Eccles Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

There have been significant improvements since the last inspection. Children enjoy a broad range of suitably challenging activities and experiences. They spend their day happily chatting and laughing. Children form wonderful friendships and behave very well. They play cooperatively, frequently helping others. For example, older children show those who are younger how to use tools to have more fun in the sand.

Children listen well to staff and are confident when sharing their views and ideas. Staff take the time to ensure that children understand what is planned for them. This helps children to develop a strong sense of security. Children are enthusiastic learners and eagerly join in with activities. Their excitement is palpable as they wait for a visit from a wildlife expert and a selection of rodents and reptiles. Children form a very receptive, respectful audience. They listen well to the instructions from staff and the animal handler. Children eagerly respond to questions. They make intelligent suggestions using the wealth of knowledge they have gained from well-planned activities prior to the visit.

As part of the focus on children's well-being after the COVID-19 pandemic, staff have created a board for children to indicate their emotions. Children make good use of this resource, helping them to understand and manage their feelings.

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

• The new manager and highly motivated staff team work very well together. They have responded very positively to the actions set at their last inspection. They have made good use of support and training to develop a strong, ambitious curriculum. Improvements to the presentation of resources and organisation of activities have been very successful.
• The manager provides a good level of support to staff. She has implemented a new schedule of regular staff supervision meetings. The manager completes observations to identify the strengths within the setting, and the areas for improvement. She uses these to implement specific strategies, such as encouraging staff to get down to children's level during their interactions. This increased support has improved staff morale and is impacting very positively on the care and education that children receive.
• Staff promote the language development of most children very well. The new manager has worked with staff to use consistent methods to promote children's speech. For example, all staff make better use of questions that encourage children to think through and formulate their responses. There is also an agreed strategy in place to encourage children to remove dummies from their mouths when they are speaking. This only applies to a very small number of children but is not consistently being implemented. As a result, some of the youngest children speak less frequently and confidently than others.
• There is a strong focus on promoting children's health. Children take part in a range of activities and discussions to learn about oral health. They speak confidently about the importance of regular tooth brushing. Staff also teach children about good nutrition and reinforce this well during snack time. Children enjoy serving themselves healthy snacks and respond well to the challenge of trying new fruits. However, the message is not reinforced at lunch time. Children frequently choose to eat the least healthy items from their lunch boxes first. This does not support them well to understand the importance of independently making healthy choices.
• One member of staff takes lead responsibility for overseeing the care and education of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. She has a very clear understanding of the responsibilities of her role. There are well-coordinated arrangements to work with parents and other professionals. This helps to ensure that children receive the support they need to reach their potential.
• Partnerships with parents are effective. Parents comments on the recent improvements in communication and feel very positive about the changes that have been implemented. Children benefit from seeing the positive interactions between the staff and their parents. This helps them to feel settled and confident. For example, several children who were not due in for the afternoon attended with a parent to see the visiting animals. The friendly interactions made the experience enjoyable for all those involved.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• monitor to ensure that specific strategies in place to support individual children's learning and development are consistently implemented
• promote further the messages around healthy eating to encourage children who stay for lunch to independently make healthy food choices.