Creech St Michael Community Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily at the pre-school, where friendly staff provide them with a warm welcome. Children separate from their parents with ease. Parents comment positively about the nursery and its staff.

Children show high levels of engagement in the well-resourced outdoor area. Children enthusiastically create concoctions, mixing porridge oats with hand-picked herbs. Children are considerate of one another. They take turns well, sharing out the water to make sure everyone who wants some gets some. Children take great pleasure in calling out when 'it's ready'.

There is a good link with the adjoining primary school. Children show respect as they walk to and from the school to use the hall. Visits to the school contribute towards making the transition for those children who go onto attend the primary school seamless.

Staff carefully plan to make sure they cover all areas of learning and development for children. Children repeat activities to practise and embed knowledge and skills. Children show confidence in asking staff for help. Children's free play is interrupted frequently. Adopted strategies, such as a sand timer, are not used consistently to support children to move on from one activity to the next. However, children are always keen to have a go and show perseverance. Children revel in their achievements and enjoy the well-deserved praise they receive from caring staff.

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

• Children know the daily routine and are met with readily accessible toys and resources, both indoors and outdoors.
• Staff plan carefully with a curriculum that covers all areas of development. Staff plan activities around the children's interests. They adapt this to meet the ever-changing interests of children. Staff make regular observations and evaluate activities to monitor children's progress. Staff share newsletters to ensure parents are kept up to date with what their children are learning.
• As children play and learn, they share and cooperate. Children play together and on their own with seashells to develop new ideas.
• Staff recognise when children may need extra help. They work in partnership with external agencies to support children to achieve well. Staff use a bucket full of interesting toys to gain the shared attention of the children.
• Children spend a lot of time doing what adults tell them; however, staff do not explain what they want children to do.
• Staff do not plan periods of routine, such as handwashing and mealtimes, as well as they could. Children tend to spend a long time waiting. Children can lose concentration and participate in undesirable behaviours, such as climbing on chairs, running indoors and banging on tables.
• Staff encourage children to develop a love of books. They read regularly to children throughout the day. Children are keen to have stories read to them, listening intently, and they lean in to open flaps and turn pages.
• Skilled staff model tasks for children, use one-word prompts, such as 'look' and 'listen', when children need help to focus on the task at hand, and encourage children to have a go. Staff praise children and help them to understand their own feelings and emotions by talking to them about feelings of pride when they succeed.
• Staff and managers are responsive to any accidents that occur, and they risk assess appropriately.
• Children show motivation to learn, as they independently access and sit on their mats ready for morning registration.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the way staff implement behaviour strategies to better support children to understand what is expected of them and when
• improve the training focus to gain the knowledge and skills staff need to teach children in an age-appropriate way
• improve communication between staff when there are changes in routine so that everyone knows what to do.