Buttons ABC Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children are confident and very happy during their time in the friendly and welcoming nursery. Staff have a good knowledge of their curriculum and how to implement this successfully. They have high expectations of children's abilities and carefully plan challenging and motivating activities to engage them. For example, children learn about the concept of volume and quantity as they pour and fill containers during water play. Children are excited to bring their imagination to life. For instance, they giggle as they act out being a witch with staff 'flying' on a 'broomstick'. Children learn about the different ways to be creative. This includes exploring interesting ways of making art, such as marble painting and drawing self-portraits.

Staff are positive role models. All children behave well and are polite. They are caring and demonstrate empathy. For example, they show kindness and understanding of other children's different needs. Children learn about the importance of healthy lifestyles. For instance, staff encourage children to talk about healthy food choices and the importance of brushing their teeth. Children develop good physical skills and learn to move in different ways. This is demonstrated when they confidently and safely use age-appropriate climbing and balancing equipment. Children share their ideas and thoughts, and have confident communication skills, which are well supported by staff.

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

• The manager and staff know all children well and get to know their individual personalities, needs and abilities. This includes knowing their likes and dislikes. All Staff establish secure and trusting relationships with children. This helps children to settle quickly into the setting and enjoy the company of staff. They seek out staff to initiate hugs and invite them into their play. For example, children laugh as they happily brush staff's hair in the 'hairdressers'.
• Staff support all children to make good progress. This includes those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. For example, staff liaise closely with other agencies, such as occupational therapists. They share and implement useful strategies that support children in a consistent way.
• The manager and staff establish positive partnerships with parents, who speak very highly of them. They comment that staff go 'above and beyond' and are dedicated and passionate about providing care for both children and them as families. Staff keep parents well informed about their children, what they have been doing, and their next steps in their learning. Staff share helpful ideas with parents to help support their children's learning at home. This includes providing information on the benefits of messy play activities.
• Children show that they have a positive attitude towards their learning and, overall, they are engaged in their experiences. However, staff do not always recognise when they can minimise the length of large-group activities and better manage the transitions between activities. For example, staff do not always recognise when large-group times go on for too long and children lose interest.
• Overall, children are engaged in their learning opportunities and staff interact with them positively. Staff supervise children well and always work within the required ratio, which means that children are always safe. However, at times, staff do not promptly recognise when some children would benefit from more guidance and interaction.
• The manager closely monitors the quality of care and teaching that staff provide. Staff evaluate together as a team. They reflect daily on what went well and what could be done differently next time. Staff have regular discussions about their performance and use constructive feedback to support their future practice. The quality of provision is continually improving.
• All staff attend regular and beneficial training. They have recently learned about the different ways to support children who speak English as an additional language. This has helped staff to understand how to further support these children. For example, they learn words in other languages and use visual prompts to support their communication. Staff support children to gain a good understanding of other cultures from around the world. For instance, children learn about the way that people in Romania traditionally celebrate Easter.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to be more aware of the organisation of staff deployment during changes in routine and large-group activities to ensure that all children remain fully engaged throughout
• build on staff's confidence to promptly recognise when to support children who may need additional guidance to engage in activities.