Venture Dartington

Venture Dartington

Unique reference number (URN): 2799877 Address: The Dartington Hall Trust, Warren Lane, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 6EE Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 22/07/2024 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Venture Outdoor Kindergarten Partnership

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children consistently achieve well from their starting points. They develop the confidence, independence and skills to prepare them superbly for their next stage in learning. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make rapid progress. Children demonstrate high levels of self-belief and determination. These positive attitudes help children to develop resilience and perseverance to approach new challenges and experiences with confidence and a will to succeed.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children show such joy in learning. Children's listening skills flourish as they follow instructions carefully as part of everyday activities. For example, children relish the chance to run down a grassy slope. Children receive clear instruction from staff and follow it well. They wait at the top of the hill until they receive the signal to run. Children laugh excitedly as they descend the hill. They show care for their friends as they run carefully, not bumping into friends, as instructed.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children are skilful and confident communicators. They happily share their thoughts, feelings and needs, and staff are swift to support them. Children show superb social skills. They interact well with others and develop strong bonds with friends and staff. They take turns and share without adult support.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The setting promotes positive behaviour through clear and consistent routines that help all children to feel secure and confident. Staff know children well and use this knowledge to adapt routines, where needed, so they are inclusive. This ensures that all children can engage in activities and experiences fully and safely. Children relish choosing their own activities for much of the day. This promotes high levels of engagement and focus. All children show positive behaviours as they play and learn. The learning environment is carefully planned to provide children with activities and spaces that are varied and inviting.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The environment supports children to manage their own behaviour and choose activities that develop their interests. For example, children who prefer a quieter start to their day enjoy looking at story books together or smelling the aroma of plants growing in the sensory garden. Staff carefully monitor children's attendance and provide a support call to parents when children are absent, to check on safety, wellbeing and possible return. Children thoroughly enjoy attending. They respond positively to the well-established routines, activities and behaviour expectations and show real ownership and pride in their play.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Staff support children to develop skills that help them to manage risks for themselves. Staff revise safety strategies with children. This is clearly a well-embedded part of each day, and children show such knowledge about each aspect of safety and how to care for their own and others' safety. For example, when children see a red flag image, they tell staff that red flags mean they must not go past or they may get lost. Staff challenge children to understand the rationale behind safety measures by asking questions, such as 'What would you do if you saw a child going past the red flags?' Children respond, 'Tell them to stop. It is not safe.'

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders focus on supporting children's welfare and wellbeing to thrive. They create a nurturing environment where children's physical and emotional needs are prioritised. Staff follow well-established routines. These help children to feel safe, secure and confident. Staff know children exceedingly well. They use this knowledge to provide an inclusive environment. Staff are responsive to children's needs and assist, reassure and comfort them as needed. Staff help children to identify and manage their feelings in a positive way.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Positive behaviour and attitudes to learning are developed. Staff speak with children about what they are doing well and why. They explore how their actions and choices make their friends feel. Staff help children to develop a sense of belonging. Children show pride in their environment as they show visitors their den and the mint growing in their sensory garden. Staff establish routines for handwashing, toileting and snack times that promote hygiene and independence. Staff fully support toilet training at any point in the day, as they recognise that this is a core skill that children need help to master. For example, as children enjoy a walk through the country estate and need the toilet, staff erect a tent and help children to use a portable toilet and then dissemble the tent and continue the walk.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Staff promote children's wellbeing to flourish. Children enjoy quiet moments of mindfulness at snack time. Staff model enjoyment in such moments and narrate how it helps their body and mind to relax. Staff encourage children to have healthy lunches. They also take opportunities to discuss healthy choices with children, supporting their understanding of their wellbeing further. The kindergarten's values are embedded throughout daily practice. Staff interactions consistently support children to thrive. As a result, children feel cared for and respected. They develop confidence in managing their own wellbeing.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Leaders provide children with a curriculum that is ambitious, inclusive and builds on what they already know and can do. Staff know children's interests, characters and needs well and use this knowledge to provide children with learning experiences and activities that motivate and engage them. Staff interactions are frequent and consistently support children's knowledge, skills and understanding to develop. Leaders prioritise building a staff team that is highly knowledgeable and reflective, sharing ideas and thoughts with each other every day. This supports staff to provide children with consistently high-quality teaching.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Staff promote children's communication and language skills through every interaction. Interactions are considered, purposeful and build on children's next steps in learning. Staff consistently model and use new vocabulary. For example, as staff share a story about emotions, children develop an awareness of it feels when you find a place where you feel a sense of belonging. Staff speak with children about the different-shaped flags in the story and the flags that they have at the setting. Children declare 'our flags are square not triangle'. Staff teach children about unfamiliar shapes, such as hexagons. They ask children questions about the shape properties and children enjoy counting the edges together. Staff use stories to teach children about different emotions. For example, they think out loud, commenting, 'All the others have a smile on their face. She does not. I wonder why not? I think she is sad, anxious, and worried.'

