Box Pre School Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish in this warm and welcoming pre-school. They enter happy and ready to learn. The children enjoy meaningful interactions with staff, which stimulate their learning and build on what they already know. Staff plan a wide range of activities to spark the children's curiosity and interest. For example, the children freely explore the dinosaur world. They role play as dinosaurs, acting out their daily routines and experiences. The children confidently use dinosaur names, such as stegosaurus and pterodactyl. They talk about what each dinosaur eats and where they live.

Staff provide children with a wide range of physical activities, both indoors and outdoors. They participate in various sports, such as endurance races, dance classes and games. This provides children with physical exercise, helping them to build strong muscles needed for later life. Staff support children to take risks during physical play. For example, children ascend a climbing wall. They place a foot in each hole and pull themselves up to the top. Staff remind children to hold on at the top with two hands or they might fall off. The children decide to slide down the other side. They clap and cheer before repeating the process.

The children take walks in the local community and learn about the rich heritage of the village. They learn about the Bath Stone Quarry, Brunel's Box Hill Tunnels and the rock circus. Children visit the woods where they find out about the local wildlife cycles, the ecological systems and the changing seasons. They learn about road safety and how to stay safe outdoors.

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

• The manager and her team have created a clear and consistent curriculum that focuses on five main areas. Staff plan a range of child-led and adult-led activities around children's current interests. The staff follow the children's lead and allow them to make choices about their learning. They ensure that all resources are accessible for children's use, enabling them to build on their learning and development. This empowers children to become leaders in their own learning.
• Health and well-being are at the centre of this setting's curriculum. Staff support the children in beginning to manage their feeling and behaviours. They sing songs, read books and talk about how they are feeling. This supports children to begin to use and understand emotional language. Staff celebrate children's achievements, encouraging their motivation to continue to have a positive attitude to learning. This empowers children and helps build their confidence. As a result, children's behaviour is exemplary. They play well alongside one another, listening to each other's ideas and taking turns.
• The manager values her team and all the children in her care. She wants to provide all children with the best possible start in life. The team regularly reflects on the provision and care they provide. They have regular meetings to discuss how they can make further improvements. The manager conducts observations of staff practice and gives feedback and highlights further training. She uses extra funding to provide training, such as early sign and behaviour training. This enables staff to better support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• Children's communication and language skills are superb. For example, children talk about how a person who looks at dinosaur bones is called a palaeontologist and a person who looks at human bones is called an anthropologist. Children use mathematical language and concepts. They count the sides of shapes to name them, saying, 'A square has four sides, and a circle has one side that wraps round.'
• Parent partnership is excellent. Staff collaborate with the parents to ensure that children achieve the best possible outcomes. They supply home learning activities and share different ideas, such as play dough recipes and games. Parents know their children's next stages of learning and key person. Staff keep parents up to date on their child's development through an online application. They share photos and daily learning. Parents gain support and guidance on fussy eating, toilet training and new siblings. Parents who have children with SEND state that the manager goes above and beyond to ensure that the children and families get the help they need. As a result, children with SEND are very well supported to meet their potential.