WASP Guild Hall

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children enjoy their time at this setting and particularly appreciate the involvement of their key workers in their play.

For example, children are happy to start playing hide and seek with their peers outside, but really begin to shriek with delight when staff members get involved. They can hardly contain their giggles as they successfully find staff and their peers hiding in cupboards and behind large play equipment. As a result, children build strong, warm bonds with staff, which help to support their self-confidence and social skills.

Children's early literacy skills are mostly well supported. For instance, childre...n experience meaningful learning during story time. Staff skilfully link stories to children's recent experiences, which encourages children to offer comments and ask questions.

Children listen eagerly and respectfully both to staff and to other children who are talking. However, at times staff teach children letter names and sounds using stamps which display mirror-images of letters. This is confusing practice and does not support other methods being used to promote children's reading, such as letter flashcards.

Children behave very well. They know what is expected of them. For instance, during lunchtime, children wait to finish chewing their food before answering questions asked by staff.

Staff praise this good behaviour and children smile with pride. Staff speak respectfully to children and each other and children mirror this by saying 'please', 'thank you' and asking politely if they would like something out of reach.

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

The management team is committed to helping to provide children with equal experiences in life.

It organises trips and classes to help to support children to develop skills that will be useful in later life and to access resources they may not otherwise use. For instance, children are brought to a local library and taught how to check out their own books. Children are also taught to use public transport so they can experience different things beyond their local community.

In addition to this, children learn to grow and cook their own vegetables, such as potatoes, and develop a deeper understanding of where food comes from. This helps to support children's understanding of the world, as well as promoting their literacy skills and self-confidence.Staff support children's imaginative development well.

For example, when children decide to dress up as cooks, staff extend this experience by helping children to set up a pretend restaurant and by pretending to order. Children enjoy this role play and are excited about preparing dishes and serving their waiting customers.Parents value this setting.

They particularly appreciate the regular communication with staff and the management team, and feel well informed about their children's development. Parents praise staff for following children's specific interests and for encouraging strong independence in all children.Staff support children to understand their own emotions by meeting any feelings of frustration or upset with a calm, positive approach.

Staff speak to children about what is making them feel sad or overwhelmed and work with the individual children to find a solution. This means that children begin to recognise their own emotions and further build trusting bonds with staff.For the most part, staff are good role models for children.

This is especially apparent during mealtimes. Staff sit and eat with children, making lunch a social occasion. Children benefit from this as staff show children the different types of vegetables they have in their lunches and other healthy snacks.

However, at times, staff do not send consistent messages about what is healthy and unhealthy. For example, staff ensure children drink only milk or water and are not allowed any unhealthy drinks. However, on occasion, staff drink fizzy drinks in front of children.

This confuses the otherwise clear boundaries put in place about what is healthy.Children enjoy creative activities involving paint and various tools. Older children are enthused as they mix different colours together and guess what new colour will be created.

Younger children begin to count out loud as they paint fairy lights on Christmas trees. However, at times, children are not encouraged to complete simple tasks by themselves, such as spreading paint on a sponge. This means that children miss chances to build their independence and can rely on staff to do these age-appropriate tasks for them.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.All staff have a good understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities. They can identify with confidence the signs and symptoms which may indicate that a child is being abused.

Staff know the steps to take should they feel concerned for the welfare of a child. They also understand the whistle-blowing procedure and know their duties should they have an allegation against a member of the management team. The manager, who is the designated safeguarding lead, understands wider safeguarding issues such as the 'Prevent' duty, regarding issues such as racism and witchcraft.

The manager passes on this knowledge to all other staff. These practices help to protect children from harm.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen support of children's good health by sending clear and consistent messages regarding healthy choices, particularly during lunchtime build staff understanding of how to best support children's development in literacy, particularly with early phonics build on children's independence by encouraging them to complete simple tasks for themselves, especially during creative activities.