Church Lane Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are eager to come into the pre-school and confidently say goodbye to their parents. They quickly become engaged in play with the support of the caring staff, who welcome them warmly. Staff know children well, including the children who need more support to regulate their emotions. They teach children ways to calm themselves, such as taking deep breaths, and then talking to staff about how they are feeling.

Children behave very well and become deeply engrossed in their play. They are eager to join in with activities offered by staff, and to explore the outside space with their friends. Children enthusiastically share their ideas and work together to achieve their goals. For example, children work together to fill kitchen pots with water, telling each other to stop pouring when there is enough, and negotiating who will pour next.

Staff provide a wide range of learning opportunities, both indoors and outdoors, which supports children's development. Staff plan these high-quality opportunities around children's identified developmental needs and interests. This ensures that the learning is ambitious for all children, and children continue to build on their skills. For example, staff identify children's interest in building with construction toys and use this to develop children's physical skills and mathematical language.

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

• Staff know the children well and plan opportunities that will engage children's interest and encourage their imagination. This motivates children to join in and learn from activities that they enjoy. For example, staff provide toy minibeasts frozen in ice and encourage children to explore how to melt the ice to free the beasts. Staff talk to children about the temperature of the water they are adding and the properties of different things they are playing with. This develops children's understanding of the effect of their actions as they cause the ice to melt.
• Staff introduce children to a wide range of vocabulary through their play and through the use of stories and songs. However, at times, staff use a lot of closed questions, which do not give children the opportunity to practise the new vocabulary they are learning or encourage them to think creatively.
• Children enthusiastically climb the lower branches of trees in the outside space, confidently negotiating the branches. Staff supervise children while teaching them to keep themselves safe when climbing. This helps children to learn about their own safety and develop their physical skills, such as balance and climbing.
• Staff encourage children to be independent in doing things for themselves, for example going to the toilet and washing their hands independently as soon as they are able to do so. This supports the development of children's self-care skills and independence, preparing them for moving on to school.
• Children are familiar with the routine of the setting and confidently follow instructions from staff. Children anticipate parts of the routine such as tidying away for lunch and ask if they can help staff with jobs like cleaning the tables. This helps children to feel they belong and are part of the pre-school.
• Staff have positive links with other settings that children attend and with local schools. They work with other professionals to support children's learning and development and to prepare children to move on to the next stage of their education.
• Parents are very positive about the pre-school. They value the communication from staff about their child's day and the updates they receive on how their child is developing. This supports good links between the pre-school and parents.
• Leaders keep their knowledge up to date with the latest developments, for example looking at upcoming changes to safeguarding practice and reflecting this in their practice.
• Staff attend training to develop their skills and knowledge. For example, following training in using sign language with children, staff use signing during group times to help children's understanding and communication.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• use open-ended questions more consistently, to extend children's thinking and encourage them to use a wide range of vocabulary.