Clocktower House Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and well cared for at this setting. Leaders are striving for improvement and have prioritised developments with a new staff team effectively. Although the majority of staff are relatively new to the setting, they are already working cohesively. They communicate well, which in turn benefits the children. Staff get to know their key children quickly, and they hold regular room meetings to talk about each child's needs. This means that all staff have a shared knowledge of each child, which helps them to support children's learning effectively. The environment is calm but busy, and the children are kept safe, such as when staff move children to the outdoor area and back again.

The majority of families come from military backgrounds, as do some staff. This means that staff have a good understanding of the differing needs of these families. The recruitment of staff who speak some of the children's home languages also enables staff to provide additional support. Staff help children to develop positive relationships with others. They support children through everyday experiences and planned activities to develop skills such as sharing and turn taking.

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

• The nominated individual and new manager are working well together to make positive changes to the pre-school. The manager holds regular supervision meetings to ensure that staff feel well supported and to monitor their well-being. Staff comment that they feel valued and respected and understand their roles and responsibilities.
• Staff provide children with a familiar routine and boundaries, which helps children to feel safe and secure. Each morning, children sit down for circle time and confidently sing the 'how are you' song with their friends. Staff encourage older children to talk about emotions and how they are feeling. Children place their picture on the wall to show whether they are feeling 'happy', 'calm' or 'sad'. They use good vocabulary to tell staff why they are feeling that way.
• Staff know their key children well and plan activities based on their interests. They understand the curriculum and what children need to achieve before they move on to their next stage of learning. However, staff do not plan as well for the outdoor learning environment as they do the inside environment. They do not plan targeted learning opportunities for their key children outside, and some areas outside, such as the 'burrow', are not being utilised to help children learn about their environment.
• When children do play outside, they have fun whatever the weather. Children show independence as they put on their own coats and wellingtons, and they squeal with delight as they jump up and down in puddles in the rain. Children develop their physical skills by, for example, running, manoeuvring ride-on toys and spinning themselves around on spinners.
• Staff ensure that children have access to healthy food. For example, children enjoy fresh fruit for snack, and staff support parents to include health food in their children's lunchboxes. Healthy practices are further developed as children wash their hands before eating. Children learn about caring for animals as they help to look after the pre-school's pets, including guinea pigs and a giant African land snail.
• Children are confident and happily approach visitors to engage them in their play. Staff support children to practise their social skills, such as listening, sharing and turn taking. For example, staff remind children when playing a game of snakes and ladders that they must wait for their friend to have a turn.
• The new manager is keen to develop a good partnership with parents. For instance, she is planning for a stay-and-play session at Christmas, where parents can paint decorations with their children. Parents comment that staff are very loving and that their children do not want to leave. However, parents are not always given detailed information about the progress their children are making in their development, and they are not given ideas about how they can support their children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop the curriculum for the outdoor area to provide more varied and targeted learning experiences for children, particularly those children who prefer to learn outdoors
• build on partnerships with parents so that they are given a more precise picture of the progress children are making in their learning and how they can help guide and support their children's learning at home.