Lydd House Playgroup

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children benefit from a highly stimulating learning environment that staff provide to engage them in their learning. They independently choose what they want to play with. Children have regular access to fresh air in the well-resourced outside play areas.

They enjoy a range of activities to challenge their physical skills. Children carefully climb, run and jump within the spacious area. Children benefit hugely from exciting opportunities when they play outdoors.

For instance, they particularly enjoy exploring the mud kitchen, growing fruits and vegetables in the vegetable garden, and taking care of the chickens that th...e setting has reared. Children are independent in their play and access the environment with ease for activities of their choice. Children work well together and seek each other to play with.

Staff support children's language well through visual aids, sign language and by introducing new vocabulary through activities. Children communicate with confidence to both peers and adults.When issues arise, staff calmly discuss feelings and support children to resolve issues for themselves.

Staff tune in to children's interests and use these as an opportunity to extend learning. Generally, children show good levels of engagement.

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

Staff offer a warm and nurturing environment.

They give support to each other, as well as children, through effective communication. Staff have clear expectations of children, who follow rules and boundaries well. Children show resilience and resolve their own conflicts.

They have a good understanding of nursery rules and routines. Children show high independence, especially around personal care routines.Managers reflect well on current practice.

They adapt routines and layouts to provide better learning opportunities. For example, they changed the lunchtime routine to split the children into two groups. This allows for this time to be more focused and less chaotic.

Small focus groups are then carried out, where children sing familiar songs, read stories or work on communication and language activities. These include a recent intervention to improve early language skills.There is clear focus on children using messy play to enhance learning.

For example, children enjoy ice play, working together to figure out how to melt the ice to free the animals inside. Communication and language are promoted through activities and by all members of staff. All children make good progress in the areas of learning.

However, on occasion, staff do not recognise when some children need more support in helping them to access and fully engage in activities.Children who need extra support have clear individual targets for all staff to work towards. Managers have used additional funding well to provide parents with the same resources to enable them to use at home.

This allows consistency for the child.Parents feel well informed about their child's learning and development. They have regular meetings with their child's key person to discuss their child's progress.

Parents feel the environment created for children is very homely and comforting.Children are confident talkers and staff create a language-rich environment. Children are comfortable to answer questions and staff allow time for them to respond.

Staff echo correct pronunciation of words and introduce new vocabulary throughout activities, for example 'melting' and 'Arctic' when melting ice to reveal an animal inside. Children talk openly to staff and their peers.Staff gather evidence to get clear starting points for children's learning.

This allows for staff to then plan and build upon previous learning. Staff are able to identify any gaps in children's learning. This then prepares children for the next step in their learning.

However, some staff are not clear of the learning intentions of the activities provided. This means that children's learning is not consistently maximised.Managers support the staff well.

They hold regular meetings with them to identify their strengths and areas for improvement. The manager understands the importance of additional training. She provides many opportunities for staff to undertake training to build upon their current knowledge.

For example, recent training has improved staff's knowledge of how to successfully support children's communication skills. As a result of this training, managers have introduced a daily session to promote children's language skills.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

All staff have a robust knowledge of how to safeguard young children. They demonstrate clear procedures to follow should they be concerned for a child's welfare or about staff practices, ensuring children's safety at all times. Leaders ensure that all staff are adequately trained and staff's knowledge is frequently monitored.

Staff provide a safe and secure environment with relevant risk assessments in place. There is a good password system in place to make sure that children are only released into the care of known and trusted adults.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff's interactions with children to encourage them to experiment, explore and become more deeply engaged in their play and learning strengthen staff's understanding of the curriculum intent to ensure they fully understand the overall aims for learning.