Bassingbourn pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children move around the group rooms and garden, selecting toys and equipment that interest them. Young children make shapes with their fingers in coloured sand. They watch what happens when they pour the sand over dried pasta and listen to the descriptions staff use to narrate what is happening. Children are not rushed, giving them time to learn at their own pace. Older children enjoy climbing on a frame in the garden. Staff guide them while they climb and encourage them to take managed risks, helping children to increase their confidence in their own abilities. For example, staff encourage children to swing and drop down. They remind children to consider how to land, helping them to begin to learn how to keep themselves safe.

Children feel valued. They make friends with their peers and gain confidence when they talk together. They become deeply involved in imaginary play, contributing to their personal and social development. They work out how to negotiate what they are going to do while they replicate familiar routines, such as caring for a baby when they play with dolls. This helps children begin to make sense of the world around them.

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 are supported very well. Staff work closely with professionals and agencies working with the children. Staff play a key role in meetings, helping to ensure that the support they offer is appropriate to children's changing needs. This helps to provide consistent care in children's daily lives.
• The manager and staff form strong and trusting relationships with parents. They offer support to families, reflecting the values and needs of the diverse communities in which they live. Key persons maintain effective two-way communication with parents. This helps to continue to support children's care and education at home and in pre-school.
• Staff understand the importance of supporting children's speech and language development. They take time to listen to children and respond with clarity and expression. Staff add exciting new words in their explanations and descriptions, helping children to build a wide vocabulary. They encourage children to express their feelings and requests with words, helping them begin to find ways to regulate their emotions. This contributes to children's developing security and self-confidence.
• Children enjoy taking books home to share with their families. Parents are encouraged to read to their children, helping to foster a love for books. Children hear and experiment with new words they discover in the stories. This contributes to their continuing communication and language development.
• Staff encourage children to take turns and share equipment. For example, when they play a game that involves listening to sounds through headphones, children allow others to borrow the headphones. Children begin to accept that they may not always cover a picture on their card if the sound does not match.
• The manager has a good understanding of how children learn. Children are purposefully split between group rooms to reflect their educational needs. All children have opportunities to play and socialise together in the garden, helping to extend social interactions. When the time comes for children to move into a new group room, they already recognise the staff and children. This contributes to smooth transitions through the pre-school.
• Children confidently choose the resources they would like to use. Staff join them in their self-chosen activities, to support and extend their learning. However, the enthusiastic staff do not consistently encourage children to develop their thinking skills. For example, staff do not ask children to predict what might happen next in their experiments or ask them to solve problems for themselves.
• Staff plan individual goals in children's learning that complement the focus planned for the whole nursery. However, staff do not effectively challenge children to build on what they already know and understand in an exciting and memorable way.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• encourage children to solve problems, find different ways of doing things and predict outcomes for themselves
• support staff to identify and provide an even wider curriculum that adds more challenge to what children already know and understand.