Alburgh With Denton Preschool Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

When children arrive at the pre-school, they are welcomed by the warm and caring staff. Children happily say goodbye to their parents and quickly become engaged in the range of inviting activities. Children benefit from being able to choose to play indoors or outside, throughout the day. Many children choose to play outside. They mix herbs with teabags and water, counting the cups of water as they pour. Children explore in the large sandpit, or learn to safely cut up vegetables in the outdoor kitchen. They mix the vegetables with soil to make 'soup'. Indoors, children snuggle up with staff to look at books and listen to stories. Staff show children how to lay down on the floor to create an 'upside-down picture', using paper stuck to the underneath of the table.

Children benefit greatly from the close attention they receive from staff. At snack time, each child sits at a table with their key person and a few friends. They learn mealtime routines as they choose from the selection of fresh fruit. Children become competent at pouring their own drinks and spreading their crackers. There is a warm and positive atmosphere. Staff carefully listen to children as they talk. Children develop their speech as they share stories from their home lives and excitedly talk about Christmas preparations. They are developing a range of social and personal skills, along with communication and language.

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

• The experienced and established staff team work very well together to plan an exciting curriculum for children. Staff understand how children learn. They are skilled at supporting children's play. Staff regularly introduce children to new words, ideas and mathematical concepts. Staff are excellent role models for children. They continually show children how to be respectful and kind. This creates a calm environment for children to play and learn.
• Staff are providing children with valuable opportunities to catch up on skills they may have missed out on during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each day, staff run 'social interaction groups', where they engage with children in small, focused groups. Each child is able to share their ideas. They choose props from a bag and use these to sing favourite rhymes. Staff sing along with the children. They confidently use British sign language to aid children's understanding.
• Staff provide children with a varied curriculum to aid their good health and physical development. Every morning, staff and children go for their daily morning 'run' on the adjacent school field. Children build up their stamina as they run two laps around the field. Afterwards, children sit quietly in the shelter. They listen to their quickened breathing and feel their hearts beating fast.
• Children benefit from many opportunities to hear and join in with rhymes, songs and stories. They have ample opportunity to practise their large- and small- muscle skills in preparation for early writing. However, occasionally, activities to develop children's recognition of letters and sounds are not precisely tailored to children's needs. This means that some children struggle with the task and ask if they can 'go and play' instead.
• Children behave extremely well. They are friendly, confident and get along well together. Children are well prepared for starting school.
• Parents praise the pre-school staff. Parents feel they have been very well supported during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents say that staff provide high levels of support for children's and families' well-being. They feel that their children are extremely well cared for and that they receive lots of valuable information about their children's learning.
• Staff speak highly of the dedicated manager. They say she is always available to help them progress in their roles. The manager encourages staff to become specialists in certain areas. Some staff are undertaking training to become 'communication champions'. The benefits of the staff training are already evident. Staff show high levels of skill in encouraging children's developing speaking and listening.
• Staff plan enjoyable group activities for children, such as music sessions and storytelling in the 'woods'. However, sometimes, these activities are timetabled so they happen one after the other. This results in a few children losing concentration on the planned activity.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• refine activities to help children develop early reading skills, to ensure these are precisely tailored to children's individual abilities
• review the timetabling of large group activities, to help children to maintain concentration and focus.