Treetops Gloucester

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children come into the setting eager and ready to learn. Staff greet children warmly on arrival. Staff provide welcoming play spaces for children.

They know children well and provide activities that interest children and spark their imaginations.Babies feel safe and secure. Staff have created family books with help from parents.

Babies can look at the photos of family members and share these with others. Staff talk with babies about the similarities and differences in their families. They use home languages as well English when talking about family members.

Children begin to recognise their uniqueness and feel... a sense of belonging.Outdoors, toddlers and pre-school children run around and challenge each other to races. They try out the new two-wheel bicycles, showing how well they can balance.

Pre-school children negotiate safe pathways as they move about. They tell staff that they are doing good exercise because they can feel their heart beating fast.Following children's interest in building towers, staff have purchased new building blocks.

Staff have added high visibility jackets, trowels, and construction signs to the role-play areas. Children play well together. They sort out how high to build the towers and where to lay the wooden planks to make bridges.

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

Staff recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected children and families. Some children have moved settings, others have had prolonged absences. Staff have introduced 'emotions' activities and visual aids to help children cope.

Children talk about how they are feeling and can use signs or the cards to express their needs. Staff who are working with the pre-school children model this fantastically. For example, staff talk with children when they feel frustrated due to someone having the toy they want.

They remind children that everyone needs to share and it will be their turn soon. Children agree that they can wait and find different activities to do in the meantime.Babies show an interest in the animal figures.

They show that they can recognise the different animals as they play. For example, they make a 'meow' noise when they find a cat, and roar when they pick up the lion. They find a pair of tigers and stand them on the pretend grassland.

They wave at the tigers and tell them 'hello'.Staff working with the babies model language and use signs to support interactions with others. They help babies to use the signs for 'please' and 'thank you' when babies get their food and drink at snack time.

Yet, at other times, staff do not provide clear messages about what is expected of young children. For example, children who want to get into the same space push to get past each other and staff tell them 'no'. Children continue pushing, so staff then suggest they may need to wait.

Staff track and assess children's progress to plan for what children need to learn next. Staff take into account children's individual needs and provide tailored support. Parents talk with staff about what children are doing.

This helps staff to have a clearer idea of children's learning at home and any changes they may need to be aware of. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, develop well.Children enjoy listening to and acting out stories.

Toddlers recall phrases from familiar books. They know the names of the baby owls and can remember the animals from the story about an overcrowded house. However, staff use this time for nappy changes, which causes a distraction.

Some children become bored or miss out on the story. Pre-school children have great fun as they learn about the job of firefighters in a book. They discuss the clothes the firefighters wear and find similar ones in the dressing-up box.

They then pretend to put out a fire and rescue the people and animals. Staff encourage the children to think about how they would feel after helping others in this way. Children tell staff that they feel good.

Children are developing self-esteem and showing care and consideration for others.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Children have safe, secure places to play and learn in.

Staff make sure that they carry out risk assessments to identify, minimise or remove any hazards. The manager and staff have a good understanding of their duty of care to protect children. Staff know and understand the indicators that may mean a child is at risk of harm.

They know how to record and report concerns about children, or adults working in the setting, to appropriate agencies. The manager has thorough systems in place for recruiting staff and ensuring their suitability to work with children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: provide babies with clear and consistent messages to help them understand what is expected of them nimprove the organisation of activities and routines to better support younger children's learning.