Clanfield Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, confident and excited to start the day as soon as they arrive at the pre-school. Staff support children to develop their independence by encouraging them to do things for themselves. For example, children enjoy pouring their drinks and helping to prepare food for snack time. Staff plan a wide range of interesting and engaging activities throughout the indoor and outdoor spaces to support children's development across all areas of learning. Children behave very well. They enjoy playing together cooperatively and support each other to share the resources. Staff teach children to understand expectations for behaviour and the importance of being kind to each other.

Staff have high expectations for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and those who speak English as an additional language. They are committed to ensuring all children have the same opportunities to learn. As a result, children with delays in their speech development make good progress from their starting points and are becoming confident communicators.

Staff build effective partnerships with parents and families. They encourage regular communication so that children's care and development are well supported. They ensure that children's routines at home are closely mirrored to support their emotional well-being. Children's achievements both at the pre-school and at home are celebrated with enthusiasm, which helps children to gain a sense of pride in their successes.

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

• Staff place a strong focus on building children's confidence, and social skills in readiness for their move to school. They regularly assess children's progress and are clear about what children need to achieve next to move on to the next stage in their learning. As a result, all children make good progress.
• Staff foster children's curiosity by regularly making enhancements to the activities and resources on offer. For example, by creating a calming sensory house, and adding ice to the water tray, where children can use different tools to break down the ice and explore the animals hiding inside.
• The curriculum for communication and language is structured to expose children to new vocabulary as they play and learn. As a result, children learn and use mathematical language as they explore capacity and volume when transferring coloured rice into different containers. Staff encourage younger children to follow simple instructions, while older children engage in discussions about the life cycle of a butterfly.
• Staff provide a variety of stimulating and engaging activities for children to choose from. They take account of children's interests and what they need to learn next when planning activities and organising the environment. They interact readily with children as they play alongside them to support their learning. However, there are times when staff do not make the most all opportunities to extend children's learning and ensure that they benefit fully from the intended learning.
• Leaders and staff plan a wide range of activities, which help children to gain an understanding of the world around them. Children benefit from regular forest school sessions, where they explore and learn about the natural environment. They help to care for chicks when they hatch from eggs, and caterpillars, watching them gradually transform into butterflies.
• The pre-school staff work positively with parents and other agencies to ensure that children with SEND, and gaps in their learning, are identified and supported at the earliest opportunity. Leaders are passionate about supporting these children to make good progress in their learning. They proactively identify and source training opportunities to enhance staff knowledge and practice, such as by providing Makaton training.
• Staff feel well supported in their role and report that they are able to access a range of opportunities for their professional development. Leaders and staff are highly reflective and work together to identify training, which will further enhance the quality of education provided and the curriculum they offer to children.
• Children start and end sessions as a whole group, providing opportunities to share experiences and and celebrate achievements with their peers. Staff encourage children to choose their favourite stories during story time activities. Children enjoy shared stories connected to current topical activities, such as butterflies and 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. Older children demonstrate enthusiasm in expressing their thoughts and ideas. However, some younger children experience difficulty maintaining attention during extended large-group sessions, which impacts on their engagement and concentration.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the organisation of group activities to ensure that all children are consistently engaged and focused in the learning opportunities provided
• enhance the quality of teaching even further to support staff to make the most of all opportunities to extend children's learning and to ensure children consistently benefit from the intended learning.