Burford Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff know children well and have good relationships with them. They are warm and welcoming as children come into the pre-school. Staff help to settle children and engage them immediately in a range of activities. In the home corner, staff enhance imaginative play and support children through quality interactions, effective questioning and rich language.

Children engage for long periods and demonstrate good levels of concentration. Staff support this by engaging in children's ideas and extending them. For example, as children use small pegs to build towers, staff model how they can follow more-complicated pattern cards and build taller towers, counting up to 20.

Staff plan an ambitious curriculum, using themes and stories relating to the children's interests. They plan exciting and motivating activities alongside rich experiences to broaden their learning, such as trips, yoga, French and cooking activities. Staff listen to children and encourage them to have their own ideas. In the garden, children explore freely as they choose stories to read in the cosy den and build guttering to scoop and pour sand.

Staff encourage independence throughout the day and children are becoming more confident with the routine as they serve themselves snack, wash their dishes and look for their own name during morning registration.

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

• Children are confident communicators. They talk about what they enjoy at the pre-school and have conversations with their friends during their play. They show kindness and respect as they help each other and ask how their friends are. Staff are good role models for language and introduce new vocabulary. For example, they use words such as 'flatten', 'squeeze' and 'mould' as they help children to practise their fine motor skills, using play dough.
• Staff read stories in engaging ways. They encourage children to listen attentively by using props and inviting resources. Children are developing a love of reading as they choose to re-read these stories in an outdoor reading den, telling them in their own way and using story language. They are building a good repertoire of familiar stories and songs as staff repeat these and ask children to choose their favourite ones at circle time.
• Children demonstrate positive attitudes towards learning and enjoy the freedom to explore their environment and choose what they would like to do. Staff support this and follow children's interests in their planning and build on what they know. For example, after a local walk, staff planned a theme around transport and travel, which sparked children's interest and motivated them to use loose parts to build cars and building bricks to make aeroplanes.
• Children join in with a morning circle time and maintain attention during a range of activities. However, boundaries are not consistently embedded and reasons for behaviour are not always explained to children by staff. Although there are 'golden rules' in place, staff do not consistently take time to refer to these and use a range of strategies to support children further.
• Children have plenty of opportunities to develop their physical skills. They enjoy using stepping stones in the garden and climbing and balancing on obstacle courses. Staff teach children about healthy lifestyles and choices. They stretch their bodies and look after their minds during yoga sessions. Children learn how to look after their teeth and enjoy healthy snack choices during the day.
• Staff monitor and track children's progress. They identify children's next steps and work alongside other agencies to meet their targets. This means that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are making good progress and getting ready for the next stage of education.
• Partnerships with parents are strong, and parents are positive about their experiences at the pre-school. They are pleased with the progress their children are making and speak highly of the support and warmth of the staff team. They always feel welcome in the pre-school and have good relationships with their child's key person. Regular feedback means that parents feel well informed about their child's progress and next steps.
• Leaders and managers have a clear vision in mind. They are reflective and committed to improvements that enhance children's experiences and learning outcomes. Overall, they ensure that staff feel supported and receive regular supervision and that their practice is good.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to make better use of strategies to help children to develop a deeper understanding of boundaries to support their good behaviour.