Childville Pre School @ Thamesview Community Hall

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff greet children warmly as they arrive in the morning and find their names to self-register. Children separate quickly from their parents and happily start making choices about their play. Staff continue to offer children choices throughout the day. For example, children choose which book they would like to read together and select from a range of healthy foods when they are hungry. This gives children a sense of control over their day and helps them to develop their independence.

Staff have embedded the rules of the setting and actively teach children how to take turns. For example, they support children to line up toy cars, taking turns to add a car at a time. Staff quickly deal with children who struggle to regulate their behaviour. They get down to children's level and calmly support them to resolve minor conflicts, particularly around sharing. Staff also embed routines and put strategies in place to support children through transition points. This contributes to a calm and purposeful environment in which children show enjoyment as they engage in child-led play.

Leaders and staff are clear about what they want children to learn and put an appropriate focus on building children's speaking and listening skills. Overall, leaders have introduced strategies to support children with a delay in their language to make rapid progress. For example, staff skilfully lead attention-building activities and use visual prompts to help children to communicate. This supports all children to develop the skills required to be ready for their next stage of learning.

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

• Leaders ensure that the learning environment feels warm and welcoming. Staff are deployed effectively to give children the choice of playing inside or outside. Children benefit from regular access to a spacious garden which staff use to provide opportunities for children's physical and active learning. However, the nappy changing area is not suitable to ensure children and staff are comfortable during this care routine.
• Staff are knowledgeable about how young children learn and plan activities with a clear learning intent. For example, they take children outside to participate in a pretend bear hunt, linked to the book they are sharing. Staff lead this storytelling activity with energy and pace. However, some children miss out on this rich learning, as staff allow them to choose not to participate. This also disrupts the learning for others.
• Staff skilfully engage with children during child-led learning. They constantly model vocabulary and ask questions to promote thought and conversation. Staff also bring mathematical language into children's play. For example, they model the language of capacity while children scoop rice and lentils into different containers. However, on occasion, staff do not model the correct spoken English and some children's speech errors go unnoticed.
• Staff know their key children well and can talk about individual strengths, interests and next steps in learning. Interactions between staff and children are consistently warm and supportive. This helps children to feel safe and secure. Staff always listen and respond to children, and offer lots of praise. This supports children's personal development and emotional well-being.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is passionate about her role. She works with staff to identify children's emerging needs and is quick to discuss these with parents. The SENCo works well with other professionals, such as speech and language therapists, to ensure that they are working towards shared goals for children. There are effective strategies in place to include and support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), who make excellent progress over time.
• Staff teach children about a range of festivals throughout the year. They invite parents in to share information about their cultural backgrounds. For example, children learn about Diwali and sing songs together about Diwali lights. This supports children to learn about other cultures and religions, and to feel represented and valued.
• The manager is passionate about her role. She is reflective about the setting and has plans in place to make further improvements. The manager makes good use of staff supervision sessions to identify training needs for individual staff. Staff comment that they feel very well supported and enjoy being part of a kind and friendly team.
• Leaders ensure that parents get regular feedback about their children's care and development. For example, they share and discuss their regular assessments of children's development with parents. Parents comment on the significant progress their children make, particularly in their language development and social skills. They add that their children are very happy at this setting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure the nappy changing facilities are suitable to meet the needs of children and staff during this care routine
• consider the organisation of adult-led sessions to support all children to participate and benefit from the learning
• support staff to model the correct spoken English to enhance children's language skills further.