Birstall Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The manager has a clear vision for the setting with a detailed understanding for the curriculum intent. Staff plan a broad and sequenced curriculum, which reflects children's interests and builds on what they already know and can do. Children are happy to be at the setting. They feel safe in the care of the kind and nurturing staff. These warm relationships and children's sense of security are evident across the setting, and especially so in the baby room. Staff working with these very young children understand the importance of lots of smiles and cuddles. They know how the reassurance of familiar faces contributes to babies' sense of belonging. Throughout the nursery, there are lots of happy and confident children, who thoroughly enjoy their play and learning.

Children use their imaginations in the well-resourced role-play areas. They play in the mud kitchen and talk about the pies which they have made. Children are delighted as they fill pans with soil and bark mixture, and stir the soil with real kitchen utensils. Later, with staff's support, they turn the large outdoor tyre into a pirate ship and become pirates. Children learn new words, such as 'freezing' and 'icy', as they pretend to jump in the sea.

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

• Children benefit from a curriculum that is clearly defined and understood by staff. The staff team meet regularly to discuss children's progress and complete regular assessments. This informs their teaching and the planning of next steps for all children. Activities are designed well to give children a rounded and secure set of skills by the time they leave to start school.
• Children immerse themselves in sensory experiences. For instance, babies explore cornflour and enjoying painting with their hands. Older children recall how they made play dough. They use their senses to explore different scents, such as cinnamon, orange and ginger, as they add ingredients to their dough. Staff skilfully incorporate mathematics into children's play, encouraging them to count and talk about weight and length.
• Overall, children develop their communication and language skills well. They sing, share books and enjoy discussions with staff throughout the day. Staff value the other languages that children speak. They work with parents to help children to become fluent in speaking English. However, at times, staff let some children spend longer than they need with dummies in their mouths. This limits their opportunities to practise their developing speaking skills.
• All children make good progress from when they first start. The special educational needs coordinator supports the staff team effectively to ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive prompt and targeted early help and support. She works exceptionally well with parents and other professionals to create individual learning plans to close any gaps in children's learning.
• Children make independent choices about their learning, choosing from the wide range of resources and equipment on offer. Older children manage their own personal hygiene, such as washing their hands. Staff continually praise children to raise their self-esteem. However, staff could do more to promote children's independence with other personal care skills, particularly at mealtimes. At times, children are not always provided with correct cutlery and taught to use cutlery consistently. On occasions, children eat with their fingers.
• Parent partnerships are strong. They comment that staff go beyond expectations to provide support and advice to families. Staff provide recipes for parents and children access a lending library to take their favourite books home. Parents give positive feedback. They appreciate the dedicated support and communication.
• The manager supports most staff well. She develops and guides their practice to improve the quality of their teaching. Staff attend regular staff meetings, and contribute to action plans and policies. For example, staff have recently developed the outdoor area for children to grow vegetables and fruit, which they use during cooking activities.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider how children's use of dummies can be reduced even more to further enhance their developing communication and language skills
• encourage children's independence during mealtimes, with regard to providing and using cutlery.