Broadmayne & West Knighton Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children of all ages build strong bonds with their key person and other staff in the pre-school. They arrive happily and receive gentle support to settle quickly. Older children enjoy positive interactions with staff, and younger children seek them out to play. They pretend to take staff to faraway places on the ship they steer using plastic hoops. Children are keen to share their thoughts and ideas with staff. They feel safe and secure in this welcoming pre-school.

Children develop positive attitudes to their learning. They explore the many activities set out for them with enthusiasm. For example, older children competently use hammers to knock pins into corkboards to make creative patterns or pictures of vehicles. They learn to share and take turns as they pass around a pot of pins and shapes with their friends. Children behave very well. All children make good progress in their learning and development.

The manager and staff have high expectations for all children and plan a curriculum that reflects their individual needs. Staff have focused on supporting children's personal, social and emotional development following the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, children are becoming confident in social situations and are able to express their needs.

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

• The manager and staff implement a curriculum that is sequenced and interesting. Staff identify next steps in learning from children's starting points, providing them with a secure foundation for their future learning. For instance, staff provide resources and discuss how to make a pizza with the children, following their interest in eating pizzas. This develops children's motivation to learn as well as build their knowledge and understanding.
• Children become confident communicators. As they make pretend pizzas with malleable dough, they are highly engaged and keen to talk to visitors about what they are making. Older children say, 'We need to add this,' as they sprinkle on flour and coloured dry rice. Children enjoy expressing themselves creatively.
• Staff provide good support for children who have known or emerging special educational needs and/or disabilities. They quickly identify those children who would benefit from additional help. They use a range of strategies and activities effectively. For example, staff plan small-group activities to help improve children's focus and attention. This helps to prepare children for the next stage of their learning.
• Staff promote children's independence well. Children are confident and are willing to 'have a go' with encouragement from staff. For instance, older children learn how to zip up their coats, and younger children skilfully flip their coats over their heads to put them on themselves. All children learn to use tongs to serve their own food and pour their own drinks at snack times.
• Children learn about how to keep healthy. They eat freshly prepared snacks and drinks provided by staff. Children spend lots of time outdoors using large equipment and learn to take appropriate risks. For example, in the garden area, children negotiate a ramp and climb a large climbing frame. This helps to build children's self-esteem as they enjoy the success of completing tricky tasks.
• Staff speak highly of the manager and feel supported through her supervision and daily communication. They feel valued and part of a cohesive team. The manager observes staff and offers constructive feedback on ways to improve their practice. She encourages continuous professional development. However, the manager does not always focus precisely enough on improving individual staff's existing skills and teaching. For instance, some staff do not identify opportunities where they can extend children's knowledge during their play.
• Parents say that their children have good relationships with staff and that their social skills have grown since attending the pre-school. They describe the setting as an 'extended family'. Staff share information with parents regarding the activities children take part in and discuss their development during parent meetings. However, some parents report that they do not always know what their children's next steps in learning are or how they can continue this learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• focus professional development more precisely to further strengthen staff's teaching skills
• strengthen ways to share information with parents about children's individual learning needs and how to continue learning at home.