Avoncroft Pre-School Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders and staff have successfully improved the quality of the education for children. The manager has a clear rationale for the curriculum and places a strong focus on helping children to develop enquiring minds, becoming critical thinkers and independent learners. Children are resourceful and confidently lead their own play. Staff are skilled teachers and enhance children's play well. They present children with a range of questions that challenge their thinking. For example, staff encourage children to consider the similarities and differences between an elephant and a rhinoceros. Children make good progress from their starting points, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Leaders ensure that children can develop their knowledge and understanding so they are well prepared for school. Staff promote early reading and writing skills well. This includes many opportunities to develop a love of reading and reading preferences. For example, children vote for the books they want staff to read. Children access a wide range of mark making experiences that vary from large scale painting outdoors to creating treasure maps indoors. Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and children understand the nursery rules. They behave well and develop good social skills. Two-year-old children form friendships and are keen to involve other children in their play.

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

• Leaders reflect well on the quality of the provision and show commitment to improving their practice. This includes reviewing and continually updating their safeguarding policies and procedures.
• Leaders ensure that staff at all levels receive purposeful supervision and training to extend their knowledge and skills. Recent training has included working with the local authority to enhance their provision for assessing children's language development. Leaders provide staff with opportunities to progress their careers and access leadership training.
• Leaders have developed a curriculum that is progressive and builds on children's knowledge and skills. For example, they have a clear curriculum outline to support two-year-old children, such as to gradually build up their concentration and independence. Leaders recognise how to extend their knowledge and skills of older children. They encourage children to draw on their own experiences to plan features of the learning environment, such as the post office role play.
• Staff plan and design the learning environment to reflect children's interests. Children are well motivated to play and learn. They particularly enjoy accessing resources from around the room and take them to where they are playing. However, staff do not organise the room as well as possible to make the best use of the indoor space to allow for children's speaking and listening skills to be supported fully.
• Leaders and staff have made some effective changes to the daily routines to ensure children are consistently engaged. Children behave well during these times and understand staff expectations. However, staff do not use the daily routines as well as possible, so children benefit from high quality learning experiences throughout the day.
• An effective key person system is in place. Staff make good use of their observations of children's achievements to set specific learning targets for each child. They understand how each child prefers to learn and plan well to accommodate this.
• Leaders and staff successfully support children with SEND. They liaise with the area SENCo, paediatricians and speech and language therapists to provide children with individual learning programmes.
• Leaders have carefully considered how they will help children learn how to manage their feelings and behaviour. Older children learn to empathise with the needs of the younger children. Staff help them to understand and label their emotions. Children explain the behaviour of characters from a book.
• Leaders and staff make good use of the outdoor space to deliver their curriculum. It provides children with plenty of opportunities to explore and make new discoveries. For example, children investigate what happens when they draw on the floor with chalk and then pour water over. Children strengthen their hand muscles as they use large squeezy bottles to squirt water up into the air. They use their hand-eye coordination to play target ball games.
• Staff promote children's health well, especially to encourage frequent handwashing. They support parents with ideas for nutritious packed lunches.
• Parent partnerships are good. Parents explain how their children love to attend. They are thrilled at the progress their children make and say how well staff know their children. Staff provide parents with detailed information about their child's development and support their continued learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• plan and organise the indoor learning environment to further support children's speaking and listening skills
• review and modify the daily routines so that children have the maximum opportunities for quality learning experiences throughout the day.