Aspley Guise Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy attending this pre-school. They come through the door and leave at the end of the day with smiles on their faces. This is because children develop warm and trusting relationships with staff. Staff encourage children's positive attitudes towards learning. They ensure that the learning environment is well prepared with a good range of activities that match children's interests. Children explore the environment freely and remain busy in their play. For example, they blow bubbles and develop their fine motor control by holding and manipulating bubble wands.

Staff understand the skills children need to support their transition to school. They prioritise independence and social development, helping children to make friends in larger groups and be confident to listen and communicate. They encourage children to be curious and find out for themselves through exploration, for example, as they mix different colours to try and make the colour purple. Staff set clear expectations for children's behaviour. They remind children how to be respectful towards others and praise children's positive behaviours. Children behave well. They display good manners, play cooperatively with their peers and form early friendships.

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

• The pre-school is led by a committed leadership team that is passionate about what it does. The team has a clear vision for the pre-school, and what they want the children to learn. Staff work successfully with children to implement a curriculum based on children's interests.
• The quality of teaching is good. Children are offered a broad curriculum that covers all areas of learning. Planning reflects children's interests and what they need to learn next, as well as promoting the skills they need to be independent learners.
• Where teaching is strong, staff effectively interact with the children, join in with their play, build on their ideas and support their communication and understanding of new words. However, not all interactions between staff and children provide opportunities for purposeful discussions or introduce new vocabulary to children to promote their language development.
• Children's independence in their own self-care is well supported and clear hygiene routines are in place. Children are helped to understand how to keep themselves safe and to be mindful of other children in their play space, for example, when riding tricycles.
• Children enjoy a balanced diet of healthy snacks and meals that are freshly prepared each day. Stringent procedures in place ensure children's allergies and dietary needs are met.
• The pre-school works closely with a range of other professionals to enhance outcomes for children. When children attend other settings, staff build partnerships quickly to provide children with effective continuity of care. Pre-school staff work together with school staff to support children's transitions as they move on to the next stage in their educational journey. They work alongside other professionals to provide tailored learning plans for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). As a result, all children, including those with SEND, make the best possible progress.
• Parents are valued partners at the pre-school. They share the highest level of praise about the staff team and how they go 'the extra mile' beyond what is expected of them. Parents say they have regular feedback about their children's experiences and how approachable and caring the staff team is. Parents refer to feeling 'like we joined a family', when their children first start attending.
• Leaders ensure that they support, monitor and coach staff to understand their roles and responsibilities. They ensure that staff receive regular supervision sessions. This helps identify their areas of strength and where they need to develop their practice. For example, this has helped the quality of support for developing children's mathematical understanding.
• Leaders invest heavily in staff's well-being. Staff report that they feel very well supported and that they are happy in their work. They enjoy working at the pre-school and feel there is a friendly team atmosphere. This contributes to the high team morale and good level of care children receive.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consistently use high-quality interactions to further promote children's language development.