Cox Green Community Centre Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily, separate well from parents and carers, and settle quickly to the wide variety of activities in the pre-school. They seek out their friends and key person to join them in their play. Staff facilitate free-flow play throughout the session between the indoor and outdoor spaces. This enables children to make choices about where to play. Children ask staff to join them at activities, such as using the dough to make imaginary pizzas. Staff follow children's interests and support this request. Staff talk to children about things that interest them, such as characters from 'Frozen' or the planets. They encourage back-and-forth conversations. This ensures that children feel listened to and know staff value their contributions. Children are very keen to join in with activities and experiences and to have a go. For example, they enjoy being creative with the paint dabbers at the easel.

Leaders have developed a suitable curriculum for children based on planning in the moment. They provide a continuous curriculum which they then add enhancements to. These are based on children's current learning and interests and what leaders would like them to learn next. Staff have high expectations for children and interact with them effectively to extend their learning. This ensures that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress in their learning.

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

• Leaders are very reflective and have an appropriate action plan in place. This helps them to continue to provide the best possible environment and learning for the children in their care. Leaders and staff review the enhancements to children's play each day and use this to inform their planning for the following day. This enables them to ensure the curriculum remains current and relevant.
• Staff know and understand the learning intentions for different continuous provision and how to enhance and differentiate learning for children of different abilities. They are a key part in children's learning through their role modelling. Key people gather starting point information from parents when children first start. This is then used alongside what staff have observed children are interested in to decide on what they need to learn next. This helps staff to identify any gaps in children's development and plan to ensure these gaps close and children make the best possible progress.
• Leaders receive effective support from the management committee, who maintain a good oversight of the pre-school. The long-standing staff team works well together. It communicates effectively throughout the day to ensure children's needs are met and that staff deployment is effective. Leaders and staff attend regular training to support them in their roles; this includes termly inset days. This helps to improve their knowledge, skills and practice.
• Staff plan to support children to be ready for school. They aim for children to leave pre-school as secure individuals who can build relationships and attachments and be able to do things for themselves. However, staff do not consistently recognise when to encourage children to do things for themselves. They put children's coats on their pegs for them and wipe their noses. This does not fully support children to practise their own independence skills.
• Leaders and staff prioritise the development of children's communication and language. They introduce lots of new vocabulary in activities. For instance, during ice play, children learn the words 'igloo' and 'melting'. Through the story of the week, they learn 'brave' and 'trunk'. Staff also offer suitable support for children who speak English as an additional language. They ask parents for key words and their pronunciation so these can be used in pre-school. However, on occasion, when asking children questions, staff do not give children the time they need to think and respond. Nonetheless, children communicate well and share their wants and needs.
• Children behave well. Staff support conflict resolution by getting on the children's level and talking to all children about what is happening. They also talk about how the children involved are feeling and how they might resolve the situation. This works towards children learning to resolve conflict for themselves. Children are kind; they share resources with their friends. Staff encourage children to use good manners, such as when requesting a drink of milk at snack time. This supports children to develop good social skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consistently recognise when children can attempt to do things more for themselves, to support children's developing independence skills further, particularly in relation to their self-care
• enhance staff's teaching strategies to ensure they consistently allow children time to think and respond to questions.