Ducklings Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The kind and caring staff welcome the children warmly as they arrive. Children enter the pre-school happily, and confidently separate from their parents. They greet their friends excitedly, and quickly become engaged in activities of their choice. Children have tremendous fun as they mix flower petals, leaves and water to make 'perfume'. They develop their hand-to-eye coordination as they carefully scoop up water and transfer it to bottles. Children have many opportunities to develop their early drawing and writing skills. Younger children paint enthusiastically and older children learn to write their names. Staff skilfully weave mathematical language and counting throughout routines and play. This supports children's early mathematics skills successfully.

Children feel safe and secure. Staff form strong bonds with them and give them plenty of praise. This supports children's emotional well-being effectively. Children behave well and have high levels of confidence. They learn to take turns and respond well to guidance and gentle reminders from staff. Parents complete 'wow' certificates for their children at home. Children bring these into the pre-school to share with staff and are immensely proud of their achievements.

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

• The dedicated manager and stable staff team have high expectations for all children. They work very closely together and provide an ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress from their individual starting points.
• Staff place a strong focus on developing children's speech and language. They use books and games to encourage children's attention, listening skills and communication. Staff introduce new words to extend children's vocabulary. Children name insects and eagerly join in with favourite rhymes and songs. They become increasingly confident speakers.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Staff update parents on their child's progress through daily conversations and an online system. They help parents to extend children's learning at home by, for example, lending story and activity packs. Following changes in COVID-19 restrictions, staff have begun to invite parents in to the setting again, for instance for 'movie time' with their children. Parents comment that staff are 'amazing'.
• Staff teach children about oral health effectively. They invite the local dentist to talk to children about why brushing their teeth is important. Children benefit from plenty of fresh air and exercise. They love moving their bodies in different ways during dance sessions with a visiting dance teacher. Children giggle with delight as they chase bubbles. They demonstrate increasing coordination and control as they practise their 'star jumps'.
• The manager establishes strong partnerships with other professionals. For example, staff work closely with the local school. They teach letter sounds to the children in the same way as the school. This helps to ensure consistency in children's learning. Staff support children with SEND well. The special educational needs coordinator makes timely referrals to external agencies, where necessary, to help address any gaps in children's learning.
• Staff support children well to be independent learners. They teach children to put on their own coats and encourage them to do this by themselves. Children pour their own drinks and thoroughly enjoy carrying out small tasks of responsibility such as putting their plates away in a washing up bowl.
• Staff have an in-depth knowledge of each child and assess their progress accurately. They plan interesting small-group activities to build on what children know and can do. However, occasionally, staff do not ensure that there are sufficient resources to enable all children to gain the best experience from activities. This means that some children lose interest.
• The manager has a clear vision for the setting and is passionate about her role. She strives towards continual improvement and involves staff, parents and children in the process. The manager offers supervision meetings to support staff practice. However, she has not fully embedded opportunities for staff to learn from each other and enhance the quality of teaching to the highest level.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to plan activities more effectively and ensure there are sufficient resources so that all children gain the best possible learning from planned activities
• enhance existing arrangements for monitoring practice that help staff to learn from each other, to improve their practice even further.