Bicton Heath Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are warmly welcomed into this happy pre-school. They settle in well with the support of the nurturing staff. The effective key-person system provides children with an adult that gets to know them and their families exceptionally well. Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. Children behave very well. Staff have created a calm and relaxed atmosphere that encourages cooperative play. They act as positive role models for children and reinforce good manners. Children take turns and share resources. Staff ensure that children's well-being is a priority. For example, when a child is upset when they arrive, staff comfort them until they are ready to join circle time. Young children regularly check in with their key person and share a story or play together. This offers children a sense of belonging.

Children show that they are happy and feel safe. They demonstrate curiosity as they explore the stimulating environment. The attentive staff use their good understanding of child development to create opportunities for the children to engage. Children plan to make a bridge with blocks and work together as a team to build individual towers for it to stand on. Others choose to play with dinosaurs, commenting on their size and asking adults what they are called. Children are confident to ask for more resources and invite staff to play with them. This supports children's personal, social and emotional skills that are vital for positive transitions to school.

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

• Managers and staff have created an exciting curriculum that encourages children to develop in all seven areas of the early years foundation stage. Children creatively use props to support their imagination. They dress themselves in role-play costumes, create stories around their play and invite others to play with them. Children create caterpillar pictures using collage materials. They use pencils to draw the legs and proudly tell others about what they have made.
• Staff use their knowledge of the children and their experiences to plan appropriate, inspiring activities. For example, children enjoy digging for treasure in the sand. They find "diamonds" and shells, and comment on the colour and texture of the objects that they find. Staff join children as they play and engage them in discussions about what they have found. However, staff sometimes miss opportunities to stretch and challenge children's vocabulary and mathematical skills during activities.
• Staff have created a communication-rich environment that promotes development of language. They plan exciting group activities that encourage children to use descriptive language. Children look at an object inside the "magic pot" and describe that the object is "something that is on your face, and you see through it". Other children guess correctly that the child is describing an eye. This also supports children's listening and attention skills. Children with English as an additional language make good progress. Staff share dual-language books with children and their families and provide visual prompts to encourage good understanding of language.
• Children are encouraged to live healthy lifestyles. They wash their hands before every meal and sit together at the table to eat. Children share out the plates and offer out toast to their friends. At lunch times, children bring their own, well-balanced packed lunches and are joined by staff members to share this social time. However, at snack times there are limited opportunities for children to practise pouring their own drinks or drinking from a cup. This means that children's sense of responsibility and self-care skills do not develop as much as possible.
• Partnerships with parents are very good. Parents share information with staff about children's interests and abilities each term. Staff use this information to incorporate into their individual planning for each child and share this with parents. Parents understand what their children's next steps are and support these at home. They comment that staff are attentive to children's individual care needs and that they make good progress.
• The managers have good systems in place to reflect on and evaluate practice. Staff routinely discuss development needs, following peer observations and during staff meetings. Managers have identified that additional training is essential to upskill staff and improve outcomes for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review opportunities to encourage children to do things for themselves and develop their independence further
• plan activities more carefully so that they stretch and challenge children in their learning.