Dragonflies Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle in at the pre-school quickly. Staff use a range of strategies to help children to become engaged and feel comfortable in their surroundings. They use the information they gather from parents when children start to provide a range of interesting and exciting activities that children enjoy. Staff make the most of routine parts of the day, such as snack time. They recognise the importance of children gaining the skills they require to manage their own needs. Staff differentiate their interactions with children to help them build on the skills they already have. For instance, they help younger children to thread the fruit to form fruit kebabs, whereas older children do this for themselves and persevere, even if it becomes tricky.

Staff plan a programme that ignites children's interest. They deliver this with enthusiasm, helping children enjoy their learning. The curriculum provides varied learning experiences that skilfully build on what children already know. This supports children to develop the skills needed for their next stage of learning.

Children show they are confident and motivated to learn. They are curious about how things work, such as developing their fine motor skills as they learn to use potato peelers to create 'magic wands'. Staff engage in playful interactions with children and encourage them to use and develop their physical skills. Children show delight as they run and climb outside.

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

• Staff get to know the children well. They use constant observations to monitor children's progress and identify the most appropriate next stages of development. This enables them to provide good support during children's play and activities. They quickly identify where children need additional support, working effectively with parents and outside agencies to ensure that all children make the same good progress.
• Staff work well together to evaluate their practice and identify areas for development. They hold regular meetings and actively encourage parents to share their views, such as through discussions. Staff have recently made positive changes to the pre-school garden. For example, they have introduced a club house and a large risky-play area to help children learn how to manage risk for themselves, such as climbing on tyres and planks of wood.
• The staff team has helped to embed the key-person system, and staff have a secure understanding of how to support children's individual needs. Staff have received ongoing support and accessed a wide range of additional training and professional development. This has helped staff to focus on their effective engagement with children and improve their teaching skills to support children's learning.
• Partnership working is a real strength of the pre-school. Parents are full of praise for staff. They appreciate the regular updates on their children's progress, which helps them to continue children's learning at home. Staff who support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities form very effective working partnerships with other professionals to meet children's needs. They also have good links with the local school.
• There is a strong focus on children's social and emotional development at the pre-school. Children behave well and staff encourage them to build friendships with one another. They invite other children to join in as they play games outside. Staff encourage children to share and take turns with the resources on offer.
• Children benefit from a language-rich environment. Staff are animated as they read books and sing songs with actions throughout the day. They use visual aids and sign language to help children's understanding. This helps children, including those who speak English as an additional language, to be good communicators.
• Children take part in a mix of small- and large-group adult-led activities throughout the day. For example, children come together to share a story, and they work in small groups when painting daffodil pictures outside. However, staff do not always give children time to explore their own ideas as they freely play, learning from their peers without adult interaction to further develop their imagination.
• Children gain a positive view of following an active lifestyle. Staff enable children to spend lots of time learning outdoors. Staff are extremely good role models. Children learn from their example that being outdoors in the fresh air is a lot of fun. Staff ensure that children have plenty of space and opportunities for energetic play, knowing the importance of this to children's good health.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide opportunities for children to freely explore without adult interaction to further develop their own ideas and imaginative play.