Acorn Pre-School CIO

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and show high levels of engagement in pre-school. They have formed secure emotional attachments with staff, who are very attentive to their needs. Children relish the responsibility of being the helper at snack time. Staff entrust them to invite their friends to the table. Children pour drinks out for their friends and ask them if they would like some apple and cucumber. This helps to promote children's self-esteem and gives them a sense of responsibility. Children investigate the range of resources available to them. They explore cereals and small world animals, using their imagination. Staff encourage children to use their fine motor skills. Children use child-safe knives to cut up real vegetables and then use these to pretend to feed the animals they play with.

Children have developed a strong interest in books. They sit alongside staff and carefully turn the pages and point to pictures. Children giggle as staff read stories using an animated voice. This contributes to their literacy and reading skills. Children are confident and well-behaved learners. They understand the pre-school routine and respond to instructions. For example, they listen for the five-minute warning to tidy-up time, then eagerly get involved with tidying up. Children use a dustpan and brush to sweep up the play dough. This helps them to learn how to look after the environment.

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

• The manager and staff evaluate the quality of the pre-school successfully to make ongoing improvements. For instance, there are plans in place to develop the garden to provide more learning opportunities that include planting and growing. This improvement has been identified from the children's interest.
• Staff know the children well and constantly interact with them as they play and explore. However, staff do not always build on what children know and can already do. One example of this, when children use bricks to build a tower, staff introduce mathematical language to describe size but do not encourage counting.
• Staff build on the children's interests. For example, toddlers show an interest in the book 'Big Red Bath'. Staff provide resources that relate to the book and capture toddlers' interests. Children are encouraged to put on aprons and play with water and toy animals. This helps to develop their sensory experiences and brings the book to life.
• The manager and staff work in partnership with parents and external professionals. This enables them to meet children's individual care and learning needs effectively. Staff include all children equally in the activities, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Staff observe and assess children's learning. They put in place a curriculum that helps children to learn key skills for future success. For example, staff know that some children will be going to school in September. They encourage them to do as much for themselves as possible, such as putting on their own shoes and coats. Staff recognise that this helps children to develop their independence and self-care skills.
• Staff teach children how to play cooperatively with others. They offer explanations about sharing such as when two children want to play with the same toy. This helps children to develop good social skills.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills well. They encourage children to take part in everyday discussions and talk to them about what they are doing as they play. Children openly talk about their families and home lives, they comment, 'I make pizza at home with mummy.'
• Overall, parents are positive about the pre-school and the staff. They comment that their children have made good progress since joining the pre-school. Parents all know who their child's key person is. However, staff do not support all parents to know how they can support their children's learning at home.
• Staff support children to develop a healthy lifestyle. They encourage regular hand sanitizing and washing hands after using the bathroom. Equally, staff talk to the children at lunchtime about the importance of making healthy choices from their lunch box.
• Staff recognise the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on children's learning, particularly their physical development. They encourage children to play outside and occasionally take them on walks in the local environment. Children take safe risks as they balance across the stepping stones. This helps to close gaps in children's development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support all staff to consistently extend and build further on children's learning
• extend the partnerships with parents further to help all parents understand how to support their child's individual learning at home.