Bright Sparks Pre-School And Out Of School Club Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children come into the pre-school with enthusiasm and clearly enjoy the activities and experiences on offer. They benefit from planned and spontaneous experiences that arise from staff's knowledge of children's home lives and prior experiences. Overall, children join in well. For example, they find excitement in growing and harvesting their own foods. Staff help children to remember what has gone before and what comes next, for example that they planted the seeds, watered and fed them and now they can harvest and eat the vegetables.

Outdoor play is a true strength of the pre-school. Children become involved in exploring a large range of natural resources. They enjoy looking for different bugs on a walk around the garden. Children are explorers and tick off the creatures they find as they search around the garden. Children relish the varied opportunities for physical development. They strengthen their core muscles as they roll around in spinning tops. They practise their balancing as they walk across a wobbly bridge and roll tyres from one side of the garden to the other. They persevere, trying again when the tyre falls over. This helps them to be resilient.

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

• Staff plan activities and experiences that focus on what children can and cannot already do. The manager and staff understand what children need to learn next and take time to help them take the next step in their learning. The manager has a clear vision of the education that children need to have before they move to school. She is aware of the diverse needs of the children in the catchment area and how to promote their good development.
• Staff help children apply their knowledge in practical ways. For example, they look at clocks with children and move the hands to discuss what will happen at each time, for example lunchtime and home time. This helps children. Staff support the needs of all children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. There are robust links in place with any other professionals in children's lives.
• The quality of staff engagement with children is very effective most of the time. They work at children's level, give targeted support and help children to explore resources and the things around them. They help children to be independent and to do things for themselves, celebrating achievements by, for example, using a hand stamp when children have tried using the potty. However, at times when the sessions are busier, some less confident children find it harder to engage. Staff do not always notice these children as soon as possible to draw them back into what is on offer.
• Children learn about the world around them through hands-on experiences. Children are very excited about a recent delivery of chicken eggs that have hatched into chicks. They make daily checks on the birds, observing where the chicks have got bigger and comparing differences in their heights and colours of feathers. Staff help children to use descriptive language, such as 'soft' and 'fluffy'. Children explore real vegetables and fruits in the home corner. They cut these up carefully and examine them, learning that the top of the asparagus is called the tip. Staff further support children to learn new words by reading to them. They help any children who need support to improve pronunciation and confidence in speaking in small group activities. They also sing to children throughout activities to help them to learn the patterns of sung words.
• Staff feel well supported and have plenty of opportunities for training and improving their knowledge. The manager seeks out training opportunities for all staff to help them improve their skills, and they bring their knowledge back to the setting. For example, where staff have had specific training in managing behaviour, they have brought back new strategies to share with other staff. Children behave well and understand what is expected of them. They benefit from clear routines and know the boundaries well.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review free-play sessions to help staff promote the engagement of less confident children more successfully at these times.