The Treehouse Club Forestry Nursery And Out Of School Club

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children settle quickly, make bonds with staff and form strong friendships. This is due to a highly effective settling-in system and transition process between rooms. Children and parents get to know their key person early on.

Children access a wide range of stimulating, and often natural, resources with confidence. Staff know children well and are receptive to their individual likes and needs. Staff are animated and encouraging with their interactions.

Children's behaviour is good. They are aware of the rules and expectations from the start. Staff act as positive role models for sharing, turn-taking and confidently ex...ploring sensory activities.

Children become confident explorers and benefit from the regular outdoor opportunities. They are encouraged to risk assess areas for themselves. This results in children having a deep understanding of safety, and danger, both inside and outdoors.

Children access a well-resourced garden. They have opportunities to dig, climb, watch worms in the wormery, water strawberries and create meals in the mud kitchen. Children also benefit from an extensive forest area for exploring and learning.

Children develop forestry knowledge and skills for life. A specialist forest school teacher takes children on adventures weekly to learn skills such as making fires, whittling and baking bread. Children thoroughly enjoy attending the setting and getting involved in the wide variety of activities on offer.

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

Staff provide well-designed and resourced rooms that cater for children's development at all ages. Each room has challenging aspects, and low-level accessible resources. As a result, children are confident, independent explorers from early on and are stimulated by their environment.

The nursery has a clear and effective allergy and healthcare support system. Families are introduced to the nursery cook to share information about food allergies or preferences, and these are catered for with a coloured plate system. Children with health needs have care plans that are understood and followed by staff.

Therefore, all children safely enjoy a variety of healthy snacks and meals both indoors and outside.Parent partnerships are strong. Parents are highly appreciative of the team.

The nursery has created a parent board to voice opinions and suggestions for improvements. The system has improved communications and has resulted in stronger relationships. Leaders now regularly plan for activities where they invite parents to join in with forestry activities.

For example, mums joined children for a walk in the forest to find children's favourite spots. They are also going to invite dads for a Father's Day breakfast in the woods.Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, or those who speak English as an additional language, make good progress.

Children benefit from 'talking pegs' in their home language, and flash cards to aid understanding of routines throughout the day. Staff are highly receptive to the children's needs. They work closely to ensure the children are settled, supported and content at nursery.

Leaders have good understanding of how children learn and that all children learn differently. Individualised planning, observation and tracking processes allow staff to see progress and if there is extra support needed. As a result, children make successful progress across the areas of learning and develop the necessary skills for the next stages of their education.

Staff welfare has high priority at the nursery. Management have recently appointed a welfare officer who supports each of the five settings and checks in with staff regularly. The nursery also has 'appreciation baskets' with gifts for staff and 'star awards'.

These are awarded to staff regularly. There is also a free online counselling service available. Staff report that they appreciate the support and feel that management listen and support them in their roles.

Staff engage in meaningful conversations with children, teaching new skills and encouraging children to become independent explorers. Some staff consistently promote problem-solving and take children's thinking and learning to deeper levels. Members of the leadership team act as effective role models for high-level interactions.

They step into rooms to support staff to develop confidence and knowledge of the curriculum, but often end up taking a lead role. Consequently, this prevents staff from gaining the skills and experience they need to develop their practice to higher levels.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff have strong knowledge and understanding of how to keep children safe. They have a good understanding of the wider aspects of safeguarding, including the risk of radicalisation and being drawn into drug trafficking. The safety of children and staff is paramount, with stringent risk assessments and children's own risk assessing of areas.

Staff also carry the vital medicines and care plans for children on any walks. They have specialised 'walk bags' containing first-aid kits, a walkie-talkie, an emergency phone, whistles, glow sticks and a storm kit to cover all possible dangers when outside.

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 develop confidence in their skills and knowledge of the curriculum to take the quality of interactions and teaching to the highest level.