboards on the wall. Older children manipulate play dough with their hands, sprinkle rice and dig in mud to help them build the muscles they need for early writing in school.Staff nurture a love of reading.

They share stories with children, inside and outside, and children listen closely. Children help to turn the pages and staff encourage them to talk about the pictures to extend their language and literacy skills.Staff teach children to respect their environment to develop a sense of responsibility and build their self-confidence.

For example, staff encourage children to help tidy up before snack and lunchtimes. Older children select resources from shelves and return them independently when they have finished with them.Staff are clear in their expectations of children during child-led play.

However, during group activities, staff do not consistently apply the rules to ensure that children understand their expectations. On occasion, staff ask children not to call out but still allow children to do so, meaning some quieter children are not able to fully take part.Managers model the use of effective questions well in their interactions with children.

For example, they ask open questions that challenge children's thinking skills. However, other staff often use questions that only need one-word responses from children and do not inspire deep thinking to develop children's learning even further.Managers work with parents and staff to help ensure that they spend any extra funding they receive as effectively as possible.

They use it with integrity to support the care and education of the intended children, for example to provide resources for physical play.Parents report that their children are very happy at the nursery and that staff keep them well informed about their children's progress. Parents say that staff are 'nurturing' and that they particularly value the time their children spend outside.

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: support staff to make their expectations during group activities clear and apply them consistently to ensure that all children can fully participate support staff to develop questioning techniques that extend and challenge children's learning further to ensure that they make the best possible progress.

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