Buttons@abbeys

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the setting ready to learn. They come in excited to meet the friendly staff. Staff are excellent role models, and children's behaviour is exemplary. Staff are clear and consistent with routines. Children feel settled and calm, as they know the expectations each day.

Clear intent and implementation of a high-quality and carefully thought out curriculum have a great impact on the children and their learning and development. Children are curious, inquisitive and highly motivated learners. They move freely between play, selecting things that interest them and joining activities with their peers and staff. They are highly engaged in what they are doing and are supported to guide their own play and learning. For example, children make soup in the home corner, with real onions and Brussels sprouts. They use knives competently, and staff support children by asking them questions associated with the activity. For instance, staff discuss the layers of the onions and the stalks of the sprouts. In a further activity, aimed at developing their hand-to-eye coordination and fine motor skills, children follow a recipe to make their own dough.

Staff skilfully support children's ideas and use a variety of teaching methods. For example, children are encouraged to 'squish and turn' the lemon in the juicer, and children conclude that, when you cut a whole lemon, you then have two halves. Staff use any additional funding that children receive successfully to support each child's individual needs. In addition, excellent arrangements are in place to support children who are learning to speak English as an additional language.

Community involvement is commendable. Children access the community library. They walk to supermarkets to buy resources and take trips on public buses to visit the city. Children visit residents at a care home, singing carols to the elderly at Christmas. Children collect and donate tins to the local food bank. These opportunities result in an appreciation for the community in which they live.

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

• The provider is inspirational. The dedication she and her team give to providing high-quality care and education is admirable. The curriculum is ambitious and exciting for children. It successfully builds on and extends children's prior learning. Knowledgeable staff skilfully intervene at appropriate times to add value to children's learning and challenge their thinking skills even further. All children are incredibly well prepared for the next stage in their learning.
• Partnerships with parents are incredible. Parents feel highly supported as they can access a range of resources, books, food and clothing from pre-school. Staff create activities for home learning. Parents therefore feel listened to and valued.
• They appreciate the regular communication and updates on their children's development and activities.
• Managers monitor staff rigorously and tailor a variety of supervision sessions and coaching opportunities to their needs. They check that staff are confident and happy in their role, and staff comment that they feel very well supported. The provider arranges a range of resources and activities to ensure the well-being of their staff. Staff cannot speak highly enough of the provider, with many saying, 'It is the best place to work.'
• Staff have an excellent relationship with the school on site. Teachers visit pre-school weekly, and children are invited to attend a range of school activities. This ensures a seamless move to school.
• Partnership working is superb. All staff work with partners across the network and in the local community to ensure children and their families have the very best possible start in life.
• Staff's interactions with children are exceptional. They respond sensitively to the children and communicate with them in a variety of ways. Children's speech and language development is prioritised in the pre-school. Staff use a variety of communication methods to support all children to make superb progress in their speech and language development.
• Training is prioritised to meet the needs of staff and the children. For example, following the COVID-19 pandemic, staff have all undertaken challenging behaviour training, in recognition of the personal and emotional needs of the children in their care. This has had a positive impact on the consistent behaviour of the children at pre-school. Behaviour is excellent.
• Children are supported to be independent and persevere in tasks. For example, they learn to chop and peel fruit at snack, wash their hands and pour drinks. They invite visitors to join them at snack and explain the routine, which includes tidying away their plates and cups themselves. Children develop a desire to be independent and responsible.
• Staff go over and above to secure timely interventions and target support for individual children at the earliest opportunity, including for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This contributes to the rapid and substantial progress that all children make over short periods of time.