Dunelm Grove Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and confident in this small, family-like pre-school. Staff know the children well, including their likes and dislikes, and carefully link their interests to activities. Children enjoy close bonds with staff, who interact warmly with them. Staff have high expectations of children and value each of them.

The curriculum is varied and interesting. Children develop a good understanding of the world. For example, staff teach children about the impact that cutting down forests has on animal habitats. They teach them about people who help us, for instance by organising visits to fire stations. Children have good mathematical skills. Staff use mathematical language to describe size and shape, and children know different shape names. Staff sing counting songs and rhymes and count objects with children as they play. Children develop good physical skills. They practise throwing balls into nets to develop their coordination skills. Children learn to balance on beams and jump in and out of tyres. They learn to share and take turns, for instance as they pour their own drinks. Children have a good understanding about differences. Staff read stories to children that have multicultural and religious characters. Children play with toys and resources that reflect people from diverse backgrounds. Children make good progress and learn useful skills in preparation for school.

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

• Children develop good creative skills. They draw and paint using different tools and materials, such as paint, crayons and chalk. Children make three-dimensional models from play dough. They enjoy taking part in imaginative play where they pretend to take on different roles, such as at an ice-cream parlour.
• Children develop good independence skills. For example, staff teach children how to put their coats on. They learn good self-care skills, such as using tissues to wipe their nose.
• Staff support children's communication, language and literacy development effectively. They talk to and question children about the activities they are involved in and model good sentence structure. Staff read stories and sing songs and rhymes which teach children new words.
• Children behave well. Staff explain why acting in positive ways is important. They talk to children about why some behaviour is not acceptable and praise them when they behave well.
• Children act in safe ways. Staff teach children to sit down when eating, to avoid choking. Children walk indoors to reduce the risk of accidents. Staff teach children how to act with care and caution when crossing the road.
• The manager provides good support to staff. It is a very small, long-standing staff team. The manager regularly meets with staff individually to discuss work and gives support where needed. She encourages staff to develop their skills and knowledge, for example by sharing ideas for practice with staff from other nurseries. Staff read current articles on early years matters to enhance their skills and knowledge.
• The manager reflects on all aspects of the pre-school and sets clear goals for improvement. For example, she plans to continue to develop partnerships with parents to promote best outcomes for children.
• Staff work well with parents. They talk to parents each day and provide reports on children's progress. Staff work closely with parents to support children's development, such as promoting positive behaviour.
• The manager ensures that children develop healthy habits. For instance, they ensure that children have daily opportunities for physical exercise outdoors. Staff offer healthy lunch box ideas to parents to promote best outcomes for children. They provide nutritious meals and snacks, which meet special dietary needs. Staff teach children good oral hygiene awareness. For instance, children brush their teeth after meals and staff invite local dentists into the pre-school to teach healthy routines for teeth and gums. Staff provide daily opportunities for children to go outside to practise a range of physical skills.
• Staff enable children to develop their own ideas as they play. However, at times, staff miss opportunities to take the lead in activities to add more direction in children's play, particularly for older children.
• The outdoor area is popular with children. However, activities covering different areas of learning are not fully developed to support those who learn best outdoors.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• broaden opportunities for more adult-directed play to enhance children's learning, particularly for older children
• develop the outdoor area further to reflect areas of learning more fully to support those children who learn best outdoors.