Charnwood Pre-school & Out of School Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children happily arrive at the setting and separate from their parents or carers with ease. They are confident to explore the environment and choose resources independently. Children use rackets and balls to develop their hand-eye coordination. Staff show children how to throw balls into a hoop and develop their gross motor skills. Children enjoy a variety of mark-making activities. They show their creativity by using a selection of coloured pencils to draw around real fruit, such as bananas and pears. Children build on prior learning and show a love of nature. They learn about different birds as they refill the setting's bird feeder with sunflower seeds and mealworms. Children talk about robins and blue tits. Children are highly engaged in the learning activities provided for them. They particularly enjoy showing their imagination with the different role-play areas on offer. Children enjoy making 'nature soup' in the outdoor kitchen.

Pre-school children confidently talk to visitors about their experiences and what they like to do with their friends. They join in with familiar songs and actions when staff sing with them. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress from their starting points. Staff have detailed knowledge of their key children's needs. They quickly respond to children who need support and engage them in activities they enjoy.

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

• Leaders have an ambitious curriculum in place that is coherently planned and well sequenced. Staff build on what children already know and support older children to become independent. At mealtimes, the children use knives and forks well and pour their drinks from a jug. Staff teach children how to use more complex equipment safely, such as a pencil sharpener. This prepares children well for starting school.
• Staff promote a love of reading and embed this into the curriculum. Children gather around adults and listen intently to stories. Staff encourage children to celebrate their differences through their book of the term, 'I Like Myself'. They discuss their diversity and what makes them unique.
• Physical development is well promoted throughout the setting. Staff understand the importance of children building physical strength before starting school. Pre-school children have the opportunity to attend forest school. This helps them to learn about the world around them and develop their large-muscle skills. Younger children visit local parks while on a nature walk. This builds their stamina and prepares them for attending forest school.
• The manager has effective arrangements in place to support children with SEND and those who speak English as an additional language. Staff use simple sign language to help ensure that all children are included in activities. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) creates targeted plans for children with SEND, which ensures that staff know how to support each child. This ensures that all children make progress from their starting point.
• Staff take children on a 'listening walk', which helps children to understand road safety and develop their communication and language. Staff encourage children to listen to the sounds they can hear, such as birds, cars and trains. Children know to 'stop, look and listen' when crossing the road. Staff introduce new vocabulary, such as 'traffic', 'reversing' and 'indicating'. Children behave well and respect each other and the staff.
• Staff introduce mathematical concepts, such as balancing, to children. Children use wooden blocks to build a bridge for the bears to cross the river. Staff introduce vocabulary of size, such as bigger and smaller. However, some staff occasionally ask children lots of questions in quick succession. Consequently, children struggle to process these quickly enough and find them difficult to answer.
• Parents talk about how supportive the staff are. They feel that they receive lots of communication about their child's progress and praise the friendly staff.
• Staff generally encourage children to take care of their personal needs. They support them as they undo buttons on their cardigans. However, children do not always learn good hygiene practices. Staff often step in and wipe their noses for them. Furthermore, staff do not always wash their hands after wiping children's noses or encourage children to wash their own hands.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• coach staff to consistently use questioning techniques more precisely to allow children enough time to think and respond to questions
• support staff to consistently teach and remind children of the importance of good hygiene practices and managing their own personal hygiene, such as wiping their nose.