Beauchief Pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children make a positive start to their learning in this warm and nurturing pre-school. They are helped to build strong bonds with the staff, who care for them and children smoothly settle into pre-school life. Children make good progress overall and are well prepared for the next stage of their learning, including starting school. Staff use their knowledge of children's interests and abilities to build their skills and understanding. For example, staff support children to use their emerging love of nature to identify parts of a sunflower, such as petals and stalk, to describe the texture and recognise the shapes and patterns in their creative drawings. These activities contribute to developing children's fine motor skills and natural curiosity.

Staff have high expectations. They support children to feel safe, to follow instructions and behave well. For instance, children learn which trees are safe to play on in the pre-school's extensive garden and how to work together to climb safely. They enjoy many physical activities and, for example, are helped to progress from riding a balance bike to pedalling independently. Parents appreciate the positive impact the pre-school has on their children's learning and personal development, particularly their social skills.

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

• Overall, staff engage well with children to support their development. However, at times, staff do not recognise opportunities to further extend children's learning. For example, staff do not always follow up on children's responses to the questions they ask to further deepen and enrich their understanding.
• Staff encourage children's engagement with books and songs to support their communication skills and learning in many aspects of their development. They support children to enjoy a carefully considered range of fiction and non-fiction books that introduce them to exciting new vocabulary and familiarity with characters and plot. Staff regularly read stories in engaging ways to individuals, small and larger groups of children, contributing to their social skills and concentration.
• Leaders are ambitious to ensure all children leave the pre-school as happy, confident and eager learners. They are experienced and well-qualified role models. Leaders support staff's professional development through targeted training and supervision. Staff feel valued and their morale is high.
• Leaders have created a systematic and supportive curriculum that builds progressively on children's starting points. Staff have a strong understanding of children's needs and interests from regular information-sharing with parents. They make good use of themes, such as 'All About Me', to help children settle into their learning and feel part of the pre-school's family ethos.
• Children's personal skills are promoted well overall. Staff help children develop confidence in choosing and persisting in a breadth of activities. They guide them to build friendships and work together in their creative dough play or kitchen role play. However, staff do not always encourage children to be as self-reliant and independent as they can be. For instance, staff do not encourage children's involvement in tidying away as they finish a task or take all opportunities for children to participate in preparing their snacks.
• Staff promote children's good behaviour well. They encourage children to say please and thank you in their play and at mealtimes. Staff help children to recognise and manage their emotions through, for example, the stories children listen to. Staff create a calm and nurturing atmosphere. They work closely with parents and other professionals, such as inclusion advisers, to help children who find it difficult to regulate their own feelings and responses.
• Staff work closely with parents to support children's learning. Parents positively recommend the pre-school. They appreciate the warm and caring attitudes that staff consistently show towards their children and themselves. They welcome the guidance they are given on supporting their children's learning at home and involvement in the life of the pre-school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consistently extend and deepen children's learning and understanding when the opportunity arises
• increase opportunities for children to practise and enhance their independence skills.