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders and staff prioritise inclusion. Staff help every child, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or barriers to learning, to thrive from the very beginning. They form strong bonds with children, and children clearly feel happy, safe and secure in their care. Leaders and staff work in partnership with parents and carers to gather important information about each child before they start. This best supports staff to effectively meet children's individual needs from their first day. Parents feel that staff trust and respect their views and observations of children's needs. This helps regular communication between parents and staff to best support children's learning and development.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The setting works with external agencies to provide tailored assessments and support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, those known to social care and looked-after children. This helps children and families to receive the right support at the right time. For example, staff provide targeted interactions for children with speech and language delays. This develops children's confidence and skills.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders and staff understand the importance of sharing information with parents to help everyone provide support for children that meets their individual needs and helps them thrive. They recognise the importance of strong partnerships to support the needs of all children, including those with SEND, those who are disadvantaged or where there are barriers to wellbeing. They are flexible with their approach to supporting families. For example, leaders adapt settling-in sessions to meet children's needs. Some children visit once and begin attending and others have a much longer period, building up the length and frequency they visit to build familiarity and self-confidence. This enables staff to build bonds with children and gather information they need to enable them to best promote children's welfare and wellbeing. This helps children to quickly settle at the setting, feel confident with staff and feel safe and ready to learn. Parents greatly value the learning experiences and

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Inclusion Strong standard

care that their children receive and feel that their children thrive.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leadership is strategic and supports staff to provide high-quality learning and development opportunities that are sequenced and build well on what children already know and can do. Leaders listen to staff views and support and guide staff to best manage their workload and promote wellbeing. Leaders provide coaching and mentoring for staff to be confident in their roles. Staff receive inductions and supervision that best support them to help children's development blossom.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders have a clear vision for their curriculum. They prioritise providing children with time to surround themselves in nature. Children develop high levels of curiosity. Leaders focus on providing learning experiences that celebrate the joy of nature and develop children's problem-solving skills. Leaders and staff constantly reflect on their provision and adapt the curriculum experiences for children to best meet needs. Leaders provide training that helps staff to implement the curriculum well and promote achievement. Leaders know what are the strengths of their provision and what aspects of the provision they are prioritising to develop further. For example, providing children with resources that they can independently access to extend their play is being introduced now. This is to further promote children's ability to make choices in their learning.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders have established robust monitoring procedures to ensure that the physical environment is safe for play. They carry out daily reviews of the site before children arrive.

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Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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Voluntary Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children show a real sense of belonging. They arrive excited for the day ahead and separate well from parents and carers. Children are greeted warmly by staff. Children independently store their belongings and enjoy breakfast together, chatting about their weekend adventures. Children then engage in activities of their choosing. They enjoy revisiting and building on prior experiences. For example, when children arrive, they immediately return to mixing mud cakes that they started the last time they were in the setting. They play with focus and purpose, confidently asking each other questions, such as 'would you like any petals for the cake?' They play collaboratively, demonstrating negotiating skills far beyond that expected as they ask 'please can you gather more ingredients together'. Children show such confidence in their environment. Children are kind and caring of each other. They share and take turns without adult support. Children have formed

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

positive relationships with staff. The curriculum that children experience is rich and varied and builds on what they already know and can do.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children have strong bonds with their key persons, and staff know all children well. Staff understand children's characters and interests and help their wellbeing thrive. Children show high levels of independence in their play, only seeking support when they need it. Children benefit from frequent interactions that extend children's knowledge and understanding. All children make progress from their starting points and enjoy activities that prioritise developing their communication skills, physical development and social skills. Children develop balance and coordination as they travel along trails. They construct dens and climb branches, hiding from imagined enemies. Children experience an environment that is full of language. For example, younger children who are new to the setting enjoy quietly observing play while staff support their confidence and familiarity with routines to develop. Older children enjoy constructing stick dens. They persevere as they solve a problem of not being

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

able to enter the den with no entrance. Children's communication and language skills are impressive. They instruct each other, saying, 'First take some small sticks off. Now let's look carefully at the big sticks so we can see which ones to take away and not make it fall.' They cheer when they achieve their goal.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children thrive. They clearly feel safe and secure. Staff form effective working relationships with families that build consistency in care and help all children make rapid progress. Staff promote children's attendance. When children are absent, staff are swift to communicate with parents and support children's return to kindergarten.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure continued improvement in the setting's successful work to remove barriers for children who need extra help, to realise a transformational impact on all children's achievement and wellbeing.

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Address:

The Dartington Hall Trust Warren Lane Totnes Devon TQ9 6EE

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Venture Outdoor Kindergarten Partnership

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 09:00 - 15:00

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, parents and children during the inspection.

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About this inspection

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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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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