Barrow Pre-School Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are greeted warmly by staff when they arrive at the pre-school. Staff encourage them to talk to them about their experiences at home, helping them to feel that their comments are valued. Children receive praise from staff for their achievements, which helps to raise their self-esteem and confidence. This includes when younger children pass toys to others when they play in water and when older children use scissors safely to cut wool.

Children are keen to engage in activities staff plan for them. One example of this is when staff ask children to look for numbers that are displayed in the playroom. They say, 'On your marks, get set' and before they can say 'go', children laugh and start to explore, struggling to maintain their excitement. Children use clipboards with paper and pens to record when they see the same number in the environment that is written on their paper. This helps children to recognise numbers that are the same. Children benefit from staff planning the environment to promote their interests and learning. For example, children show their imagination when they use cardboard boxes to build and construct to make a pretend robot. Staff ask children to draw eyes and arms to their robot, encouraging their early writing skills. Children are offered a safe space to develop their large physical movements. For example, staff ask them climb steps and jump off onto soft matting.

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

• Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well by the manager, staff and the special educational needs co-ordinator. Targeted plans are put in place to support children's individual needs. Additional funding is used to provide children with one-to-one support from staff for their care and learning.
• Staff support children to be emotionally ready for their move on to school. All children, including those with SEND, are invited to go with staff for visits to the school to become familiar with teachers and the environment before they start.
• The manager supports her staff through, for example supervision and appraisal meetings. Staff have opportunities to extend their professional development. This is focused on helping them to meet the individual needs of children in their care. For example, recent training helps to extend their knowledge of how to manage children's behaviour.
• Staff provide children with opportunities to learn about oral hygiene. For example, they offer children experiences to learn how to clean their teeth. Staff ask older children each morning if they have cleaned their teeth, and make a tally chart to show their responses.
• The manager and staff offer children a curriculum that supports them to progress in their learning. As children get older, they are provided with more adult-led activities to help them learn skills that will help them at school, such as to sit and listen. However, during some of these planned group times, staff do not encourage older children to take turns to answer questions and to listen to the views of others. This results in all children answering questions at the same time.
• Staff provide children with opportunities to help broaden their learning. For example, they plan experiences for them to look at and learn about ponies and to touch minibeasts. Staff take children to the library to help them develop a love for books.
• Children's behaviour is good. Most children understand the pre-school routines. For example, to get children's attention, staff sing 'Children are you listening', and children stop what they are doing and reply, 'Yes we are'. This helps children to understand that the routine is changing. However, staff do not plan some daily routines, such as tidy-up time and the transition to group time effectively. Not all children join in tidying away the toys and resources, and valuable learning time is lost.
• Children are supported to be independent. For example, staff ask them to serve themselves healthy food at snack time. They encourage children to begin to put dressing-up costumes on by themselves.
• Staff use books effectively to support children's understanding of feelings and emotions. For example, staff read stories that help children to link colours to emotions.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to help older children to take turns to answer questions and to listen to the views of others during group times
• review daily routines, making sure that children's learning time is not unnecessarily lost and they remain purposefully engaged.