Broadshires Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are full of joy and excitement as they arrive at the pre-school. They feel safe and secure. Children respond warmly to nurturing staff, who know the children and their families well. Children display behaviour that is appropriate to their age and stage of development.

Physical development is promoted well. All children enjoy access to the large outside area throughout the day, where they have opportunities to be active and explore the environment. Furthermore, they benefit from regular football sessions where they learn to make small and large kicks and shoot the ball into the target goal. Staff provide resources and activities that encourage children to use their small muscles. For example, children manipulate and make marks in the sand and chalk outside on the tarmac, as well as having a range of opportunities to sort a range of small resources, transporting them with tweezers.

Staff introduce children to new vocabulary and explain what words and phrases mean. For example, in the role-play area, children pretend to be doctors. Children are introduced to new words in context of their play. For example, staff talk about the heart beating and how blood pressure is measured, and how this supports the circulation of the blood around the body. This supports children's developing communication and language skills. Children are gaining in confidence and developing a love for books and reading. For instance, staff read with great enthusiasm and expression. Children listen out for the rhyming words and recall the words with great joy, such as 'cats on mats', 'mules on stools' and 'pairs on chairs'.

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

• Staff actively seek support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They have detailed knowledge of the very specific needs of each child. Staff work closely with parents and outside agencies to agree and constantly update individual care plans.
• The manager regularly observes staff practice and provides feedback on their strengths and areas they can improve. Staff benefit from regular supervision meetings. They receive targeted support and training to help raise the quality of their practice and skills. Staff talk confidently about their workload being managed and feel their well-being is supported effectively. Staff work well together as a team and share ideas and information about the children.
• Staff have a good understanding of their curriculum and how children learn. Overall, they plan a rich and varied selection of well-organised activities to encourage children to explore and build on what they already know. This helps children to make good progress.
• An effective key-person system is in place. Staff have a good knowledge and understanding of the children in their care and chat to children about home life and activities. For instance, staff and children discuss children's outside pursuits and known members of their wider families during their learning at pre-school. In addition, staff personalise the settling-in process for children who may struggle to ease into pre-school. For example, children may arrive once the busier arrival time is over to aid the settling in of those less-confident children.
• Children are motivated to explore and investigate, and, overall, they show good levels of curiosity and concentration. However, some parts of the day are not as well organised to ensure that children remain focused and engaged. For example, during group activities, some children find it difficult to maintain their interest, and quieter children, while happy, play alone and are not encouraged to join in.
• Pre-school staff use their local contacts well to help children begin to understand different people and the world around them. For example, children visit a local farm in spring to see the new lambs and enjoy visits to the church in the village, where they attend a range of celebrations. In addition, the local librarian visits monthly to read stories with the children.
• Parents speak highly of the pre-school. They report that staff communicate well with them. For example, staff discuss children's progress at drop-off and collection times and have introduced a closed social media page, which further enhances communication with parents. However, staff recognise they have not extended this to offering parents suggestions on how they can support their child's learning at home.
• Children behave well in the pre-school. Staff praise children for their efforts, and they are effective role models and have high expectations of children.
• Staff use additional funding well to address gaps in children's learning. For example, they use it to provide one-to-one support, tailored staff training and further resources.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the organisation of group activities to ensure that all children are consistently well supported
• build on partnerships with parents so that parents can help guide and support their children's learning at home.