Cambourne Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive during their time at this child-centred and well-planned pre-school. They arrive eager to learn and most children separate from their parents with ease. Children who are newer to the setting are supported well by their key person to start to feel secure. Children show care and compassion to each other. They offer comfort when children are upset and regularly help each other with gloves, coats, and shoes.

Children excitedly make good use of the well-resourced outside area, even on cold and grey days. They dance and move about as they shake bells and play a piano, showing delight and enthusiasm. Staff support children to become confident as they make their way around assault courses. Children learn to balance, judge the distance between gaps and, with increasing confidence, ask staff to time them as they repeat the course.

Inside, children show fascination as they use a range of methods to free items frozen into blocks of ice. As the ice starts to melt staff help children to notice the water forming and to think about why this might be happening. Younger children spend sustained periods of time playing with cars and sensory toys that make sounds or launch balls into the air when buttons are pressed.

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

• Children take part in a wide range of well-thought-out activities that support their development across all seven areas of learning. Staff understand children's abilities and interests well and put in place a curriculum that effectively extends what children already know and can do. They interact in fun, engaging and respectful ways with children. Staff offer opportunities for children to think and wonder. They respond positively to the ideas and interests that children demonstrate.
• Staff have a good awareness of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on some children's development, particularly when it comes to playing with other children and sharing resources. Staff effectively support children to gain these skills. During role-play activities, staff skilfully help children to recognise the importance of the 'phone calls' children are making and help other children to wait their turn. However, on occasions, staff are less consistent at supporting children to respect resources. For example, children throw pieces of jigsaw puzzles they do not need, and staff do not help children to understand how this could hurt their friends or damage the items.
• Staff provide good support for children's language development. They talk clearly with children and introduce new words, such as 'ripple' and 'melt'. Staff make good use of visual signals and simple sign language is used to support children who have communication difficulties. Children take part with enthusiasm in singing activities and regularly look at books with members of staff.
• Children's progress is regularly monitored. Staff are quick to put in support where children may be at risk of falling behind typical development. The setting is proactive at linking with other settings children attend and with external professionals when needed. Additional funding that some children receive is used well to enhance children's ongoing learning and development.
• Staff support children to learn to lead a healthy lifestyle. They remind children to wash their hands before mealtimes and encourage them to eat the savoury contents of their lunch boxes before moving on to the sweeter items.
• The setting places a high emphasis on working in partnership with parents. Regular parents' evenings and informal discussions at drop off and collection times ensure families are fully involved in their children's development. Parents are regularly supported with ideas and resources to extend their children's ongoing interests at home. Parents are very complimentary about the setting and value the wider support they receive.
• Staff work well as a team and feel valued. Regular supervision sessions and team meetings are used to support their ongoing practice and development. However, for less-experienced staff, these professional development opportunities have not yet enabled them to gain teaching skills that support all children to the very highest level.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• promote greater consistency across the staff team in supporting children to learn to respect resources
• expand the range of professional development opportunities, particularly for less-experienced staff, to help to raise their knowledge, skills and teaching practice to the highest levels.