Busy Bodies Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at this welcoming pre-school. Caring and nurturing staff know the children and their families well and create very good bonds with them. Children enjoy cuddles with staff when they need reassurance, and staff use what they know about children to ensure that their needs are met. Children are happy, confident and well settled. The experienced and enthusiastic staff team are supported well by their dedicated manager. They strive to provide the very best for all children that attend.

The curriculum is well designed to support children's interests and builds on what they need to learn next. For example, following the discovery of a snail by the back door, children are keen to take their magnifying glasses outdoors to look for more bugs. There is great excitement to find worms and woodlice under the plant pots. Staff are good role models for how to treat people with kindness and respect. They support children to take turns and to share resources. Children's behaviour is very good. Children enjoy opportunities to play every day outdoors. They gain confidence in their physical abilities as they learn to use different types of bikes with increasing skill.

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

• The manager and staff team work very well together. Staff report that they feel valued and enjoy their work. There is a good partnership with committee members. Parents and carers can attend a weekly session with their toddlers. There is a strong sense of community and that everyone is welcome.
• Staff focus the curriculum well on ensuring that children gain the skills they need in preparation for school. Children learn to sit and listen to stories and to wait for their turn in group activities. Staff support children to do things for themselves, such as putting on their coats. Children confidently have a go and ask for help when they need it. Staff praise them for their achievements. This helps to build children's self-esteem.
• Staff plan and prepare activities based on children's interests. They have clear intentions about what they want children to learn. The manager completes assessments of staff's practice. However, this requires further development to enhance the quality of teaching to enable consistently high-quality learning throughout the pre-school.
• Staff plan interesting opportunities to develop children's knowledge and understanding of shape, space and measures. Children learn names of different shapes and how to build various constructions. Staff talk about comparing size and capacity as children fill and empty jugs with water. However, staff do not always incorporate numbers and counting into their interactions, to enable children to build and apply their understanding of numeracy.
• Staff put well-targeted plans in place for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They refer children swiftly to outside professionals, when needed. They are tenacious in ensuring that children receive the right support to help them to meet their full potential at the pre-school.
• The partnership with parents is strong. Staff get to know the family to provide the experiences and care children need. Parents receive detailed verbal feedback at the end of each session. Staff share photos via a secure online source. Parents speak highly of the pre-school. They feel well informed about their child's progress.
• Staff embrace diversity and celebrate what makes children unique. For example, staff support children to look in mirrors to help them recognise their own facial features as they draw their pictures. Children happily talk about the different colours and sizes of their eyebrows and noses.
• Children are physically active in their play. They show good control and coordination in both large and small movements. Children enjoy visits from a specialised sports coach. They learn how to use a tennis bat, ball control and build their stamina and strength.
• Children develop a love of books and stories. They regularly ask staff to read them a story and talk enthusiastically about the pictures. Children choose a book to take home each week. Parents praise the lending library and comment that they enjoy reading the book with their child. They complete questionnaires about their child's thoughts about the book.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• monitor and support staff further to enhance the quality of teaching to enable consistently high-quality learning throughout the pre-school
• ensure that opportunities are included to develop and extend children's knowledge and understanding of numeracy.