Baildon Village Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Dedicated staff place children at the centre of everything they do. Overall, the ambitious curriculum challenges children to learn more. Staff plan activities that appeal to children's interests. For example, they add glitter to the dough table and cars to the creative area to encourage children to play in different spaces. Children develop a love of learning. They are keen to get involved in a wide range of experiences. They are busy, motivated learners who show confidence and curiosity during play. Many children show creative flair when they design and make crowns. Others show great imagination while 'walking through the jungle' to a familiar song. Staff model a wide vocabulary when children pretend to make tea. Children learn words such as 'infuse' and 'filter'. Overall, activities are consistently well supported by enthusiastic and animated staff who make learning joyful. Children successfully build on their skills at the pre-school and are well prepared for later learning.

Children benefit from close relationships with familiar staff, who know them well. They are completely at ease in staff's care and show that they feel happy and safe. Staff help children to understand each other's feelings. They show concern for others. For example, a child puts an arm around their friend to comfort them when they are briefly upset.

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

• Staff have a very good knowledge of each child's individual learning needs. They observe children at play to find out what they already know and can do. They then tailor their teaching to help children to build on their knowledge and skills. This helps to ensure that all children make the progress that they are capable of.
• There are strong links with home that help to strengthen children's learning further. For example, children share books with their parents when they take home a 'chatterbag'. They add things from home that are important to them and tell their friends in pre-school about them. This is having a very positive impact on children's language skills.
• Generally, children concentrate very well during activities. Staff actively support their listening and attention skills to help to prepare them for moving on to school. However, occasionally, some whole-group activities do not precisely meet the learning needs of the youngest children attending. Some two-year-old children, at times, lose interest in what is being taught.
• A consistent routine helps children to know what comes next and feel secure in the pre-school. However, staff have not considered ways to ensure that those children who prefer active play, for example, when outdoors, have plenty of opportunities for this. Occasionally, some children become slightly unsettled when more active play opportunities are not available.
• The members of the management committee are very supportive to staff. They share their vision to provide the very best for every child. The long-serving staff work seamlessly together and there is a very strong sense of team spirit. Morale is extremely high, which contributes to the cheerful and positive atmosphere in the pre-school.
• Staff's professional development is extremely well focused. For example, staff have accessed training to deliver a specific programme of learning which is targeted at addressing the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on some children's learning and development. This has contributed to the rapid progress that some children have made in some aspects of their learning.
• Parents say that they love the 'calm and welcoming' pre-school and they consistently describe staff as nurturing. They travel from afar and recommend the pre-school to all of their friends. Parents have detailed knowledge about what their children learn at the pre-school. They welcome support and ideas from staff that help them to extend their children's learning at home.
• Children learn how to keep themselves healthy. For example, staff teach them about how their bodies work and about the importance of nutritious food and exercise. They learn good hygiene routines, such as washing their hands at key times during the day.
• Staff provide resources such as traditional costumes and role-play food items that reflect the cultures and beliefs of people in pre-school, the local area and the wider world. This helps children to develop an understanding of what makes them unique and to value diversity.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• refine plans for group activities to meet the learning needs of younger children more precisely
• provide even more opportunities for active play, to raise children's achievements further.