Canewdon Pre School and Daycare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are warmly greeted by the welcoming, caring staff. A good settling-in procedure means that children happily leave their parents and are eager to explore the activities provided. They are busy throughout the session and quickly settle at a chosen activity. Staff have designed a flexible curriculum that is based on children's interests and seasonal themes. Children show sustained concentration as they complete puzzles. Role play is popular and children have opportunities to act out real-life scenarios that are familiar to them using the range of props and resources provided. Recent changes that staff have made to how the environment is presented mean children can easily access resources and initiate their own games. Plans for the outdoor environment continue to develop to ensure the same rich opportunities for learning for children who benefit from outdoor learning.

Children have established close and trusting bonds with the nurturing team of staff, who know them well. They make friendships with others attending and excitedly sit together in preparation for a Christmas party. They proudly wear party hats they have made and chat to one another as they enjoy a selection of party food. Children understand the expectations of the staff and know to wash their hands without prompting before joining the party table. They are learning how to negotiate conflict for themselves, supported by staff who are good role models and offer praise and encouragement for their efforts. Children behave well.

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

• There is a strong focus on supporting children's speech, language, and emotional development. Children are confident speakers. Staff engage children in conversation and have a clear comprehension of how children develop their conversation skills. Children confidently speak with visitors to the pre-school and ask lots of questions as to the purpose of their visit. Spontaneous singing and stories further promote good listening skills and a sense of rhythm and language.
• Children enjoy fresh air and exercise daily. They relish time in the garden and excitedly have a go at independently dressing themselves in preparation for outdoor play. Children become engrossed in sand play and practise early writing skills as they make marks in the sand using sticks. They enjoy sitting comfortably and looking at books in the outdoor reading shed, sharing stories with their friends.
• Staff promote simple mathematics in all activities. Children are encouraged to think about numbers, shapes, space and patterns as they engage in construction activities or complete puzzles. Children show sustained concentration as they use brushes and paint to make Christmas tree decorations, and they discuss shapes.
• Children learn the importance of staying safe and healthy through daily routines. For example, they are gently reminded about the importance of wiping their nose and washing their hands afterwards. They help themselves to tissues and check in the mirror that they have done a good job. Children enjoy a range of healthy snacks. Stringent procedures are in place to ensure that children's allergies and dietary needs are met.
• Staff are encouraged in their own professional development. The management and staff team have worked hard to improve outcomes for children since the last inspection and work closely with the local authority. Apprentices feel extremely well supported and guided as they complete their qualification. However, the leadership team has not considered ways to help all staff refresh their knowledge of how to better promote learning for younger children and offer sufficient challenge for the most able in this age group.
• While positive partnerships have been established with parents, systems in place for communicating about children's learning are in the process of changing to ensure they are effective. This means that staff are not consistently communicating effectively when discussing what children already know and their experiences and interests at home, which would enable opportunities to continue learning in pre-school.
• Parents speak highly of the pre-school and comment that their children are happy, settled and make good progress as a result of attending. However, while some parents comment that they would welcome more frequent updates on their children's progress, they are very complimentary of the approachable, caring and welcoming staff.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide support and training opportunities for staff to ensure that they plan a broad range of activities for younger children that offer sufficient challenge
• continue to strengthen partnerships with parents to find out what children already know and can do and what interests them so that teaching can be adapted accordingly.