Busy Bee Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff build good relationships with children who attend the pre-school. They find out about the things children like to do and incorporate these ideas into children's play. For instance, staff bring in dressing-up clothes related to characters that children know well. Staff support children who speak English as an additional language to settle into the pre-school by learning words in their home languages. Children are happy and demonstrate they feel secure in the pre-school. Staff encourage children to use their manners and to be kind to others. Children happily play alongside their friends and understand how their actions impact on others.

Staff mostly offer children meaningful learning experiences. For example, they encourage children to use marks to create pictures and stories about books they have read. Children are creative and inquisitive. Staff have high expectations of what children are capable of achieving in their learning and development. For example, they talk to children about different concepts, such as how the spine of a book holds the pages together and how some children use braille. Children demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning and are keen to engage in the experiences available to them.

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

• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. They work closely with parents and other professionals to understand children's needs. The good partnership working means staff provide children with a consistent approach that meets their care and education needs.
• Staff have created a secure educational programme to develop children's personal, social and emotional skills. They provide a good range of experiences that help children to learn how to work together and take turns. For instance, staff sit with children helping them to complete a floor puzzle and encourage children to identify whose turn it is and help each other. Children know how to work together and are respectful of each other.
• Staff have established an effective curriculum to enhance children's physical skills. Children develop the strength in their hands as staff teach them how to use scissors. Outdoors, children practise balancing and using their larger physical skills. Children are able to control their bodies.
• Staff provide opportunities for children to learn about how people are different. For example, they read stories about children in wheelchairs and talk about being kind and respectful. However, staff do not consistently provide children with opportunities to learn about their own heritages and backgrounds. This does not support children fully in understanding their own self-identities.
• Staff create an environment that is rich in language for children. They give children lots of explanations. Staff talk to children about violins, birds nests, octopuses and yachts, to extend their vocabularies. Children have good levels of understanding and are effective communicators.
• Staff undertake training to help them reflect on and improve their practice. They have participated in training related to behaviour management. Consequently, staff manage children's behaviour well, offering lots of praise and positive feedback. Children know what is expected from them, listen well and follow instructions.
• The implementation of the curriculum is not consistently embedded across the pre-school. Teaching for younger children is not as strong as it is for older children. For example, staff give children shapes and hammers to develop their hand-eye coordination. However, there are only a few pins so children cannot engage fully with the activity and are disappointed that the activity has to be put away. This means on some occasions, teaching does not deliver the intentions of what staff would like children to learn.
• Staff place a great importance on supporting children to become independent. They encourage children to serve themselves snacks throughout the morning and pour their own drinks. Staff support children to recognise their own name when they arrive at the setting. Children are competent at undertaking tasks for themselves.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• increase opportunities to celebrate the backgrounds of children who attend to further enhance their self-identities
• enhance the consistency of teaching for younger children so that all children benefit from highly effective implementation of the curriculum.