Bradford Abbas Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and settled at this welcoming pre-school. They separate confidently from their parents and become fully engaged in the wide range of activities on offer. Effective settling-in procedures help children to form good attachments to their key person. Staff use children's starting points to plan suitable activities that meet their interests. Children enjoy listening to stories and looking at books. Staff support children's understanding of the story by using visual props. Children listen carefully and enjoy repeating phrases of the story. Children are offered a wide range of activities to support their physical development. For example, children take part in music and movement in the hall and enjoy balancing on stepping stones in the outside space. Staff regularly take the children on walks to the local park. Children have many opportunities to express themselves creatively. They enjoy playing in the role play shop and learn to mix paints themselves when painting. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the pre-school closed for a period of time. When they reopened, they worked closely with the local school and with parents to make adaptations to the pre-school. For example, they now use a different entrance to more easily help them support social distancing at arrival and departure times.

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

• The manager has a good understanding of the curriculum. The intentions for learning are well embedded and clearly understood by staff. Staff have supervision meetings regularly and continually reflect on their environment. However, the manager does not consistently evaluate the effectiveness of staff's training and sharply focus support and further training to raise the teaching of the curriculum to the highest level.
• Staff include mathematical language in activities to promote children's understanding of early mathematical concepts. For instance, when cutting the fruit in the role play shop, staff talk about whole, half and quarters, and they encourage the children to count the pieces. Later, during a game of skittles, older children use a tally chart to record the number of skittles that have fallen.
• The manager has a strong vision for the pre-school and continually reflects on the provision to identify areas of development. For example, she has recently altered the environment to support older children to engage in more challenging activities. The manager is keen to develop an allotment where children can experience and benefit from growing their own vegetables.
• Parents' feedback about the pre-school is very positive. They speak highly of the caring and friendly staff team. They value the regular information that they receive about their child's day and the progress children make in their learning. Parents have a good understanding of what their children need to learn next and how to support them at home.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well. For instance, parents are signposted to the support of external professionals, such as speech therapists. Gaps in learning are identified quickly and staff work closely with parents and professionals. This has supported children to make good progress in their learning.
• Children develop skills in readiness for their next steps in learning, such as their move to school. Staff work closely with the local school and the reception teacher visits the pre-school to help children to prepare for the move to school.
• Children behave extremely well. Staff praise children regularly for their good behaviour. Staff manage children's behaviour consistently. For example, they use a timer to give children notice of when activities need to change. Children share and take turns and are respectful towards each other.
• Staff know the children and their families very well. When children start, they find out about their lives and backgrounds. Staff offer opportunities for children to learn about festivals, such as Christmas and Chinese New Year. However, there are not enough opportunities to broaden children's understanding of people, cultures and communities beyond their own experiences.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• focus teaching more sharply to develop children's understanding of people, families and communities and further extend their awareness of diversity
• evaluate the effectiveness of staff's training and target further support more closely, to help to raise the quality of teaching even higher.