Congresbury Community Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a welcoming environment that sparks children's curiosity and desire to explore. For example, young children discover that they can see things close or far away depending on which end of the binoculars they look through. Children arrive happy and settle quickly because they feel physically and emotionally secure. The curriculum is ambitious and varied. Children who prefer to learn outdoors have lots of opportunities to use the well-planned gardens, where they develop control and coordination and a love of nature.

Children have a positive attitude to learning because the enthusiastic staff know how to engage them successfully in their play. For example, older children eagerly answer questions and provide descriptions to help staff guess the toy animal on their head. Children learn from each other as staff adapt the questions for more able children, who demonstrate their understanding of habitats and the food animals eat. Children behave well, take turns and are clearly excited when it is their turn to guess.

Staff know the children well. They also build successful relationships with parents and carers from the start. This enables them to have a firm understanding of what each child can do and what they need to be learning next.

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

• Leaders have empowered staff successfully to focus on meaningful observations of the children. This enables them to know what fascinates children. They use this information to develop their knowledge and skills and to quickly identify children's next stages of learning and any gaps in their development. Leaders ensure the appropriate use of government funding. Along with those responsible for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, they ensure all children have full access to the curriculum.
• Staff focus effectively on embedding children's prime areas of development to underpin all other learning. They engage children of all ages in discussions to extend their language skills and knowledge. For example, older children learn that lion's hair is called a mane. Young children have lots of opportunities for repetition, so they enthusiastically join in with action songs and concentrate extremely well as they eagerly wait to see 'what's in the box?' However, on occasions, staff do not make full use of children's play to encourage them to use numbers.
• Children behave well and have lovely relationships with the staff, who provide sensitive support if children find it hard to regulate their emotions. Staff engage effectively in children's chosen activities and play. They are good role models, sometimes getting things wrong for children to correct them or to show how they occasionally need help from others to complete a task. Children are proud of their achievements and are heard to praise each other, such as when balancing on a plank between crates and using a water-butt to collect water.
• Children become increasingly independent in managing their personal care. They learn to put on wet-weather gear and know where to store their wellies. Children become resilient as they persevere with any difficulties they encounter, sensitively supported by staff. Children of all ages help to cut up fruit for snack. However, staff do not always encourage older children to do as much as they can for themselves at mealtimes to challenge them further.
• Staff provide good care practices to promote children's health. They help children to develop an important understanding of healthy eating through discussions and fun games, embedding this in their role play. Children access drinking water indoors and outdoors to keep hydrated. Staff are currently planning more ways to extend children's awareness of caring for their teeth.
• Leaders and staff evaluate their setting effectively, identifying where to focus any actions to have the most impact on children's development and welfare. For example, they now have a sandpit under cover to use all year around and have developed cosy areas for reading. Two staff have had training to provide forest school activities to enable children to manage appropriate risks and extend their understanding and enthusiasm for the outdoors.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• focus staff development on extending ways to challenge older children in their independence at mealtimes and supporting younger children's use of numbers in their play.