Brasted Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thoroughly enjoy their time at this pre-school. They quickly settle into the routines of the day when they arrive. Staff take the time to talk to parents when they hand their children over at the door. They find out about their children's day and use this information to support children's personal, social and emotional needs. Children thrive because of the secure bonds they form with their key person. They show that they feel happy, safe and secure.

Children benefit from a well-structured and broad curriculum, where they are recognised as unique individuals. Staff plan an exciting range of activities to build on children's interests, confidence and independence. For example, older children engage fully as they go on a treasure hunt. They listen to instructions and work together to find treasure to take on board their pirate ship. Children enjoy being physically challenged and relish their time spent in the garden. They learn how to take managed risks as they use planks of wood and large wooden blocks to create complex climbing structures. Staff are on hand to offer support and encouragement as children carefully balance along the planks.

Staff support children well to manage their own emotions and talk about their feelings. For example, staff introduced a calming zone for children, where they can regulate their emotions. This helps children to develop an understanding of their feelings and have a safe space to express them. Staff consistently praise children for their efforts, achievements and positive behaviour. This impacts positively on children's behaviour. All children make good progress in their learning.

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

• The manager and experienced staff team share a clear vision for implementing a curriculum that helps children to achieve, consolidate and move on to the next stage in their learning. Staff are knowledgeable about the needs of their key children. They plan activities based on children's interests and identify what they want children to learn next. However, at times, staff do not make the most of all opportunities to encourage and extend children's learning even further. For example, when children engage in a water-play activity, staff ask children questions they already know the answers to. As a result, staff do not help them to build on their existing skills and knowledge.
• Children have many opportunities to develop their physical skills. For instance, they run, jump and practise their throwing and catching skills. Children use tools with play dough and develop strength in their fingers as they pinch small pieces of dough. Older children persevere in their use of scissors to cut paper, trying again and again to master this skill.
• Staff weave mathematics throughout the curriculum effectively. They encourage children to explore mathematical concepts at every opportunity. For example, children successfully identify and match shapes, recognise numbers and count for a purpose. Older children spontaneously count forwards and backwards from 10 while they play. Younger children are supported to use numbers and positional language, such as 'under', 'over' and 'on top'.
• Children are highly independent. They enjoy taking responsibility and doing things for themselves. For example, at snack time, children wash their hands on their own before pouring their drink and selecting what they would like to eat from their lunch boxes. Children have meaningful opportunities to learn about how food grows and where it comes from. For example, they help to plant and tend to a broad range of fruits and vegetables at the nearby allotment. These opportunities help children to learn about the wider world and promote a healthy lifestyle.
• Partnership working is strong. Links with the local authority, external agencies and other providers are good. Parents speak highly of the staff at the setting. They comment that they are kept well informed about their child's care, learning and development. Parents feel that since attending the nursery, their children have made good progress in many aspects of their development.
• The dedicated manager is highly reflective. She evaluates the overall quality of the setting regularly and has a clear understanding of its strengths and opportunities for further development. There is a strong team ethos and a shared vision for continual improvement. Staff feel supported and benefit from regular staff meetings, where they discuss their key children's development and next steps. However, areas of improvement for staff are not always clearly identified to enable them to develop their practice further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to strengthen their interactions with children during activities to extend children's skills even further
• enhance supervision sessions to focus on professional development opportunities and providing staff with clear targets, to help raise the quality of education to an even higher level.