Bradpole Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children settle quickly and actively engage in the activities, gaining confidence in the environment. Staff provide good support to ensure all children are included, especially those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children's thoughtfulness towards those with SEND is exemplary, as they include them in their play and acknowledge their achievements. Children's language and communication skills are quickly improving because staff engage children in meaningful discussions, model language well and add additional vocabulary. They speak clearly and slowly to children, giving them time to think and respond. For example, they give children time to look closely at mini creatures and comment on them before adding additional information.

Staff watch, listen, and respond well to children, enabling them to use resources in their own way. Children enthusiastically sing songs, which helps them to understand about numbers. Older children learn the meaning of zero and hold up the correct number of fingers each time they take one more away, as the frogs jump into the pond. Children improve their hand-eye coordination as they fill containers with rice and then compare who has the most and least.

Parents have been unable to enter the premises as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they now have staggered opportunities to go in at the end of the day. Parents confirm that communication is good and that staff work with them to know their children well. Parents appreciate the good advice staff give them, for example, for bedtime routines and potty training.

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

• The highly effective key-person system ensures children always feel secure. Staff know what the children can already do and, through constant observation, they know what they need to be learning next. Staff plan well to support children's development and encourage their independent learning. Children manage their personal care and put on their coats and boots. However, on occasions, staff complete tasks which children could manage in time.
• Staff use their training well to help children make good progress. They ensure that they sequence children's development, starting with small steps for them to eventually gain new skills. For example, they encourage children to handle books and turn pages, then to look at the pictures and comment on what they see, before they eventually sit, listen, engage and concentrate in group stories. Older children manage this well, using words such as 'rampageous' and understanding when it is their turn to speak or listen.
• Children are extremely inquisitive and highly motivated to want to engage in their learning. Staff have worked hard to support children's social development very effectively. They have high expectations of children's behaviour. Children care for each other very successfully. For example, noticing a young child starts painting, another gets them an apron and puts it on them. The younger child then thanks them for their help.
• Relationships are very strong and older children show empathy if a child is upset. Staff engage children in good discussions about emotions, acknowledging their own. For example, they talk about the difference between dinosaurs and monsters, helping children realise that one does not exist and the other is extinct. Children demonstrate their understanding of emotional literacy, such as how surprised they would be if they saw a giraffe in the car park. Although children are willing to help tidy up, staff do not give them warning that the routines will change. This sometimes interrupts their learning.
• Staff provide good support for children to understand and develop healthy practices. children have good opportunities for physical play, indoors and outdoors. Forest school enables children to use tools and gain confidence in own abilities, taking some risks as they play. Staff have introduced a weekly cooking activity to help children explore healthy eating and hygiene.
• The manager and deputy manager work directly with the children and staff, providing strong role models. Staff have good opportunities for professional development. The managers focus successfully on improving staff practice and have a shared ambition for high-quality care. For example, they have worked on staff being aware of their own language skills to be effective role models for children. Children with SEND have full access to the curriculum. Staff work well with outside agencies and parents to ensure all children make good progress.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff in giving children enough time to do as much as they can for themselves to extend their independence even further
• help children to know when routines may change, to enable them to complete a task to their own satisfaction and be prepared for them to end.