Bright Sparks Preschool And Out Of Schools Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, safe and well cared. They develop strong, trusting friendships with each other and are kind and caring. For instance, children offer gentle reassurance to their friends, as they take part in role play. Older children show genuine kindness as they check on their friends' well-being. Children are polite and courteous and listen and follow staff instructions well. The kindness between children and staff is evident throughout the setting and is a strength of the pre-school.

Children benefit from a broad curriculum which lays good foundations for future learning. Children enjoy opportunities to take part in activities which present them with good levels of challenge. For instance, children work out how to retrieve the ball that has gone over the fence. The experiment with different tubes and suggest using tape, to reach the ball. Children think, suggest and test out ideas, as they problem-solve well. They persist when activities present them with challenge and develop a can-do attitude to learning. All children, including those who are in receipt of additional funding and those with special educational needs/and or disabilities, make good progress from their starting points. Children develop good attention skills and concentrate well in activities that interest them. For instance, during group times they watch mechanical spiders with fascination and wait patiently for their turn in building towers.

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

• The management team lead their staff team well. Staff feel valued and respected within their roles in the pre-school. The management team provide regular supervision, coaching and support for all staff, to ensure that the quality of teaching is consistently good. Staff continue to develop their skills and knowledge, however, at times, the focus on the professional development of staff is not tailored to their own needs. The management team recognise that there is more they can do extend staff knowledge and practice to enhance the support for children's speech and language skills.
• Children benefit from a good range of activities to develop their knowledge of the natural world. Staff teach children about growth and change in nature, through real-life experiences. Children enjoy planting and tending fruits and vegetables. They excitedly experiment with mud, leaves, stones and sticks in their creative play. Children are keen to explore and develop a real interest and knowledge about nature.
• Staff know children and their families well. They take the time to get to know children's individual personalities, likes and dislikes. They use this information to plan activities with their individual interests in mind. Children sustain high levels of concentration and engagement as they play together. For instance, as they practise crossing the stepping stone path, they work out how to balance and how many more stones they need to add to cross. Older children take turns in sharing ideas with staff and value the views and ideas of each other well.
• Overall, children develop good communication and language skills. They develop good listening and attention skills, to support them in maintaining their attention in activities. Staff model language clearly for children to hear, to broaden their vocabulary skills. However, for those children with speech and language delay or limited confidence to speak, staff are not fully successful in enabling them to express their wants needs or wishes as fully as possible.
• Staff promote children's independence well. Children benefit from activities that encourage them to take ownership of age-appropriate tasks. For instance, children learn how to choose fruit snacks, pour their own water and tidy away after themselves at snack times. Younger children enjoy opportunities for active play, to enable them to learn about the benefits of fresh air and exercise on their bodies. However, at times, there are missed opportunities to support children to learn more about healthy lifestyles and what food is good for them. Some lunches which children bring are not as healthy as they could be. The leadership team recognise there is more that can be done to work with parents to support more healthier choices for their children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• focus professional development for staff, to enable them to gain skills and knowledge that can be used to enhance the support for individual children's learning, based on their particular needs
• strengthen ways to help children to hear and practise using speech sounds, so that they speak with increasing confidence and make the best possible progress in their language skills
• enhance children's knowledge about healthy eating and provide parents with more information to support them in making healthier choices for their children.