Chaddlewood Pre-school and Woodies Out Of School Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children receive a warm welcome from staff at this friendly setting. Staff are kind and caring and get to know children very well. They make special books using photographs that children bring in from home and encourage them to talk about their friends and families. Children delight as they share their news with staff and handle the books carefully. Relationships between children and staff are positive and respectful. Staff help children to become more independent over time. Children learn to look after their belongings and hang their coats on their pegs. They carefully carry their plates to their tables at lunchtime and take care of the pre-school environment.

Staff support children to learn about the wider world as part of a rich and ambitious curriculum. They learn about growth and grow their own food in the 'pizza garden'. Children help to look after plants, such as pumpkins and strawberries. Staff help children to learn about sustainability, including taking responsibility for recycling materials in the setting. They ensure children take part in a wide range of engaging activities linked to their interests and needs. For example, children focus well as they excitedly explore the texture of foaming soap as part of a sensory activity. Staff skilfully build on children's understanding through discussion and by helping them to include a variety of words in their speech, such as soft and fluffy.

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

• Leaders ensure the curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced. They work closely with staff to reflect on how well they are meeting the needs of the children in the setting, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds. For example, leaders have introduced changes to ensure a stronger focus on providing a nurturing environment to help children make even greater progress.
• Staff develop children's mathematical knowledge and skills well. They regularly support children to learn to count objects and recognise numbers, such as when they are building towers using magnetic shapes. Children confidently recognise the names of shapes, including triangles and circles. Staff effectively extend children's mathematical language through introducing ambitious words to the children, such as 'diamond'.
• Staff talk confidently about children's progress. They recognise what children can do now and need to do next. They plan group activities to address gaps in children's learning, such as learning how to effectively use scissors to cut paper. However, some adult-led activities do not provide enough challenge to all of the children. At these times, some children finish very quickly and are left waiting with little to do.
• Children are keen to learn. They are excited by many of the activities on offer and concentrate for extended periods of time during their free play, such as when playing with toy babies. Staff play alongside the children, helping them to develop their knowledge and skills. However, staff do not always intervene when noise levels become too high indoors, making it difficult for children to focus and hear staff's instructions.
• Staff provide an effective key-person system. Children form secure attachments to staff who get to know them well while they are in the setting. Staff recognise the importance of these relationships in supporting children's personal and emotional development. For instance, they ensure that key persons stay with their key children when they move from the toddler room to the pre-school room.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Staff form good relationships with parents from the start and work effectively with them to ensure children's individual needs are met. They provide regular feedback to parents on their child's progress, including information in children's home languages to help parents understand what children are learning. Staff provide opportunities for children to undertake learning at home, such as by sending home books and activities for children to complete with their parents.
• Leaders engage effectively with staff. They prioritise supporting staff's emotional health through various initiatives. For example, leaders employ a staff well-being officer who creates monthly newsletters for staff promoting positive mental health strategies. Staff participate in regular training to improve their knowledge and support the specific needs of children in the setting, including those with additional needs.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• refine adult-led activities to ensure tasks are more closely matched to children's next steps in development to support them to remain engaged in their learning
• ensure staff act promptly to reduce noise levels to help children hear others speaking and allow them to focus more readily.