Bicknacre Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the setting happy and excited to begin their day. They have strong emotional attachments with the caring staff, who cuddle and comfort them as and when needed. This, along with the consistent and well-organised daily routines that children are clearly familiar with, helps children to feel safe and secure. Children are engaged and imaginative. They have great fun as they manipulate dough by squashing, squeezing and rolling it. This helps to promote their small muscles in readiness for developing further skills, such as pencil control.

Children behave well and show good levels of care and concern for others as they offer to help one another. Staff are skilful at knowing when to intervene and when to step back and allow children to resolve their own disputes. This helps children learn how to compromise as they listen to one another and agree a way forward. For example, they learn to take turns and shares popular toys.

Staff have high expectations for all children's learning, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They provide a wealth of familiar resources to engage and excite children. Staff consider ways to help even the very youngest children to make choices for themselves.

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

• Staff sensitively join children in their play. They listen to children, make comments about what they see or do and ask them questions, allowing them time to think and respond. Staff often model language well, introducing children to new words and their meaning. During role play about visiting the doctors, children talk about the 'telescope'. Staff help them to learn the correct word, 'stethoscope', and explain how it is used. They also explain what a 'telescope' is and how it works.
• There are close partnerships with parents. Parents speak highly of staff and appreciate how well staff know each child.
• Staff build on the children's interests. For example, young children show an interest in making soup in the home corner. Staff provide lots of bowls, spoons and a wide variety of play fruit and vegetables for them to use in their 'silly soup' mixtures. Children squeal with delight as they add more and more ingredients to their mixtures. This helps the youngest children become deeply engaged in their play and to develop their imagination. While some staff demonstrate exemplary teaching skills, this is not yet consistently embedded throughout the pre-school.
• The manager develops an inclusive curriculum that supports all children and their individual learning needs. She is clear about what she wants children to learn. Staff work together very well as a team. They regularly discuss children's progress, any gaps in learning and how best to support them.
• Children are supported in their creativity. They engage with a wide range of materials for long periods of time. They talk to adults and with each other about what they plan to make and how they might do it. Children try out a range of adventurous ideas, such as attaching a handle to a jewellery box made from an old egg box.
• Staff provide many opportunities for children to be physically active. They allow children ample opportunity to play outside where they run, jump and explore freely, while benefiting from fresh air and exercise. Children continually engage in conversations with their friends and with staff. Older children express themselves confidently and young children's speaking skills are developing well.
• Children are well prepared for moving to school. They talk excitedly with the inspector about the teacher from the local school, who visited them the previous week. They explain that she brought a teddy with her and refer to a book she left with them, which shows teddy in their new classroom. This helps children to become familiar with their new school setting and prepares them for the changes ahead.
• The manager and staff evaluate the quality of the pre-school successfully to make ongoing improvements. For instance, there are plans in place to develop the garden and provide more learning opportunities that include planting and growing. This improvement has been identified from the children's interest.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on the already good practice and seek further ways to help all staff raise their teaching to an even higher level.