East Preston Village Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy coming into this warm and nurturing pre-school. They happily find familiar friends and enjoy chatting together as they play. They are greeted by the kind and friendly staff, who know the children well. Staff listen intently and respond positively to children while they share news from home. Children enjoy a wide variety of activities to choose from and settle quickly to play. Children explore with instruments and play together as they sing. They talk about the instruments and enjoy discovering the different sounds they make. Children read stories and learn about different cultures through books and discussions. They recall events in stories and learn new words, such as 'avocado'.

Children demonstrate high levels of engagement towards their learning. For example, children are given time to explore ice and frost. They use hammers to crack ice and discover what is inside. They talk about what it feels like and how it is formed. They test what happens to ice when it becomes warm and share their ideas about the process. Children read stories about cold weather and talk about their experiences of ice at home. They learn about keeping safe in cold weather and on slippery pavements.

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

• The manager, who is also the owner, is passionate to teach children about the natural environment, and she provides a rich selection of experiences to widen children's learning opportunities. For example, children regularly visit the local school, shops, library, park and beach to learn more about their community and environment. The manager reflects well on her pre-school provision and plans for improvements, such as building a forest area for children to explore nature even further.
• The manager supports the team well. She provides regular staff meetings and supervision support. Staff complete training to meet their individual professional development needs, and they reflect on their practice to improve over time. Staff complete peer-on-peer observations to develop their practice and share skills. They communicate well during the session to meet children's needs effectively. Staff receive support for their well-being and value the support from the manager.
• Staff know the children well. They engage children in their learning and support children to make choices. They read and play with children regularly. Children's interests are followed and built on. For example, children play with tills and money, and staff help to extend their ideas further to expand on the learning. Staff use effective assessment during activities to check what children know and can do and provide further challenge.
• Staff support children to make healthy choices. They enjoy healthy snacks and are encouraged to drink. They know routines well and get their coats ready to go outside. However, staff are not always consistent in providing children with opportunities to develop their independence skills. For example, staff complete routine and self-care tasks for children, which they are capable of doing themselves.
• The manager, who is also the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo), works with staff to quickly and efficiently identify children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The SENCo monitors children's progress and development effectively, working closely with parents and other professionals to enable children to make the best possible progress.
• Partnerships with parents are positive. Parents enjoy the wide variety of experiences children are provided with. They report that children settle quickly and make friends. They feel supported by the pre-school and feel strongly that staff support children with SEND to make effective progress. Parents enjoy receiving information about what children are doing at pre-school. However, parents are not always provided with information to extend children's next stages of learning at home.
• Children learn to respect each other. They are taught to share and have good manners. Children work together to solve problems in games and wait for their turn patiently. Staff model the language and skills needed to help children manage their feelings. For example, they take time to discuss strategies with children to share resources fairly. As a result, children feel valued by staff and continue to engage in their play.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide parents with information about their children's next stages in learning and help them to support their learning at home
• support staff to consistently provide children with opportunities to develop independence.