Barkway Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settle well. They thrive on the thoughtful and patient support that they receive from the pre-school staff. They form strong and beneficial relationships with their key person and the whole staff team. This helps to foster children's confidence and well-being. Children are keen learners and show a high level of self-esteem as they proudly show their artwork to staff. They are beginning to understand and explain how they feel. Whole-group time is a positive experience. Children develop sustained listening and attention skills as staff read books with immense enthusiasm. Children are fascinated with the range of fruit linked to the story and learn how to say and sign new words in context. Children practise their language skills as they eagerly respond to staff questions and describe what they see on the pages.

Children are inquisitive. They thoroughly enjoy laying down outdoors with staff to explore how the trails from aeroplanes cross over each other in the sky. Children show a can-do attitude as staff support them to develop their independence skills. They serve themselves their snack, pour their drink carefully and conscientiously clear away their items. Outings within the local community enrich children's experiences and build on their understanding of the world. They learn about how the trees change through the seasons during nature walks and explore historical buildings, such as the local church.

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

• The highly motivated manager and her staff team work very well together. All show dedication to the pre-school and the children who attend. They are highly reflective of practice and regularly liaise with the committee and parents to consistently outline improvements.
• Staff create a well-designed and sequenced curriculum. They provide a wide range of activities and experiences that reflect children's interests and their learning needs. Staff understand the importance of repetition to embed new knowledge. However, sometimes, they do not identify times in children's chosen play to extend their learning further. This means that children are not consistently provided with a strong level of challenge.
• Staff target their practice to close any gaps in children's learning and development due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. They recognise that children have had less opportunity to mix with others. Children are well supported. Strategies are in place to help them to understand the pre-school's simple rules and routines, share resources and make secure, friendly relationships.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. The manager and staff work in partnership with parents and external agencies to provide targeted plans that help children to make good progress. Staff fully consider the individual needs of children who are in receipt of additional funding to successfully support their developmental needs.
• Children benefit from an inclusive environment. Staff make effective use of personalised photograph books to teach children about diversity, similarities and differences.
• Strong partnerships are in place with the host school and other schools that children move on to when the time comes, to support them to make a seamless move. However, staff are not as successful in developing working partnerships with staff at other settings that children attend. This means that some children lack consistency in their learning.
• Staff support children to lead healthy lifestyles. Children relish their time in the inviting outdoor area. They benefit from an abundance of fresh air in all weathers and develop good physical skills.
• Regular supervision meetings are effective in supporting staff to develop their professional knowledge and skills. Staff benefit from a wide range of training opportunities that are focused on supporting the needs of children. Staff meetings enable new knowledge to be shared with the whole team to ensure a consistent approach to agreed strategies, such as a therapeutic approach to managing children's behaviour. Staff comment on how the manager places a high priority on their well-being.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents speak very highly of the nurturing pre-school and describe the staff team as 'professional' and 'amazing'. They welcome the informative updates about their children's progress and know what they will be learning next.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue to support staff to build on children's interests and extend their learning to a higher level
• develop partnerships with staff at all other settings that children attend to support children's continuity in their learning and development.