Seedlings

Inspection of Seedlings Maple Medical Pupil Referral Unit, Cedar Road, Doncaster, Yorkshire DN4 9HT

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

The quality of education Outstanding Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not applicable

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The provision is outstanding

Children are immensely valued by deeply nurturing staff, who have very high expectations of them all. As a result, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make very rapid progress. Staff have an excellent understanding of what each child knows and needs to learn next. They use this information to plan exciting activities that engage and inspire the children. Settling-in arrangements are very flexible and individual to children's and parents' needs. Children are extremely confident and self-assured in the setting.

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The provision is outstanding

The setting offers a welcoming and engaging environment, where children thrive and become deeply involved in their learning. Children display high levels of respect for others and their environment. Children have secure and close relationships with staff. Children demonstrate that they feel safe at nursery. They behave exceedingly well and form respectful relationships. Staff sensitively help children to express their feelings. Their support to each individual child and family is exceptional. Consequently, this helps to support children and their families' emotional well-being, which staff consider to be fundamental to making excellent progress. Parents are welcomed into the setting and have positive and highly effective relationships with staff. Children are enthusiastic learners.

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The provision is outstanding

Children flourish despite the challenges presented to the setting and families by the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents are highly appreciative of the quality of care and support that they and their children receive.

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need to do better?

n The dedicated management team and staff work superbly together and are committed to meeting the specific needs of individual families. Staff work tirelessly to seek out the services and funding to help children make the best progress. Staff's enthusiasm and passion for working with children is infectious. n All children who attend this nursery have special educational needs and/or disabilities, and staff have high expectations for all children to achieve and do well. Staff treat each child as an individual and provide an inclusive environment. n The ambitious curriculum for all children is interesting and exciting. Staff provide excellent learning opportunities for children to develop their listening and attention skills. This enables children to broaden their experiences and build secure foundations for their future learning. n Staff support children exceptionally well. They are very knowledgeable about the

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need to do better?

children's individual needs. Highly effective strategies are in place to ensure staff swiftly identify potential delays in children's development. The highly qualified manager and staff take action to provide intervention at the earliest opportunity. Staff use funding to support the children's development. For example, they have

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need to do better?

29 March 2022 developed an interactive sensory room for children to explore and where they can relax. n Staff successfully plan the environment, so that all children can freely access activities of their choice. For example, staff encourage children to sing songs, listen to stories and nursery rhymes and to express their own thoughts. Consequently, children use new words and develop their independence and confidence to express themselves. n The inspirational manager has embedded a rigorous system to support and monitor the development of staff. The manager takes pride in her team. She coaches and mentors them to help them confidently perform to their full potential. She observes staff teaching, and strives for excellence for children. The manager and staff team make excellent use of self-evaluation. They clearly identify areas to improve and value input from parents and other professionals. This helps them to maintain the quality of the provision.

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need to do better?

n Parents speak highly of the nursery. Partnerships with parents are highly effective. Parents are closely involved in the care that their children receive. A collaborative and cohesive approach is used very successfully to build fully on children's learning. Parents describe the setting as 'amazing' and leaders and staff as 'exceptional'. They add that staff go above and beyond to support their children with their learning. n Children delight in being outdoors and use this area well. For example, children are provided with excellent opportunities to help develop their physical and exploratory skills. n Staff make extremely good use of opportunities to review the learning environment and to provide activities that focus on children's individual needs. For example, they provide scented play dough to help children to explore, using their senses. A member of staff is always close by to join in to help drive

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need to do better?

activities forward. Staff use resources to stimulate young children's impulse to explore. Staff's excellent use of sign language helps children to further extend their communication and language skills.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff give the utmost priority to children's safety and well-being. The manager and staff have a highly comprehensive knowledge of safeguarding. Staff receive thorough and regular training. They have a clear understanding of the signs that may indicate a child is at risk from harm. They know how to report concerns. Staff are also aware of a wide range of safeguarding issues, such as how families may become exposed to radical or extreme views. Staff get to know children and families extremely well. This helps staff to initiate early help strategies to support them in times of crisis. Staff are fully aware of the setting's whistle-blowing policy and what to do if they become concerned about the conduct of a colleague.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY563324 Local authority Doncaster Inspection number 10194315 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register Day care type Sessional day care

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inspection

Total number of places 12 Number of children on roll 9 Name of registered person Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council

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reference number

Telephone number 07768325417 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

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Information about this early years setting

Seedlings registered in 2018 and is a specialist provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They employ five members of childcare staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications. This includes the manager who has a level 6 qualification and two staff with qualified teacher status. All staff hold additional qualifications in special educational needs. The setting opens on Tuesday and Thursday, term time only. Sessions are from 9am until 1.30pm. The setting provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children.

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Inspection activities

n This is the first routine inspection the provider received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the provider and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the provider. n The manager and the inspector completed a learning walk together around all areas of the setting and discussed the early years curriculum. n The inspector held discussions with staff at appropriate times during the inspection and took account of their views. n The manager and the inspector carried out a joint observation. n The inspector spoke to parents during the inspection and took account of their views. n The inspector sampled relevant documentation; this included staff suitability checks and information about paediatric first aid.

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Inspection activities

We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

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Inspection activities

29 March 2022 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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