Clyst Valley Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children happily and confidently enter the pre-school, keen to explore the inviting activities available to them. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress. Outside, children use their physical skills to mark out a pretend road on the floor and then ride their bicycles around it. Adult-led activities, such as yoga, help children to develop core strength and an awareness of their body. They develop their concentration skills as they balance and focus on specific poses.

Children have a good understanding of routines. They know to stop and listen when staff ring a small bell. Children gather quietly together for 'circle time', where staff talk to them about the days of the week and the seasons. Children learn to be independent. They place their artwork in their designated trays and freely access resources, such as the decorations to hang on the Christmas tree. Children confidently work together as they add tinsel and baubles to the tree.

Children have good opportunities to develop their early reading skills. Staff read stories to them twice a day as part of a structured routine and children independently snuggle up with a book on cushions after lunch. Each child has their own book bag, which they can use to take home a story of their choice to share with family members.

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

• Leaders and staff have made improvements since the last inspection. Teaching meets children's individual needs, helping them to build on what they already know and can do. Children with developmental delays and SEND have their specific needs met through a range of effective strategies. A buddy key-person system and effective partnership working enable staff to share information about children consistently. Leaders have organised specialist training to ensure that all staff implement the curriculum as well as possible to benefit children's development.
• Children develop good hand-to-eye coordination as they manipulate tweezers to pick up pom-poms and place them on numbered foam Christmas trees. Younger children begin to count accurately and use their fingers to represent numerals. Older children confidently recognise numbers from 1 to 10 and place the correct number of pom-poms on each tree. However, children sometimes find the activity easy and staff do not always help them to expand their knowledge even further to enhance their mathematical skills.
• Parents speak highly of the pre-school. They say staff share regular information with them about their child's learning. Parents talk about how the pre-school's social media sites and noticeboard provide them with the knowledge of what activities children will be enjoying. They comment how staff are friendly, approachable and supportive to them as a family.
• Overall, children develop good language skills. Staff play games with children, where they guess the object wrapped up in tinfoil. Children use their senses to work out what the items are using descriptive words, such as 'hard' or 'bendy'. However, at lunchtime, interactions are less frequent as staff sit on a separate table to the children. During these times, staff do not always extend children's communication skills as well as possible.
• Children learn about the world around them. Staff set up a winter scene with toy polar bears and penguins. They talk to children about the North Pole and the South Pole and animal habitats. Children learn about hibernation and the changing of seasons.
• Staff help children to learn about feelings, such as through specific stories. Children talk about what makes them happy, sad and angry. All children, including those with SEND, use visual aids to communicate their emotions. Staff support the children warmly and encourage them to express their emotions positively.
• The pre-school is making changes to help families become more 'eco-friendly', such as reducing waste that is harmful to the environment. Staff encourage parents to use tinfoil instead of clingfilm and non-processed packaging. Children learn how to reuse items and about recycling.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop mathematical activities even further to ensure older children have sufficient challenge
• provide further opportunities for children to extend their language development, particularly during mealtimes, to support their communication skills.