Eaton Green Pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children embrace the play and learning opportunities they experience in the pre-school. They find resources that interest them and listen to the descriptions and information staff give them. For example, children look through magnifying glasses at models of minibeasts. Staff encourage them to point out key characteristics, such as the number of legs and position of the eyes. Staff give more information, introducing new words, such as 'antennae', before children bury the creatures in a tray of soil for their friends to find. Communication and language are deeply rooted in the curriculum. Throughout the day, staff speak clearly to children, giving them time to take in the words they use. This contributes to children's growing vocabulary. By the time they go to school, all children, including those who speak English as an additional language, become articulate, confident individuals.

Children react positively to the routines and simple rules staff consistently promote. Children remember to wash their hands before eating and learn to take turns and share resources. Staff gently remind children why it is important to follow rules, contributing to the good behaviour and positive attitudes children display towards others and their learning. Activities such as yoga help children begin to regulate their bodies and minds, contributing to the calm environment.

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

• Before children move on to school, staff change the environment to help trigger conversations about school. For example, children practise putting on uniform, such as jumpers and shirts, in the role-play area. Teachers from the local school visit to read stories to children. This contributes to making children's transition to school as smooth as possible.
• Children make choices for themselves. They decide when they are ready to join their peers at the snack table, allowing them to find a natural end in their play and investigations. As a group, children suggest activities for the week. This contributes to their growing awareness of democracy. Staff respond well to children's spontaneous curiosity and quickly adapt the room to trigger further learning. For example, children have a conversation at the snack table about teeth. Staff find resources, including tooth brushes and models of teeth, for children to practise their brushing skills and talk about the dentist. They eagerly join the staff, recalling their own experiences of oral care. This helps to consolidate previous learning and build on children's prior knowledge and understanding.
• Staff know children well. They find out what children enjoy and what they already know and understand when they first join the pre-school. Through their observations and discussions, key persons accurately assess children's progress to help shape the sequence of learning children experience. Staff encourage parents to continue to help support their children's learning at home. They tell them about the progress children are making and give them ideas for simple activities, such as counting the cars in the car park when they go home. This contributes to children's good progress.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. The dedicated provider ensures parents feel valued and welcome. Staff support parents with aspects of parenting, such as toilet training and bedtime routines, with sensitive and practical advice. They provide information about local support groups, activities and agencies, contributing to positive family health and well-being. Parents describe the trust and respect they have for staff and the sense of community created by them.
• Leaders have high expectations of staff, ensuring that continued professional development is relevant and regularly refreshed and extended. This is reflected in the good-quality teaching and care children receive. Leaders seek feedback from parents to help influence improvements and changes in the pre-school that reflect the different needs required.
• Staff set the room out with resources that help to influence children's learning through a purposeful curriculum. They use their skills to determine when to step back and let children play, practise and explore, and when to join children to guide and teach. This contributes to the good balance between children's self-led and adult-led activities. There are times when staff do not effectively add sufficient challenge during their interactions with children to optimise children's learning. As a result, the most-able children do not make the most rapid progress in their learning.
• The enthusiastic staff are keen to support children. At times, they do not consistently give children time to solve problems for themselves or to creatively find different ways of doing things. This limits opportunities for children to maximise their thinking skills and promote the highest levels of independent learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to add further challenge that targets children's individual learning to aid rapid progress
• give children even more time to solve problems and find alternative ways of doing things for themselves.