Cherry Blossom Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children, parents and visitors are greeted warmly at the door by friendly staff at this setting. Children enter happily and greet their friends eagerly. They develop strong relationships with staff. Children receive extensive praise and encouragement. Staff celebrate children's progress and successfully meet children's individual learning needs. They plan experiences and activities that allow children to learn new skills and that link to children's interests. For example, staff observed that children often choose to go into the role-play area. They have enhanced this area to better represent children's real-life experiences and home life. Children happily engage in pretend play, making cups of tea and putting the baby to bed.

Children have plenty of opportunities to develop their physical skills. For example, a large obstacle course, set up in the hall, enables children to practise moving in different ways. They weave in and out of poles, balance on beams and hop from block to block. This helps children develop their coordination and core muscles. Children are highly engaged during this activity. They use their imagination and say, 'The floor is water with sharks in. I need to balance. We are coming to save you.' Children work together as a team to save each other, laughing and giggling as they do so. Children are kind to each other and behave very well.

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

• The manager has developed an ambitious curriculum. She ensures this is well sequenced and builds on what children already know. She has worked well with her local authority adviser to enhance and develop this further. Staff have a clear focus on what they want children to learn. They ensure children's progress is ongoing and that children's interests are reflected in their planning.
• Children have plenty of opportunities to develop their self-help skills and be independent. Staff are good role models and gently reinforce good manners and good behaviour. For example, children clean the table and put away the plates after snack. Staff thank children for their help, and children beam with pride, eager to help further.
• Staff speak highly of the support they receive from the manager. The manager prioritises staff well-being, and morale is high. The manager monitors and supports her team well. She provides staff with regular feedback about their practice. However, staff do not always model language to children as well as they could to fully promote their communication and language development. The manager recognises that ongoing coaching would support staff to develop children's speaking skills further.
• Staff know what children enjoy and celebrate their achievements. However, staff do not fully ensure that the curriculum consistently supports children to learn about their diverse cultural backgrounds. Children would benefit from further opportunities to understand about similarities and differences.
• The manager self-evaluates her provision well. She has reflected on the environment to better support the learning needs of children. However, the outside area does not offer the same quality of experience as inside. Children are not consistently provided with the same wide range of learning opportunities. This means that those children who prefer to learn outside are not always fully challenged.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make good progress in their learning. The staff and manager work well with external professionals. They tailor support for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children. Additional funding is used appropriately for their needs.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Staff work closely with parents and keep them fully informed about their children's learning and development. Parents are highly complimentary about the setting. The manager plans family activities to involve parents further in the setting, for example holding soup and song sessions at the nearby church.
• Staff use a range of effective teaching techniques to extend children's mathematical development. For example, staff introduce positional language with younger children during play. Children learn when animals are 'next to' or 'behind' each other. Older children learn to match numerals and quantities during group circle time.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance opportunities for children to celebrate their cultural heritage further and enable all children to learn more about similarities and differences
• build on staff's skills and knowledge of how to model language consistently, to support children's communication and language and develop their vocabulary even further
• enhance the curriculum outside to increase learning opportunities and provide children with richer learning experiences.