Ashbeach Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff help children to settle into the setting by providing toys in the foyer area, allowing them to play while they wait to enter. This helps to calm children and prepare them for their learning and they quickly get absorbed in their play. When children do struggle to settle in, staff respond warmly and sensitively to help them.

Staff focus on supporting children's independence. Children use a small dustpan and brush to sweep up sand they have spilt. Staff have set up a 'Sniffle Station', where children wipe their own noses and, at snack and mealtimes, children wash up their own bowls and cups. Staff listen to children carefully and respect their opinions. Children confidently express their preferences and move resources to areas where they wish to play.

Staff remind children of the rules of the setting. They ask children to use their walking feet inside and help children to share the resources. Children collaborate when playing and form positive relationships with each other. Staff work closely with parents to support children's learning and development, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They provide the specific support children need to enable them to make progress.

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

• Staff have created risk assessments to help children understand how to identify hazards in the setting and keep themselves safe. Children enjoy a wide range of healthy snacks, which parents donate to the setting. Staff help children grow vegetables in the garden. Children are proud to pick carrots and share these with their friends. Children learn about healthy lifestyles as they brush large sets of plastic teeth and talk to staff about visiting the dentist.
• Staff make the most of different environments to support children's developing physical skills. Children use the school running track to burn off energy and, in the pre-school garden, they use hoops and larger apparatus to crawl, climb and jump. This helps them develop their stamina and coordination as well as follow safety rules. Staff provide challenging fine motor activities, such as threading varied pasta shapes onto pipe cleaners, which enhance children's dexterity and concentration.
• Children make good progress with their language development. Staff help children to use visual timetables, pictures and sign language to communicate. Children enjoy focused group times, which are planned to meet their individual needs. They sing songs to welcome everybody, which helps them to develop relationships with each other. Staff read stories in a captivating way and provide children with props to use. This keeps them engaged and helps them to develop a love of books.
• Staff promote children's current interest in insects by taking them on 'bug hunts' in the forest area of the school. They help children learn about recycling and children put their rubbish in the correct bin to be recycled. Staff embed mathematical learning throughout the routine. At group time, staff help them count the number of children in the setting and identify the corresponding digit on the wall.
• Parents are happy with the care the setting provides. They speak warmly of the help they have received from staff to help them support their children's speech development. They also comment on how their children are well supported for the transition to school, developing the skills they need for the next stage in their learning. Staff share their assessments of children's development with parents. They collaborate with parents and other professionals to provide targeted support for children with SEND and those from disadvantaged backgrounds, enabling them to make good progress.
• Leaders evaluate the quality of the setting. They support staff to attend training and complete their early years qualifications. Staff appreciate the support they have received from leaders. However, although leaders conduct regular supervision meetings with staff, these are not sufficiently focused on enhancing their teaching practice. As a result, opportunities to raise the quality of teaching to the highest standard are not consistently realised.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review and refine the supervision of staff to ensure they receive focused support to raise the quality of teaching to the highest level.