Bretons Pre school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are settled, happy and thriving in this welcoming pre-school. They form close friendships with other children and close attachments with their key person. The curriculum is structured appropriately and allows children to acquire the skills that they need for future learning. For example, staff provide opportunities for children to engage in rigorous outdoor physical activities. Children show great enthusiasm and demonstrate good mobility, balance and coordination. They take on new challenges to develop their resilience and perseverance. Children thoroughly enjoy the indoor activities staff plan for them. For instance, they explore in the role-play area, where they pretend to cook, and they get to buy real groceries. Children learn to communicate and express themselves effectively. During small-group activities, staff interact with children and extend their learning well.

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They act as good role models for children to copy from them and offer praise for children to know when they have done well and to repeat their positive behaviour. Children display good social skills. For instance, they play well together and take turns to use resources. Staff accurately identify any gaps in children's learning, and the provision in place for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is good. For instance, staff form close links with parents and other professionals to ensure that assessment information is shared and individual education plans are agreed.

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

• Staff observe and assess children's learning well. They plan stimulating activities for them to develop their skills. All children make good progress in their learning and development in comparison to their starting points.
• Staff support children to develop their communication skills effectively by asking simple questions and giving clear instructions. Staff use stories and mark-making activities to develop children's early literacy skills.
• Children move around and explore resources that capture their interests. They welcome the positive interaction and support from staff to foster their learning. For example, children explore with large blocks and other construction materials, and they tell staff that they are building a house.
• Staff support children to develop their mathematics skills effectively. For example, during their play, they encourage children to count the number of fish in the water and to recognise the sizes and shapes of resources in the sand.
• Children demonstrate positive behaviour. For example, they are kind, helpful and caring, and they listen and show respect to others. Children are learning about feelings and simple boundaries.
• Staff provide good opportunities for children to develop healthy lifestyles. For example, they encourage them to keep active, to practise brushing their teeth, to eat healthy food and to wash their hands at appropriate times.
• Although staff encourage children to choose and lead their play, they do not consistently plan opportunities for them to manage tasks, such as putting on their own coat and wellies when going outside to play, in order to strengthen their independence.
• Staff do not adapt their teaching effectively enough when involving children who need extra support during large-group activities. As a result, these children lose their focus and interest. Despite this, most children listen to the story and copy the actions by looking through their telescope like the character in the book.
• The special educational needs coordinator implements one-to-one sessions with individual children to close gaps identified in their development. She works closely with the child's key person, parents and other professionals to ensure support is in place for the child.
• Staff work closely with parents to share information about children's assessments, and together they plan the next stages in their learning. Staff encourage parents to extend children's learning at home. For instance, children take home 'Charlie chick' to explore with the family, and children talk about what they did when they return to the pre-school.
• The manager makes effective use of supervision meetings to review staff's practices, their workload and well-being, and to identify their professional development needs. The manager considers feedback from staff, parents and children when evaluating the pre-school. The team strives for excellence and is seeking new opportunities to strengthen children's learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• plan more effectively for children to work things out for themselves, to do small tasks and develop high levels of independence
• adapt large-group activities involving children who need extra support to help them maintain their interest and to support their learning further.