Wise Owls Educational Play

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and excited to learn.

Leaders provide a wide range of activities which suit the children very well. Children are excited about their learning and engage with the range of activities on offer. They particularly enjoy the newly developed outdoor area.

Here, the children gain a better understanding of their world, for instance through watering plants and talking about why they need water. Outdoors, they also benefit from a wide range of physical play activities. Children climb and clamber and take appropriate risks, with support and guidance of staff.

In turn, they learn to manage risks for the...mselves. Children feel safe and form secure attachments with attentive, skilled staff. They are listened to and staff respond to their needs exceptionally well.

As a result, children learn that their views and feelings matter. Staff invest time getting to know the families extremely well. Staff identify where families may need some additional support and act to get them that support very efficiently.

Staff have high expectations of children. They use children's interests to plan activities that build on what they can already do. However, at times children are not fully engaged.

Staff do not fully consider ways to develop children's listening and attention skills, particularly during storytelling.

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

Staff spend time getting to know children extremely well and therefore know what specific support individual children need. They identify potential barriers to progress and use effective strategies to overcome these.

For example, staff encourage children to place their dummy on the dummy tree, to benefit their early language development.Children enjoy challenge in the varied outdoor area. They show good control when climbing up the challenging equipment.

This impacts positively on children's physical health and well-being. Children begin to develop an understanding of healthy foods through playing with real fruits and vegetables in their role play. When children show curiosity about what might be inside a red pepper, staff support them to cut it open and talk about what is inside.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour and are very consistent in their strategies for managing behaviour. As a result, children behave very well. Children know and understand the system for promoting good behaviour.

For example, when they are praised they prompt staff to show them the green smiley face card. Where occasional low-level behaviour issues arise, staff deal with this immediately and spend time talking to children about feelings. This helps children to develop an understanding of the impact of their actions on others.

Staff form close, respectful relationships with children and their families through an effective key-person system. They are highly knowledgeable about each child. Staff plan challenging activities around children's interests.

For example, children are supported to use sticks and straw to build houses as they recently enjoyed the 'Three little pigs' story. As they glue the straw and sticks, staff make the learning meaningful through talking to children about their own houses.Leaders are passionate and determined.

They provide an inclusive setting where they identify and source support that children and families require. They work very effectively with a range of other agencies. In turn, parents speak very highly of the setting and report that their children are very happy.

Staff do not always make the best use of storytelling opportunities to develop children's love of reading. Children are distracted and do not listen well at times.The learning opportunities are well planned and matched to the children.

Staff prioritise children's early communication skills. They model very clear language. For example, while watering plants, staff state that 'the plants are very thirsty and need a big drink'.

Children repeat the language they hear and they are developing their own vocabulary.Staff feel valued and supported by leaders and, as a result, they are happy in this setting. Although there is a system in place for supervising staff, leaders should consider ways to further enhance this.

Leaders do not consistently use supervision to help ensure that staff's subject knowledge is continually developing.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Leaders and staff are highly knowledgeable on safeguarding matters.

They complete regular training to ensure their knowledge is current. On day one, staff learn the setting's procedures for dealing with concerns. Leaders make timely referrals and liaise with other agencies regularly.

This ensures that children and families get the support they need. Leaders ensure the ongoing suitability of staff and carry out necessary checks prior to their employment.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen current systems for the supervision and support of staff nenhance storytelling opportunities that support children's listening and attention skills.

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