Abkats Ltd

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision requires improvement The manager and staff place a strong focus on helping children to develop their sense of self and how they are unique. However, weaknesses in the curriculum, planning and teaching hinder the progress that children make. Staff do not challenge children well enough in their learning.

This results in children having lower levels of engagement in purposeful play and limits the opportunities for them to build on what they already know and can do. The manager and staff are kind and nurturing. Children and babies form close attachments with them and enjoy their company.

However, the manager does not ensure that children under th...e age of two have access to a separate room. Children and babies are generally content. However, there are times when they become unsettled in the room shared with the older children and they have limited play experiences that reflect their stage of development.

Staff provide children with clear expectations for their behaviour. For example, they help children to understand the reasons for the rules and why some behaviours are not acceptable. Children learn how their actions impact on others.

They behave well and older children show an awareness of the needs of their younger friends, such as offering them a teddy bear when they are upset.

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

The manager, who is also the provider, considers aspects of their practice to develop. She has recently worked with staff to reorganise the indoor furniture to encourage older children to focus on their chosen play.

However, the self-evaluation and monitoring of staff has been less effective in identifying areas of weaker practice to target improvements that benefit children. Staff receive supervision and professional development, such as to learn new approaches to teaching mathematics. However, this has not been effective in helping staff to provide children with consistently good learning experiences.

Although there is a separate room for children under two, the manager has not used this space to benefit babies and toddlers. They spend their day in the same room as the older children, where teaching and the environment are not matched well enough to their learning and development needs. Toddlers seek out quieter areas of the room where they can play away from the older children, which limits the learning experiences they have.

The manager has a general curriculum overview. She uses books as a key tool to deliver the curriculum, such as helping children to develop their awareness of diversity. However, she has not fully considered the sequence of knowledge and skills that children need to gain to progress towards their development milestones.

Staff have some learning aims for the activities they provide. However, they do not provide each child with an ambitious education programme that helps them to achieve their full potential. Staff do not make good use of their general observations of children's individual progress to inform their planning and teaching, particularly for toddlers and babies.

Therefore, staff's teaching does not consistently provide each child with good learning experiences that are tailored precisely to their development needs and engage them fully. For example, younger children lack engagement and become unsettled during the whole-group circle time. This also makes it difficult for older children to concentrate and benefit from the activity.

Staff make effective use of children's two-year-old progress checks to seek outside professional support when it is needed. They make timely referrals so that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive the support they need.Parent partnerships are effective.

Parents explain how they receive lots of communication about their child's day and achievements. Staff encourage two-way conversations so they can provide continuity for children.Staff provide children with plenty of opportunities to be physically active outdoors.

Children happily push toy lawnmowers and wheelbarrows around with their friends. They learn skills, such as climbing, balancing and risk assessment. Children enjoy using toy diggers to scoop sand and fill containers.

Staff promote children's health effectively, and they have access to water and nutritious snacks. Staff follow suitable hygiene routines and keep toilet and nappy changing areas clean. Children learn the importance of regular handwashing.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager liaises well with the local authority to review the safeguarding policy so that it reflects the local safeguarding partnership's procedures. All staff are well trained in safeguarding and understand their responsibility to keep children safe.

This includes completing rigorous checks of the premises to ensure that children are safe when they play. The manager and staff understand local safeguarding concerns and know a wide range of signs and symptoms that may indicate that a child is at risk of harm and how to report these. They understand their responsibility to report concerns about staff conduct to the relevant agencies.

The manager completes thorough checks to verify the suitability of new staff.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage, the provider must: Due date use a separate room for children under the age of two, so they benefit from age-related play and learning experiences 27/11/2023 improve the use of staff's observations and assessments of children's progress to inform planning and teaching so that children consistently receive good education programmes that accurately reflect their individual needs and motivate them fully.02/01/2024 To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nimprove the monitoring of the impact that teaching and education programmes have on children's learning to inform staff's professional development and provide children with consistently good learning experiences.