Butterflies Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show a strong sense of belonging and are excited to arrive at the preschool, staff welcome families warmly. Children demonstrate they feel secure as they follow the daily routines. For example, they enjoy carrying simple tasks such as tidying up and eagerly tell staff where something needs to go away. They separate from carers with ease, put their bags away and join their friends to play and explore. Therefore, they are developing their independence skills. Older and younger children play harmoniously together. Children learn the importance of using good manners. Staff are good role models. They demonstrate polite and respectful behaviour to children and offer gentle reminders to support children with the preschool rules.

Children practise their speaking and listening skills. Younger children listen to stories with staff. Staff provide ongoing commentary as they play alongside the children. Children use their imagination and are creative with the available resources. They use magnetic shapes to build enclosures for their farm animals and make model dinosaurs with the play dough. Children enjoy using their number skills as they count, older children eagerly explain the value of 'zero' to their friends.

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

• Staff plan and implement a broad curriculum which is linked to children's interests and what children need to learn next. Staff observe children and use assessments to monitor their development. Staff respond quickly to any concerns that they have about children's progress and ensure that children receive the support they need.
• Overall, staff interact positively with children and lead activities that engage children. Staff know children well and use this knowledge to support them in planning for their next steps in learning. However, at times, as staff join children at their play, they do not consistently engage effectively with children to enhance their learning.
• Staff place a clear focus on children's communication and language development. They engage children in conversations as they play, model language well and use clear pronunciation and introduce new vocabulary. For example, staff use visual cues and gesture to support language development. Children learn 'Makaton' signs to support them to express how they feel emotionally. Children enjoy regular groups times and song and story times to enhance their language.
• Partnership with parents is strong. Staff encourage parents to be part of every aspect of preschool life from when their child starts. Parents comment the information they receive about their child helps them support them at home, as well as the informative emails. Parents describe how they enjoy seeing regular 'wow' moments from their child's key person. This helps them to understand their child's day and how to support their learning.
• Children are supported well to develop healthy lifestyles; they enjoy regular physical play and fresh air and exercise. Children develop their physical skills as they learn to balance, throwing and catching balls with friends. Staff deliver consistent messages to help children understand how they can make healthy choices. However, the organisation at these times means children sit waiting for too long. Therefore, children are waiting for extended periods of time because staff do not tailor fully the routines to children's needs.
• Staff supervision and support is effective. The manager ensures that regular discussions and group meetings enable staff to identify their own strengths and areas for improvement. Staff speak positively about their roles and how the manager's ongoing support and guidance promotes their professional development. This has a positive impact on staff.
• The manager continuously evaluates the performance of the nursery and considers the views of children, staff and parents. Staff feel that they are managed well and receive meaningful support and training opportunities. For instance, staff have attended behaviour management training and effectively use strategies to support children's positive behaviour. For example, older children eagerly share the 'preschool rules' with younger children and staff repeat gentle reminders with children. Therefore, children behave well.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to engage effectively with children when joining their play to enhance their learning further
• refine the organisation of routines during the day to minimise waiting time particularly for younger children.