All Saints Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children demonstrate a strong sense of belonging at this welcoming pre-school. Staff build positive relationships with children, helping them to separate from their parents with ease and begin their day positively. Children independently hang their belongings, self-register and become quickly engaged in an inviting learning environment. Children's interests and voices are valued and play a key role in shaping the curriculum. Staff are responsive to children's ideas and requests, ensuring that learning opportunities reflect their current fascinations. For example, following children's interest in babies, role-play resources are introduced to support this theme. Children become engrossed in dressing and pushing baby dolls in pushchairs. Staff extend their learning outdoors by providing opportunities for children to wash dolls, developing their understanding of self-care routines and personal hygiene.

Staff promote positive behaviour through clear boundaries. They use strategies, such as modelling and consistent reinforcement of the 'golden rules' which include taking turns, being kind, and using walking feet. Routines are embedded well in the pre-school. Children demonstrate increasing independence in self-care, serving themselves at snack time and clearing their plates away when finished. This consistent approach helps children understand expectations and develop their independence and appropriate behaviour.

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

• Staff show a good understanding of what children know and what they need to learn next. Next steps are planned effectively to help children make good progress. For example, children begin to understand the concept of volume as they enjoy water play. They use jugs to scoop water into containers and explore what happens when the water reaches the top. Staff organise the environment well to promote independent learning. Resources are accessible to children, encouraging choice and autonomy as they play and learn.
• Staff interact well with children and play alongside them to support their learning and development. For example, staff support children to understand different emotions on visual boards. They explore happy and sad faces and are encouraged to reflect how they are feeling. However, sometimes staff do not present information clearly to children or check that they understand information before extending activities, which does not always help children to consolidate their learning.
• Children enjoy group times where they gather eagerly to listen to stories. Staff read with enthusiasm and expression, capturing children's attention and promoting a love of books. Songs and nursery rhymes are used to further support children's development. This helps children to make good progress in their communication and language skills.
• Children enjoy free-flow access to a well-resourced outside area, which provides plenty of opportunities for them to build on their physical development. Children ride trikes, climb slides and dig in sand pits, helping to build strength in their muscles in preparation for the next stage of their education.
• Older children demonstrate good pre-writing skills, confidently making marks and writing their names on blackboards. Staff thoughtfully plan activities that help children to build on letter and name recognition, as they trace letters on boards. However, staff do not provide consistent extension for older children's development, which sometimes results in these children becoming disengaged in meaningful learning experiences.
• Parent partnerships are a key strength. They are kept well informed of their child's progress through a variety of methods, including daily handovers, newsletters, and parents' evenings. Parents are encouraged to contribute to their child's learning, particularly during termly reviews. Events, such as graduation ceremonies and sports days, further enhance parental engagement. Sports day is a much enjoyed community event held in the local field, where children take part in traditional races, and families are actively involved.
• Leaders ensure that staff are well supported. Staff development is prioritised through regular supervision and team meetings. Leaders ensure all mandatory training is up to date and actively seek professional development opportunities to enhance staff's knowledge and practice. Recent training has included autism awareness, and language and communication, which has supported the team to ensure that children have positive outcomes.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consistently deliver interactions and activities that are meaningful and developmentally appropriate, and check children's understanding to support their learning effectively
• adapt the curriculum to ensure it consistently provides focus and meets the learning needs of older children in the pre-school.