Church Gresley Playgroup T/A Church Gresley Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are able to move about the pre-school freely. They choose from a wide range of different activities that have been set out thoughtfully by staff based on their interests. Children enjoy dressing up in different costumes and use their imaginations as they pretend to be their favourite superheroes.

Children are encouraged by staff to take part in activities that help them to progress their learning. Older children learn to play picture dominoes. Staff explain to the children that the idea of the game is to match the pictures. Children learn how to play together and take turns.

Children of all ages are learning to appreciate and enjoy books. Staff enthusiastically read a story about rainbows to children in a small group. Children listen carefully and name the different colours that they see. Older children spend time with staff, looking through a book about animals from different countries. They talk about which animals live in the ocean and which live in the desert. Staff ask questions to spark children's interest. This helps children expand their language skills and their understanding of the world.

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

• Managers have a strong vision of what they want children to experience and learn at pre-school. They support staff to plan activities that are focused on enabling children to progress well in each of the areas of learning. Managers complete annual appraisals of staff and use informal opportunities to talk about the support and development of children. However, they do not always provide regular supervision and coaching to discuss ways of continually improving staff practice.
• Staff provide a quieter area at one end of the pre-school for younger children, where they enjoy making marks on a magic water mat as they learn to hold a pen. Staff share picture books with younger children and ask, 'can you point to the apple?' and 'what colour is the apple?' This helps children to develop their language skills and to begin to recognise colours.
• Children learn about numbers and mathematical ideas throughout pre-school. Staff provide lots of opportunities in the day to count with children. For example, they use a tape measure to measure the length of children's feet and ask, 'who's feet are the longest?'
• Staff generally support children to settle quickly into their chosen activity. However, staff do not manage changes to daily routines sufficiently well, particularly around mealtimes. Staff focus on clearing the tables after lunch, leaving children to return to the messy play areas, which have not been tidied after the morning session. This results in children struggling to re-engage in their play as they start the afternoon session.
• Children benefit from fresh air and exercise. During time outside, older children work together to build an obstacle course. Staff help them to develop their physical skills as they support the children to balance, hop and jump through the different sections they have put together.
• Staff enable children of all ages to develop increasing independence and support older children to prepare for their transition to school. Staff have a strong relationship with local schools and engage school teachers in pre-school during the summer term so they can get to know the children before they start school.
• Staff know the children well. They carry out observations and assess what each child knows and can do. Staff identify those children who may need additional support and work well with parents to ensure that appropriate help is accessed as soon as possible. They provide small-group activities for children who need extra support to help them with their speaking skills.
• Children behave well. Staff encourage children and praise them when they share. They remind children to use kind hands and to be kind to their friends.
• Staff enable children to reflect on their differences and understand what makes them unique. They provide books that celebrate different cultures, and children enjoy tasting foods from around the world.
• Parents say their children are happy attending pre-school. They appreciate the information staff share about their children's progress and what they need to learn next.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the organisation of lunchtime routines to enable children to settle more quickly into play and learning after the lunchtime period
• focus more precisely on the professional development of staff to strengthen the quality of teaching.