Gateway Leesland

All parents want the best for their children in so many different ways – but most of all parents want their children to be happy today and able to handle tomorrow. The children at Gateway Leesland exhibit tremendous levels of both confidence and independence. This is the result of the strong relationships with the staff, as well as Gateway Leesland’s emphasis on encouraging the children to take the lead. This “child-led” approach may appear, on the surface, to consist of staff reacting to children’s actions. In reality, a huge amount of preparation, planning and training has been done by the manager and staff, to make the process seem “easy”.

This high degree of professionalism can be seen in the records kept of each child’s development, with the record being routinely shared with the parents. Equally, the staff have development records of their own to monitor their learning through parent zone.

Strong relationships, both with the children and with the parents, start with home visits. Children are encouraged to bring in photographs from home too. All of this supports children during the all-important settling in period. Parental involvement is also actively encouraged with stay and play sessions and themed activities. This smoothing of what could otherwise be a traumatic period for the child, benefits their emotional development. On this strong foundation, Gateway encourages children to make choices, to take decisions, helping the children to gain confidence and become steadily more independent. This is reflected in the children’s behaviour to others: they talk to one another about what they are doing, describing colours, textures and quantities. These mature, confident exchanges demonstrate how comfortable the children are in their environment, as well as how confident they are to take on new tasks and interact with others.

The provision is GOOD with an Outstanding in personal, development and welfare.