Cromer Pre-School Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at the pre-school. They arrive excitedly and leave their parents with ease. Children are independent as they place their lunch box on the trolley and eagerly find their own coat peg. Children have formed close bonds with their key person and the wider team. Babies settle quickly, as nurturing staff provide a cosy and homely environment. They are attentive, offering cuddles and reassurance, and ensure their individual routines are followed. Older children make friends and enjoy one another's company, chatting as they play together.

Children are eager to investigate the activities provided. Older children create musical shakers. They carefully pick up sequins, pom-poms and dried pasta to insert into the bottle. They use new skills they have learned to snip paper with the scissors to make patterns. This helps them to develop the small muscles in their hands in preparation for writing. Toddlers show a love of books. They smile with delight as staff read them their favourite stories. Babies enjoy the sensory play opportunities provided. They spend time feeling the different textures in the activity tray, supported closely by staff.

Older children enthusiastically engage in yoga sessions. This helps children's well-being while the physical poses assist in building gross and fine motor skills, coordination, balance, and strength.

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

• Leaders are dedicated and passionate about their role. They provide regular and effective professional development opportunities to staff to support them to continually improve their practice. Leaders value the individual skills of the team and welcome new ideas that will further enhance the curriculum. They are committed to providing children and families with the best possible experience and opportunities.
• Staff from the outset work closely with parents to identify children's starting points and regularly assess their progress. They use this information effectively and any targets set by other professionals working with children, to help identify precise next steps in learning. This information is used as a good base to help construct a curriculum that offers rich learning experiences for children.
• Staff prioritise communication and language development in their curriculum. They join in and play alongside the children. Staff listen and respond, modelling language and repeating new words and phrases. They question children, allowing them time to think and respond to gauge their understanding and to challenge and extend their thinking.
• Leaders are clear about what they want children to learn, and a particular focus is promoting children's independence and physical skills. However, occasionally this is not consistently implemented. For example, on several occasions, younger children are picked up and transported to different areas of the setting. This is not the best use of opportunities to help children practise these key skills.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are very well supported. The manager is also the special educational needs coordinator. She is highly proactive in recognising concerns and supporting children. Staff work closely as a team to create individualised support plans for children. They also work with families and other professionals to build targets and support. As a result, children make good progress across all areas of learning.
• Mealtimes are very sociable and valued for older children. However, for babies in high chairs, staff do not always position themselves at the children's level while feeding them, so their experience is not of the same high quality as for older children.
• Staff reinforce their expectations of children's behaviour well. For example, they know that they have to stop and listen when they hear the bell ring. Children are respectful and polite. Staff praise children for their good behaviour. This helps to promote children's confidence and self-esteem.
• Children's health and well-being are supported as they have regular access to the outdoor area to learn in the fresh air. Staff encourage good hygiene procedures to help tackle the spread of infections.
• Partnership working with parents is successful. Parents are well informed and involved in their children's learning and development. Regular communication ensures that staff are aware of children's interests and learning preferences at home. They then use this information to effectively plan for children's experiences in the setting. Parents have the opportunity to attend parents' meetings to further discuss the progress their child is making.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance the mealtime arrangements for babies who use high chairs, so that all staff follow consistent practice and sit, give babies their full attention and talk to them, so that babies have the same high-quality experience that older children have
• strengthen support to others who work in the setting to help them understand how to implement curriculum intentions for the youngest children more successfully.