Acorns Community Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show that they feel safe and secure as they arrive confidently at pre-school. They quickly get involved in the exciting activities set up for them. Staff engage in positive conversations with children. Together, they talk about visiting their new schools and going on family holidays. As they play together, they create pretend tea parties and talk about their favourite treats. Staff encourage children to think about how to share kindly and take turns as they hand out pretend cups and cakes to one another. Children play happily and build good relationships with friends and staff.

Staff provide children with activities that encourage them to explore their senses. They play with malleable materials and manipulate them into different shapes and sizes. Staff plan these activities to increase children's language skills and to develop the muscles in their hands and upper body. Children and staff talk about the different words they can use to describe how the texture feels. For example, children use words such as 'sticky' and 'soft'. Children also enjoy painting and talk about the different pictures they have made. Children are confident to express themselves creatively.

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

• Leaders are dedicated and ambitious. They have developed a curriculum that is well sequenced. It aims to provide children with the skills they need to prepare them for school. For example, leaders recognise the importance of supporting children's love of reading. Staff create exciting story times that build on children's current interests. Staff also develop this further and promote children's understanding of factual text. For instance, they use books to research the different insects they find. Through activities such as these, children's interest in books is increased.
• Overall, staff interactions are of good quality. Children thoroughly enjoy open-ended play, such as exploring with water and going on bug hunts. However, at times, staff do not recognise when activities can be developed to support children to engage in purposeful learning interactions that interest and challenge them. This means that, occasionally, children's attitudes to learning are not consistently promoted.
• Leaders recognise how to support children who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They ensure that all staff are aware of the strategies in place to support children, such as the use of visual timetables. Staff also work closely with other professionals, including speech and language therapists and local authority advisers, to implement collaborative plans for children. Through this, children benefit from a shared approach to their learning.
• Children develop an understanding of completing tasks independently. For example, at snack time, children know to collect their own plates and cups. When they are finished, they wash them up and place them away. Staff also support children to carry out their own care needs, such as getting changed out of wet clothes after water play. Children build good independence skills.
• Staff carry out children's hygiene routines with care and respect. For instance, staff kindly and sensitively ask children if they can change their nappy. Children respond positively. They have friendly conversations, and the staff discuss with them what they are doing. Staff promote children's emotional security through this discreet and respectful experience.
• Leaders regularly review the effectiveness of the education and environment provided at the pre-school. They implement training plans to ensure that staff are kept up to date with changes. Staff discuss that they receive regular supervision sessions and how targeted training has supported them in taking on new leadership responsibilities. The culture around ongoing self-evaluation and continuous development is highly positive.
• Parents and carers are fully involved in children's experiences at pre-school. For example, they are invited into pre-school for 'Parent Week', when they can come in and be involved in children's activities. Furthermore, staff provide parents with information about their children's progress and offer suggestions on how learning can be extended at home. Parent partnerships are effective in supporting children's educational journey.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff interactions to increase children's attention and focus on learning during activities.