Barton-le-Clay Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and eager to come to this pre-school. Children are encouraged to be independent and to make their own choices, from where they hang their coat, deciding what healthy snack to eat, to what learning activity they take part in. Therefore, children benefit from meaningful learning across the curriculum through a wide range of activities.

Practitioners value children's ideas and are responsive. They actively listen to children and value what they say, such as a 'pink doll', to extend conversation and show genuine interest in the child's ideas. Practitioners support the children and provide appropriate praise. They guide children to 'be careful of the sharp edge' and offer encouragement such as 'we are getting to the bottom soon'. This means children develop resilience and confidence to try new things, even if they may find them difficult at first. Strong positive relationships form between children and practitioners, which ensures children's needs are addressed quickly and rapid progress is made.

Children are encouraged to lead healthy lives through being physically active, eating healthy snacks and brushing their teeth before lunch. Children have their own toothbrushes, which are numbered, labelled and securely put away. Children demonstrate they know how to use the toothbrushes by carefully putting the toothpaste on the toothbrush and brushing the teeth in their mouth. Children smile at one another, demonstrating they are happy to brush their teeth and are proud of their achievements. Practitioners have high expectations of children. They remind children of the rules. Children follow the routine and understand what is expected of them. As a result, children are respectful to each other and the adults.

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

• Leaders construct a curriculum that is ambitious and child-centred, which aims to give children independence, a wide range of experiences and the knowledge they need to succeed in life.
• Children have positive attitudes towards their learning as they fully engage in activities of their choice. Practitioners engage, observe and assess children's development to inform their planning.
• The environment allows children to be expressive and free, while under the careful supervision of practitioners. Children have a range of opportunities, both inside and outside, for physically active play. For example, children wash the baby dolls outside, saw wood in the woodwork area, dance and play musical instruments.
• During snack time, children are encouraged to be independent. They pour their own water and use words such as 'please' and 'thank you'. Practitioners make the most of the snack time opportunity to further develop language by encouraging conversation among the children. For example, they discuss the difference between soya milk and cow's milk.
• Parents speak highly about the supportive and caring practitioners. They feel well informed about their children's progress, for example through daily feedback and online updates via apps.
• Practitioners report high levels of support for their well-being. They have regular supervisions with the manager and feel they are listened to and valued. The manager focuses on improving practitioners' knowledge through providing time for them to attend training.
• Practitioners build meaningful and positive relationships with their key children. They support children to understand and express their emotions so that children are able to self-regulate their feelings and behaviours. For example, children are provided with glitter jars to support them to become calm.
• The pre-school uses assessment effectively to check what children know and can do to inform teaching, which means practitioners can respond to the specific interests and needs of the children.
• Practitioners present information to the children clearly, promoting appropriate discussion. For example, a practitioner demonstrates folding the paper to fit in an envelope. She introduces the words 'fold' and 'envelope' and encourages children to fold their own letter to send to Santa.
• A well-established key-person system helps children form secure attachments and promotes their independence. Children trust the practitioners and, therefore, they are keen to take risks such as using a saw to cut a piece of wood.
• Children have limited opportunity to engage with books within the environment. Some children choose to independently engage with stories. However, this time is interrupted and noisy due to other children using the reading area to play with vehicles or build towers.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide children with greater opportunities to engage with stories through offering a quiet space for children to fully immerse themselves.