Winshill Childcare

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children enjoy their time in the nursery.

Staff are very attentive to children's needs. Children feel safe and secure and demonstrate this as they snuggle up on staff knees for cuddles and positive interactions. Staff tickle young children with toy dinosaurs on their tummy and pretend to eat them.

Children giggle with delight and indicate they want to do it more.Children have opportunities to practise their developing physical skills. Outdoors, children sit on push-along toys or scooters, they climb and slide down small slides.

Indoors, small soft-play ramps and apparatus encourage younger children to crawl an...d explore. Young children pull themselves up and stand for the first time as they explore a tray of dinosaurs in crunchy cereal. They are encouraged to use their senses by feeling, touching, and squeezing the cereal between their fingers.

Children gain skills required for their next stage of learning and eventual move on to school. They play well alongside their friends. They take turns and patiently wait for someone to finish before they use the available resources.

Children enjoy activities to strengthen muscles required for pencil control. They use play dough to squish and roll and make their own 'worms'. Children explore different letters in the sand tray.

They talk about the letters which start with their names.

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

The provider is also the manager. She ensures the quality of teaching is consistently good by completing regular staff meetings and supervisions with staff.

Staff attend training to support them in their professional development. Currently, all staff are receiving training in the curiosity approach. The provider hopes this will ensure each child's learning experience will be led by the child and will further enhance the progress they already make.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. Staff work closely with external agencies and parents to ensure each child receives a targeted plan of support. Their individual needs are catered for as much as possible.

For example, children that like free access outdoors, are looked after within a room where free flow to the outdoors is possible. This ensures these children make the best possible progress that they can.Staff know the children well.

They know their likes and dislikes and use this information to plan activities. This helps children receive experiences they enjoy which supports them in their learning. For example, children who like sensory play are encouraged to sit on a tuff tray of rice.

Staff hold rice above them and make it 'rain' over them. Children show sustain high levels of engagement as they like the feel of the rice as it gently 'rains' on them. Staff talk to them gently, asking questions to promote communication and language skills.

On the whole, children behave well. That said, on occasions, children throw resources or were observed taking unnecessary risks. Staff told children, 'not to throw' or 'be careful', but the language used was functional in preventing it from happening.

Staff do not explain to children why they should not do these things, to help them gain a deeper understanding of how to keep themselves safe or others.Children receive a rich set of experiences which they may not receive elsewhere. The provider takes children on regular outings, such as to experience forest school sessions.

Children spent time gaining awe and wonder of nature around them. The sessions were successful. The provider hopes to access them again with the younger children.

Children have recently been growing their own runner beans and cress. They attempt to make their own sandwiches. They butter the bread themselves and decide whether they will have cheese or ham with their cress.

However, at times, there are missed opportunities to support children to learn more about healthy lifestyles and what food is good for them. Some lunches which children bring are not as healthy as they could be. Parents could be supported more in making healthier choices for their children.

Staff feel supported. The provider ensures that staff with special educational needs are fully included into all training. For example, she sits with them to help them read and complete training and she prints worksheets out on different-coloured paper.

Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents say the provider and staff are friendly and caring. They support their children but also the families as well.

The provider ensures that those who are entitled to food vouchers from the local authority are regularly provided with the access codes to make sure they are accessing their full entitlement.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The provider and staff attend regular training.

They have recently completed extra training in a local authority initiative on child neglect. This ensures that children are fully safeguarded. Staff know the procedures to follow if they have concerns about children in their care.

Staff who are new to their role and do not have the same experience in certain areas of safeguarding, are supported by the provider who completes the training with them and assists them in gaining that understanding. Appropriate safer recruitment checks are completed on staff which means they are suitable to work with children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support children to further understand how to keep themselves and others safe further enhance children's knowledge about healthy eating and provide parents with more information to support them in making healthier choices for their children.