Crafty Wizards Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are incredibly content and highly enthusiastic in this nurturing pre-school. They are greeted by attentive and caring staff, who support them to settle. As a result, children quickly develop the confidence to leave their parents and carers. Children demonstrate secure attachments to familiar adults and display a strong sense of belonging in the pre-school.

Experienced and highly skilled staff have developed a bespoke curriculum. They carefully consider and choose a range of resources and activities that are organised with clear intent for children's learning. Children display high levels of curiosity and a sense of wonder in this stimulating environment. For example, they carefully use magnifying glasses to look for worms in their wormery and creatures in the garden. Children say, 'Worms are everywhere!' Children also shriek with delight when they find a snail in the garden. Children's behaviour is exemplary.

All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), flourish due to staff's strong commitment to inclusion, which is at the heart of the ethos of the pre-school. Staff forge extremely effective relationships with parents and other professionals to swiftly identify children's needs. This means that the support required to help children to make the best progress is quickly put in place. This contributes to children being exceptionally well prepared for their next stage of learning.

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

• Children demonstrate excellent independence. Staff value and praise children's efforts to build on their self-care skills and only offer support when needed. Consequently, this supports children in developing resilience and perseverance to succeed with tasks unaided.
• There is a strong focus on enhancing children's experiences to help overcome the adverse impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on their development. For example, children benefit immensely from opportunities to learn about their local community. They have weekly forest school sessions and regularly visit their allotment to tend the plants and vegetables. This builds on children's understanding of the world and provides experiences that some children have not experienced because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Children with SEND thrive in this outstanding pre-school. They benefit immensely from a devoted and passionate special educational needs coordinator (SENCo), who is an advocate for children with SEND. Staff ensure that vulnerable children and those from disadvantaged backgrounds receive timely and tailored interventions. This enables all children to access a well-thought-out curriculum and make exceptional progress.
• The highly qualified and experienced leaders are committed to maintaining the highest levels of staff's skills. Consequently, they invest in training and mentoring to support staff's continued professional development. This helps to ensure that the team provides children with exceptional care and learning experiences.
• Partnership with parents is fantastic. Parents speak highly of the pre-school and say that their children have made excellent progress from their starting points in learning. They praise staff for their kindness and dedication. Staff keep parents fully updated about their children's learning and development through daily feedback and secure online platforms. Furthermore, staff support families in various ways to continue children's learning at home. For instance, families are provided with targeted resource bags to promote children's learning at home, which helps children to reach their full potential.
• Staff are highly effective at promoting healthy lifestyles to children. The pre-school participates in a regional scheme and has achieved a bronze award in recognition of their excellent support for children's health. Children benefit from excellent opportunities to access fresh air and play outdoors daily. In addition, parents are encouraged to make healthy choices for their children when providing packed lunches. Children learn about the link between healthy food and the impact on their bodies. For example, they know what foods are good for them to help them grow strong and healthy.
• Children's communication and language are a priority at this pre-school. Staff routinely use sign language and visual prompts to engage all children, including those who speak English as an additional language. Staff create an inspiring language-rich environment, indoors and outdoors. Children have lots of opportunities to read, write, sing songs and enjoy stories throughout the day. This contributes to children becoming capable and confident communicators.
• Staff are exceptionally mindful of events in children's lives and how these can impact children's emotional well-being and development. For example, children self-register by identifying their feelings and placing their names on the feelings board to communicate how they feel each day. This gives staff the opportunity to support children's social and emotional development. In turn, children begin to build an understanding of their feelings and emotions.