Charnock Richard Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy. Staff know their children and families well and are very much part of the community. Children come in happily and are greeted by staff, who are genuinely interested in news from home. Children behave well, are kind to each other and respond respectfully to each other and to staff.

Children choose to engage in a broad range of suitably resourced activities. For example, children role play in the Chinese takeaway set up as part of a celebration of the Lunar New Year. Children choose from a menu, make pretend food and are asked to pay for it. They learn about people in their community and also about numbers and money. Children develop their physical skills, both indoors and outdoors, exploring concepts such as 'over' and 'under' and learning how to safely use steps and climb over apparatus.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, staff altered the routine at the start of the day so that parents were welcomed at the door with their child and did not routinely enter the classrooms. Staff observed that this actually improved the quality of the communication with parents and reduced any anxiety or emotional stress for children finding the transition to pre-school difficult. After consultation with parents, they have continued this practice and feel this is still beneficial.

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

• Staff have strong and meaningful relationships with parents, offering support and guidance where needed. Parents feel fully informed about their child's learning and confidently talk about the progress their child is making in both their emotional and educational development. They comment that staff are 'amazing' and 'go above and beyond'.
• Older children happily sit down to listen to the story of the week, 'Peter Rabbit'. They are invited to recall what they know about the story and then talk about the animals in it. This gives children the chance to revisit and reinforce the knowledge they have gained. However, at times, staff do not always give children enough time to think about and respond to the questions asked.
• Staff and managers work well with outside agencies to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. For example, they regularly work with speech therapists, specialist teachers and nursery staff to review children's needs in cooperation with parents and then plan activities that will help their progress. As a result, children are now ready for the next stage in their education, and parents are fully engaged in helping them make that next step.
• Children are encouraged to explore and express their creativity by singing familiar songs, such as 'Old McDonald'. They choose the animals they want to sing about and enjoy making up the sounds they think the animal should make.
• Staff celebrate the children's creativity, which helps them to grow in confidence.
• Staff accurately monitor and assess children's learning and can therefore decide what they want children to learn next. They then provide a range of suitable activities to support this, such as modelling language while playing with toy cars or in the water tray, which helps to support speech development. However, staff do not always focus sufficiently on the intended outcome, as they do not wait for children to respond or practise their speech.
• Staff provide a wide variety of activities that help to support children's developing small-muscle skills. Children pick up noodles with tongs and decorate cards and menus with small decorations, which they carefully glue and stick.
• Staff help children to learn about keeping themselves healthy by promoting good hygiene and healthy food choices during snack and lunchtimes. They also talk with the children about why this is important. Children confidently state that they need to wash their hands in order to keep germs away from their food.
• Managers and leaders are fully engaged with the entire staff team. They identify training needs, ensuring all staff are suitable and that they have opportunities to discuss their own development and well-being. This helps staff to feel valued and work enthusiastically to provide a rewarding experience for parents and children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to ensure that activities provided are more sharply focused on what they want children to learn next
• encourage and support staff to know when to allow children time to think about and respond to the questions they are being asked.