Kidzrus Monton

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children enter the setting happily and are eager to take part in the exciting activities on offer. They demonstrate that they feel safe and secure within the setting. Babies lift up their arms for cuddles and comfort from familiar adults when babies are tired or a little unsettled.

Children particularly enjoy outdoor play in the garden, where they have the space and freedom to run around and practise their physical skills. They jump off the bridge ramp into a tyre with remarkable skill. Children are confident to challenge themselves and to take risks.

Overall, children behave well and have good attitudes to learning. T...hey share, take turns and show staff and each other respect. However, occasionally, staff do not always help pre-school children to understand how their behaviour affects the feelings of others.

Pre-school children develop a good awareness of linking letters and sounds. They explore letters on a light box and find the letter that their name begins with. This helps children to develop their early literacy skills, in readiness for school.

Children develop good imagination and creative skills. They explore the texture of paint and use different tools to express their thoughts and their ideas. Children are thrilled when they paint their hands and tell staff that they have made a dinosaur.

Staff consistently praise children for their achievements. Children are confident, and they demonstrate high levels of self-esteem.Parents comment that throughout the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, staff continued to sustain strong links between the setting and the home through telephone conversations and email.

This helped parents to continue children's learning at home and has lessened the risk of children falling behind. For example, staff provided parents with ideas of activities that they could do with children to continue to enhance children's large-muscle control and coordination.

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

Staff plan activities that are based around children's interests.

They observe children's play to find out what they know and can do. However, play is less purposeful in the pre-school room and the tots room. Some staff are not confident in planning for children's next steps in learning.

Therefore, staff cannot be sure that children in these rooms make the best possible progress.Children's communication and language skills are developing well. For example, babies and toddlers enjoy listening to stories and repeat words, such as animal sounds, from familiar songs.

Staff talk to children and role model how to pronounce words correctly. They teach older children more-challenging words, such as 'pliers', 'screw' and 'drill', to help extend children's vocabulary.Staff work exceptionally hard to ensure children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive the additional support that they need.

They work closely with external professionals, such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists. This helps to ensure that these children make the best possible progress and that no child is disadvantaged.Staff work very closely with the schools that children eventually move on to.

They share information about children's development and the next steps in children's learning. Children develop good self-care skills in readiness for school. For example, they learn how to fasten buttons when they dress up in school uniforms.

Children develop strong links with the local community. Staff provide a wide range of opportunities for babies and for children to learn about the world around them. Children sing songs for the elderly in the grounds of a local care home during lockdown.

Children take a bus to visit the local hospital. They explore the equipment in the ambulance and learn about what the paramedics do.The manager regularly observes staff to monitor the quality of their practice.

Supervision meetings are used to discuss and to address any training and professional development needs with staff. Self-evaluation is effective, and staff, children and parents are involved in the process. The manager has a clear vision of the strengths and of the areas for development of the setting.

The manager prioritises targets for improvement to meet children's needs.Partnerships with parents are excellent. Staff provide parents with a wealth of information about their children's development and the progress that they make.

This helps to promote high levels of consistency and continuity of care and of learning for all children. Parents are extremely complimentary about the setting and the staff. They describe staff as 'amazing'.

The provider and the manager place a strong focus on supporting the well-being of staff. There are two mental health first aiders who are always available to talk to staff, when needed. In addition, a recent evaluation that led to changes to planning systems has lightened staff workload considerably.

The provider is fully committed to promoting the continuous professional development of staff and encourages and supports them to achieve higher levels of qualifications. The provider has appointed a highly qualified quality manager who develops and delivers tailor-made training to meet the individual learning needs of staff. This helps to continuously raise the quality of the provision offered.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Robust safeguarding policies and procedures are consistently implemented and underpin daily practice. Staff have a very good knowledge and understanding of the procedures to follow in the event of a child protection concern.

The manager takes all allegations seriously and notifies the relevant agencies. Staff are confident to follow the whistle-blowing policy should they have concerns about the behaviour of a member of staff. The provider, the manager and the staff take pride in the nursery and take effective steps to ensure children play in an extremely clean and well-maintained environment.

Children learn to manage their own safety. Secure arrangements are in place for moving between the indoors and the outdoors, and children know to onto the banister when using the stairs.

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 better understand how to plan for children's next steps, particularly in the pre-school room and the tots room, to ensure that all children make the best possible progress develop highly effective strategies to help children to understand the rules and the boundaries and how their behaviour affects the feelings of others.