Calllands Pre-School & Link Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders and staff provide an effective curriculum that ensures children's personal, social and emotional development is a priority. Staff work closely with parents and establish an effective settling-in process. Staff know all children's, including children who speak English as an additional language, starting points and meet their needs well. Additionally, staff provide embedded routines and a calm environment which promotes children's well-being and happiness. Children smile as they arrive, excited to start their day.

Children benefit from an effective key-person system. They form strong bonds with their key person and the whole staff team. Staff have a clear understanding of children's, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), individual needs and personalities. Children who need extra support are helped by staff to play alongside other children and included in activities. For example, during song time when some children do not sit with the group, staff encourage them to sit as close as they are comfortable to be and join in with the songs and actions.

Leaders and staff are superb role models. They have high expectations and establish clear boundaries for behaviour so children know what is expected of them. They understand the significance of developing children's positive behaviour. All staff ensure that they are consistent in their approach to managing behaviour. All children, including children with SEND, learn to solve problems, regulate their feelings and maintain relationships well. Children's behaviour is exemplary.

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

• Staff plan appropriate and meaningful learning experiences for children. The curriculum is well balanced and tailored to support individual children's learning needs. Staff know the children well and precisely plan for their individual next steps. They know what skills children have already learned and what they want to teach them next and why. This sets children up for future success.
• Quality interactions are a strength of the pre-school. Staff spend time engaging in meaningful conversations with children. Staff use questioning, commentary and direct teaching to promote children's learning. However, on occasions, some staff do not always build on children's curiosity to deepen their understanding. For example, during lunchtime, children sit with their key person and engage in conversations about healthy eating. Staff ask questions about healthy food choices and the importance of healthy teeth. Some children ask questions on how else they can keep their teeth healthy. Some staff do not use this curiosity to extend children's learning further.
• Staff support children to make good progress in their communication and language. Staff use different strategies to help children to enhance their speech and language development. For example, staff use Makaton sign language during registration to sign 'good afternoon' to some children. However, staff do not use these strategies consistently with all children. Therefore, some children do not always fully expand their communication skills.
• Staff consider children's differing backgrounds and experiences when planning and delivering the curriculum. Staff use books to look at different flags and discuss the different countries that children may come from. Children develop an understanding of the world around them, which prepares them for life in modern Britain.
• Children with SEND benefit from the delightfully calming sensory rooms in the pre-school. The knowledgeable special educational needs coordinator provides staff with training and guidance. This helps them to provide children with support that is personalised to their needs. The ongoing support that children with SEND receive ensures that they continue to make good progress.
• Parents and carers are overwhelmingly complimentary of the pre-school's leaders, childcare and office staff. They say that staff are 'wonderfully caring' and their children make excellent progress. The many methods of communication used by leaders and staff promote excellent parent partnerships. As a result, parents have high levels of confidence in the staff and know what their children are learning.
• Staff receive robust support on a personal and professional level. Consequently, staff retention levels and their well-being are good. This, in turn, provides consistency for children's care and development. The manager and her duty manager have a good oversight of the pre-school. This helps them to build strong relationships with all staff, children and families. Furthermore, this supports the manager to provide training for staff that is tailored to the needs of the children and staff. This ensures that the quality of care and education remains at consistently good levels.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's skills in responding to children's emerging interests, in order to capture their curiosity and build on what they already know
• develop teaching practices further to ensure that staff extend all children's communication and language skills.