Charles Booth Pre-School LTD

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children happily enter this inviting pre-school and quickly settle into the routines of the day. Staff welcome the children in a friendly way and encourage them to be physically active. They provide daily access to the large garden. Children learn to balance safely along planks and move across large stumps. They balance on the equipment and delight in taking risks as they jump off. Staff provide guidance and suggest they put their arms out to steady themselves. This helps to build children's confidence and strengthen their large muscles.

Children thoroughly enjoy splashing and jumping in muddy puddles. They scream with excitement as the water splashes their faces. Staff use this opportunity to introduce early mathematical language. They encourage children to make footprints. The children and staff compare the sizes of the different prints. Staff extend this learning as they suggest the children try making bicycle track prints and compare the different lengths.

Younger children develop the muscles in their hands to squirt water out of pipettes as they pretend to be firefighters. Staff demonstrate how to squeeze and aim the water at the toy fire engines. Older children use play dough to make hedgehogs. They manipulate the dough and use scissors to cut it. This helps to develop their small-muscle skills. Staff support children's good behaviour as they encourage them to share the different tools.

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

• The manager and staff team deliver a thoughtful curriculum. They build on what children know and can do and follow their interests. Older children show impressive early literacy and mathematical skills. They begin to make recognisable marks when drawing and follow their interests as they attempt to write their names. They confidently count out loud and use simple mathematical language in their play.
• Staff support children's communication and language development well. They promote good listening as they maintain eye contact and get down to children's level. Staff use clear explanations to help develop children's understanding. They hold conversations with children, such as talking about autumn and finding fir cones and conkers. However, sometimes staff overwhelm children as they ask several questions in quick succession and do not offer them time to think and respond.
• Staff generally plan a wide range of experiences to broaden children's learning and knowledge, such as growing fruit and vegetables in the pre-school allotment and visiting the forest school to make dens. However, they do not consistently ensure group activities capture each child's individual learning needs. As a result, some children struggle to join in and become disengaged.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well. The special educational needs coordinator closely monitors children who require extra support and implements individual learning strategies. She works with parents and outside agencies, such as the speech therapist, to help meet their individual needs.
• Staff ensure that parents feel included in their children's care and learning. Parents state they are particularly happy with the way staff communicate. They appreciate the guidance offered by the manager and her staff team. Parents report that they are well supported and like the ideas staff suggest to help their child's learning at home. For example, going on a nature walk and gathering fruit to make fruit crumble.
• Staff skilfully manage children's behaviour. They are calm and kind in their demeanour and encourage children to play cooperatively. For example, they talk about turn taking as they support children to build with blocks and play in the home corner. This helps to prepare children for their next stage of learning.
• Staff encourage children to be independent. Older children hang their bags on hooks, take their coats off and put their lunch boxes and water bottles in the correct place. Staff remind younger children of the routine and give good support, where necessary.
• Management provides staff with supervision and training as part of their professional development. Recently, some staff have attended training on sign language to help them further support children's communication and language skills. This has had a positive impact, as some children now use simple sign language as part of their communication skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to use consistent and effective questioning techniques to further extend children's critical thinking skills
• develop the planning and organisation of group activities, so that teaching is successfully adapted to maximise the learning opportunities for every child.