Caroline and Claire's Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enter the pre-school with excitement, eager to play and staff greet children in a friendly way. Children are curious learners, who confidently explore their environment. Staff follow children's curiosity and children's lead, to maximise their learning. For instance, children learn how to plant seeds with a member of staff. This inspires children to plant their own seeds in the garden centre role-play area. They scoop up the compost and make holes in the soil, using their small-muscle skills well. Staff skilfully ask children what the seeds need to grow. Children recall their prior knowledge and respond with 'water to drink, and the sun'.

Staff place a strong focus on children's safety. This is evident as the children go outside. Children negotiate the steps down to the entrance of the pre-school, holding onto the banister carefully. Staff guide the children in a safe manner to the outside area. Children thoroughly enjoy being outside. They scream and shout with delight as they mix sand and soil together. They show an understanding of volume and capacity in their play, recognising when they have filled a container to the top with the sand and soil mixture. Staff encourage the children to count how many scoops it takes to fill the containers. This helps children to develop their counting skills.

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

• The manager is passionate about supporting her staff team. She effectively manages staff workloads and has designed a unique programme to monitor staff well-being. She uses this to evaluate and improve staff practice. Staff really appreciate this and report that they feel 'well supported' within their roles.
• The manager arranges training to support staff's professional development. For example, recently staff have attended training on sign language. Staff report that the use of sign language has had a positive impact on supporting children to communicate. Children confidently sign hello as they take part in the morning welcome session.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills well. They hold purposeful conversations with the older children. Staff use books and discussions as an opportunity to introduce new vocabulary and explain the meaning of words, such as sunlight. Younger children enjoy listening to stories. They sit with staff and become excitable as they anticipate what comes next in the story. All children enjoy singing familiar songs and rhymes, which help to further support the development of their communication and language skills.
• Staff support children to develop the skills they need for the future. They encourage the children to be as independent as possible and to learn to do things for themselves. This is evident as children independently wash their hands for lunch. They find and open their lunch boxes and try and do their zip up on their coats to go outside.
• Staff work effectively in partnership with parents to meet children's individual needs. They regularly talk with parents and agree on children's learning. Parents comment on how friendly the staff are and they feel confident leaving their children in a safe environment. They enjoy receiving the weekly video from the manager to explain what the children will be doing while at the pre-school. This helps the parents with their children's learning at home.
• Overall, children behave well in the pre-school. For example, they share and take turns with toys, and are polite to one another. Most children know the rules and follow them well overall. However, at times, some staff do not consistently deal with unwanted behaviour. As a result, some children do not always follow the rules and boundaries of the pre-school. For instance, a few children do not handle and play with toys respectfully. They throw and kick the toys as they play.
• The manager and staff team deliver a thoughtful, targeted curriculum to all children. Children are, generally, engaged and excited to learn. Staff implement most of the curriculum well. For example, they help children to understand their emotions as part of their personal development. However, less emphasis is given to helping children to develop their physical skills. This weakness is most notable with older children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure all staff consistently use the behaviour strategies, so that children clearly understand the type of behaviour that is expected of them
• improve the curriculum for physical development to help children develop their core muscle skills.