Elm Tree Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thoroughly enjoy their time at the pre-school. Staff warmly welcome them, taking the time to get to know children's unique interests and personalities. This helps children who are younger and less confident to settle happily. Children behave well. They are polite and courteous with staff and with their friends. Staff successfully teach children the importance of valuing and respecting the needs of each other. For instance, as children sit to share stories, they selflessly offer their friend a turn to discover which animal is hidden in the story. Staff praise children for their kindness, which promotes their confidence and self-esteem. Children develop good social skills, which supports them in readiness for their future learning.

Staff have high expectations for children. They plan and provide a broad curriculum for everyone. Staff place a strong focus on supporting children's communication and language skills. They use a variety of opportunities to model language, to build children's vocabulary skills and to help children to develop their confidence to speak in larger groups. When children need additional support for their speaking skills, staff tailor teaching to these specific needs. Consequently, where children start behind in their communication and language, they catch up quickly. This supports all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those in receipt of additional funding, to make good progress from their starting points.

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

• The manager is a strong leader. She works very closely with her staff to provide high-quality care and good learning experiences for all children. Staff say that they enjoy working at the setting and feel that they are valued and respected in their roles. The manager meets regularly with staff to offer advice and support. She recognises that there is more that can be done to target staff's professional development to continue to identify any gaps in staff's knowledge and refine the quality of teaching.
• Children gain good independence skills and are keen to manage age-appropriate tasks for themselves. For example, staff teach younger children how to change their shoes and coats as they go outdoors. They recognise when some older children need encouragement and support to persevere in learning these new skills. During mealtimes, staff help children learn to open packets and boxes with foods inside. Children tidy away after themselves and learn how to refill their own water bottles. These routines are embedded into the pre-school routines, and staff successfully help older children to develop good self-care skills in readiness for school.
• Staff use good opportunities to promote children's literacy skills. For instance, they provide a range of books for children to chose from and sit with them to share favourite stories. Children, including those who are quieter and less confident, recite parts of the story, such as what the caterpillar has eaten, as staff give them time to think through and share their ideas. Children develop good speaking and listening skills and concentrate well.
• Staff teach children about the importance of healthy lifestyles. They help children learn about foods and drinks that promote healthy choices. For instance, children talk about the fruit they eat, including those they have tried at pre-school, and how this gives them energy. Children benefit from a variety of activities that promote their physical health. For instance, they take part in music and movement groups, practise balancing along 'coloured paths' in the garden and excitedly race their friends on ride-on cars. Children develop good coordination and control of their bodies, which contributes to their good physical development.
• Overall, children benefit from opportunities to develop their mathematical skills. For instance, at lunchtime, some children learn how to match numbers to quantities as they work out how many blue cups are on the tray. However, the mathematics curriculum is not fully embedded. Some staff miss opportunities to tailor learning for the older and most able children to improve their mathematical skills further. Furthermore, staff do not consistently extend other aspects of children's mathematical knowledge, such as shape, measure and size.
• Children with SEND are supported well at the pre-school. Staff work effectively with parents and other relevant professionals to devise and implement individualised care and learning plans. This means that children with SEND are supported well and make good progress from their starting points.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen supervision arrangements to support staff's professional development needs, knowledge and skills
• support staff to embed the curriculum for mathematics in full so that older and the most able children have more opportunities to develop their understanding of numbers, shapes and other mathematical concepts.