Barrow Hill Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled at this friendly and welcoming pre-school. Staff are kind and caring, which helps new children to settle quickly. Children are confident and independent. They develop warm and trusting relationships with their key person. Staff provide a nurturing and engaging environment. They provide activities which reflect children's individual needs and interests. For instance, staff read children's favourite books and often ask them what they would like to do next. Children happily explore and learn in the enabling environment, which helps them to build on what they already know. This leads to children making good progress.

Leaders have a clear vision of the curriculum and what they want children to learn. They ensure that staff understand the intent and sequence of children's learning well. Staff know children well. They use timely assessments and observations to gain an understanding of what children already know and can do. Staff use the information they gather to plan purposeful and well-sequenced activities. For example, staff help children to use training scissors before they learn to confidently use scissors to snip the paper.

Staff help children to behave well. Children are kind to each other and happily include each other in their play. Staff support children's understanding of the importance of sharing and taking turns. They help children to learn about their emotions and feelings. This helps to promote children's overall well-being.

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

• The teaching of communication and language is a real strength in the pre-school. Staff use songs, rhymes and regular conversations to build on children's vocabulary. They introduce a range of strategies, such as sign language, to support children's communication skills. Staff introduce new words and explain their meaning. Staff and children often use words and phrases from children's home languages. This helps children to become confident talkers, including children who speak English as an additional language.
• Staff encourage children to choose the books they want to listen to. Children happily retell well-known stories and create a display representing their favourite characters. Staff enhance children's knowledge and experiences by organising a trip to the theatre. Children hear their favourite stories in different arrangements and see their beloved characters on the stage. This motivates children to develop a love of books.
• Leaders are dedicated to providing children with good-quality care and education. They provide staff with ongoing supervision sessions to help them to build on their effectiveness. Leaders ensure that staff complete mandatory training. They plan to extend staff's training and development opportunities further to help them to build on the current good quality of education.
• Staff plan opportunities for children to develop good physical control. Children roll and knead play dough and practise their fine motor skills, such as during a range of art and craft activities. Children enjoy the outdoor area. They laugh as they run and chase staff and one another with toy dinosaurs. Staff provide children with activities to support their hand-eye coordination and balance. Children develop the skills they need for their move on to school.
• Staff promote healthy lifestyles throughout the curriculum. For example, they teach children that eating fruits and vegetables is good for their bodies. Staff speak with children about their experience of having their teeth checked by the dentist. Children follow hygiene routines well. They wash their hands regularly and gain self-care skills, such as the ability to use toilet independently.
• Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They explain their expectations clearly to children. Children are respectful of each other and their learning environment. For example, they happily pack toys and resources away during tidy-up time.
• Staff model the language of numbers effectively. They support children to count objects and actions, such as jumps or hops. Staff encourage children's problem-solving skills as they help them to understand the concepts of size.
• Parents' feedback is very complimentary. They say kind and caring staff support the whole family, not just their children. Parents comment they are kept well informed about their child's progress. They say that the pre-school is a big part of the local community.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build further on the plans for training, coaching and development for staff, to help them to raise the quality of education to the highest level.