Brookside Pre-School Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children develop warm, trusting relationships, which supports younger and less confident children in settling happily. Children develop good physical skills and are keen to play outdoors. They enjoy scooting safely on tricycles and learn to take turns with their friends. Overall, children behave well. They learn how to wait patiently for favourite toys, as they develop an understanding and respect for the differing needs of their friends.

Children are keen to learn and engage well in activities that interest them. For instance, older children enjoy making Valentine's hearts as they use stickers, glue and paper creatively. When children find learning more challenging, they learn how to keep on trying to succeed. For instance, they learn about different shapes as they compare the circle and oval. All children, including those who receive additional funding, make good progress from their starting points. The managers and staff have introduced new routines, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that parents no longer come into the pre-school itself. Despite this, children are confident to leave their parents at the door. Staff continue to share information about children's day-to-day activities and overall progress, using online methods of communication. Parents comment on how this helps them to continue learning at home, for example with potty training younger children.

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

• The managers and staff work well together. Staff feel valued and well supported by the managers, who lead the team well. Staff are well qualified and the quality of teaching provided is good. However, supervisions are not used to evaluate and target specific areas of staff's professional development, to enhance the good-quality teaching and learning experiences children receive.
• Children benefit from a happy and relaxed environment within the pre-school. Staff get to know children's individual personalities well. They recognise the uniqueness of each child and tailor their care needs accordingly. This supports younger children to develop strong bonds with staff and helps them to develop confidence in moving from home to the pre-school happily.
• Staff create opportunities for children to learn about the benefits of healthy lifestyles. Children enjoy a variety of opportunities to take part in active play outside. Older children practise pedalling and steering go-karts along the road outside. They recognise when 'pedestrians' are on the road and carefully navigate around them. Staff help children learn about the benefits of healthy eating, drinking water to rehydrate themselves and routines to support good oral hygiene.
• The managers create a curriculum which focuses on what children need to learn next. Staff are fully involved in organising activities which engage and motivate children to learn. Recent changes to the way in which staff use these activities to focus precisely on what they want children to learn next are not yet embedded. The managers identify that more can be done to extend staff's understanding of the learning intent for children, to help them tailor their teaching more precisely.
• Children benefit from opportunities to develop their good communication and language skills. All children, including those who speak English as an additional language or are slower to speak, benefit from a language-rich environment. Staff model language and pronounce words clearly for children to hear. For children who need extra support with communication, staff offer visual aids, such as pictures, to help them understand about daily routines, like getting ready for lunch. Children make good progress in their communication skills from their starting points.
• Parents speak positively about the pre-school. They comment on the friendliness of staff and how they regularly share children's progress and key achievements with them. Staff use newsletters to inform parents of future topics, including colour, letter and shape of the week. Parents comment on how this helps them to continue supporting their children's learning at home.
• Staff keep a close check on the progress children make. Children in receipt of additional funding and those with special educational needs/and or disabilities (SEND) are supported well. The special educational needs coordinator ensures that children with SEND are offered good support. She is swift to work in partnership with parents, and other professionals, in order to help these children reach their full potential.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff supervisions to evaluate and target training that builds on the quality of teaching, to support children's learning to the highest level
• enhance staff's understanding of the individual learning intentions for children, to help them tailor teaching more precisely during planned activities.