Dauxwood Pre School Group

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the pre-school happy and eager to learn. They make choices in their play and are interested in the wide range of activities on offer, inside and outside. Children are learning to keep themselves safe and healthy as they become independent in their self-care routines. They have a good understanding of why it is important to apply sun cream, wear a hat and have regular drinks in warmer weather.

Children are motivated to explore and investigate. They show high levels of curiosity and concentration as they play. For example, children work together using magnifying glasses to hunt for bugs in the garden. They discuss the differences between insects and why worms like to hide in wet earth. This helps children develop an understanding of the world around them. Staff skilfully plan activities that extend the learning of all children. For example, they introduce mathematical language as children play. Older children use simple addition to problem solve and younger children enjoy joining in with counting rhymes.

Children behave extremely well. Staff are consistent in their approach to managing children's behaviour. They know the rules and delight in sharing these with friends. Children respect the pre-school equipment and remind younger children to do the same. For example, children notice that drawing books have been put on the floor, they quickly put them safely into the creative area before they get damaged.

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

• The dedicated manager has successfully addressed the weaknesses from the previous inspection and made appropriate improvements. She has developed knowledge of wider safeguarding aspects and keeps staff well informed so they can take appropriate action to keep children safe. She meets with staff to complete supervisions to monitor their performance, identify training needs and check their well-being.
• Staff value all children at the pre-school. They celebrate children's uniqueness and treat them with care and respect. Children develop friendships and they show great kindness to their peers. For example, older children help younger children to balance on the climbing equipment and both cheer and clap when they achieve it. Staff promote children's self-esteem and confidence well, helping them to develop skills needed for future learning.
• Staff know the children extremely well and plan activities from their immediate interests. They are skilled in knowing how children learn best, to challenge and extend their learning. Staff make sure that every child is making progress and that any gaps in learning are quickly closing through timely interventions.
• Staff effectively support children to become confident communicators. Adults model language well. They share new words with children connected with planned activities or their interests. For example, as children bath their dollies, staff introduce vocabulary, such as 'rinse' and 'squeeze'. Children enjoy a range of stories and actively seek out books to be read to them either alone or in small groups. They recall and repeat words from familiar stories. As a result, children are making good progress in their language development and are well prepared for their next stage in learning, including school.
• Staff have high expectations for all children and work in close partnership with parents and professionals to meet individual children's needs. Children with special educational needs, and/or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language are very well supported. Staff gather detailed information about children before they start and use this information to help develop the curriculum and decide what children need to learn next.
• Parents are extremely positive about the care their children receive. They appreciate the high levels of care provided to children and the support given to develop social skills. Staff provide parents with regular observations and achievements of children's time at the nursery through electronic systems. However, they are not fully included about ongoing learning. Although parents have not been able to enter the pre-school due to the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, staff have worked hard to ensure that effective communications with the parents have continued.
• The manager ensures that children receive any additional funding they are entitled to. However, staff do not always target spending effectively to meet children's individual learning needs.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop information sharing with parents to increase the focus on children's learning
• improve arrangements to monitor that funding is being used effectively.