Emmanuel Baptist Church Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish at this delightfully warm and welcoming pre-school. The dedicated and experienced staff create a safe environment, where children are incredibly happy and quickly grow in confidence. Staff have high expectations for all children. They have created a well-planned and inclusive curriculum that values and celebrates children's uniqueness. The curriculum is enhanced through staff's skilled interactions to ensure that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), can make the best progress possible.

Staff carefully consider every aspect of the environment and routines to promote children's well-being and learning to the highest possible level. For instance, staff create quiet areas so that children have space to regulate their emotions if they are feeling overwhelmed. This helps children to return to their learning quickly.

Children are exceptionally well behaved. Staff nurture a culture of respect in the pre-school. They are excellent role models for children. Staff speak to each other and children with kindness. Children hear and see these positive interactions consistently throughout the day. They are polite and use good manners with natural ease. Children recall the expectations in the pre-school and the reasons that they are in place. For instance, children know to walk indoors and understand that this is so that they do not trip and hurt themselves.

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

• The key-person system is remarkably well embedded. Children and parents know exactly who their 'special person' is. Staff know children exceptionally well. They accurately assess children's stages in development to inform targeted plans to help move them on to the next stages. Staff share these termly plans with parents so that they can support their children's development effectively at home. All children make excellent progress from their starting points in development.
• High-quality interactions from staff boost children's learning. Staff ask questions that inspire children to make predictions and test their ideas. For example, children predict how many blocks will fit on the vehicle and how many turns of the dial they needed to move the blocks up the conveyor belt.
• Staff recognise when children need support and when to step back to allow children time to find solutions themselves. For instance, they avoid helping too quickly when children struggle to work out which piece of a train track connects with another. This well-timed support means that children remain engrossed in their play and develop key skills for future learning.
• Children display immense pleasure in sharing books. They are enthralled as staff read to them with enthusiasm. Children are keen to recall familiar parts of stories and guess what will happen next. They hear new vocabulary, such as 'kite' and 'kangaroo'. This supports their early literacy and language skills.
• Support for children with SEND is highly effective. Accurate and ongoing assessments of children's development help staff to identify any delays and gaps in children's development quickly. Staff seek external support swiftly to ensure that children receive the level of support needed to meet their individual care and learning needs.
• There is a wonderfully harmonious atmosphere in the pre-school. Staff manage transitions incredibly well. They encourage children to use one of the 'do not disturb' signs to show that they do not want their play to be disturbed. Children and staff respect this. This ensures a smooth flow in the daily routine, and children remain focused and motivated in their learning.
• Staff are creative in the way they encourage children to move their bodies through the day. Children make marks on paper to the words, rhythm and tempo of 'The Wheels on the Bus'. They climb aboard the caterpillar climbing frame to pretend to 'fly to Hong Kong'. Staff challenge them to crawl like a bear or crawl in reverse out of the room. Children delight in the opportunities to test their physical abilities.
• Parent partnerships are a strength of the pre-school. Parents praise the staff and the ethos of the pre-school, which provides a 'personal touch from the heart'. Settling-in sessions, termly coffee mornings and evenings, an annual parents' meal and termly celebrations are appreciated by parents.
• Leaders place a high focus on staff's well-being. Team meetings, supervision meetings and 'away days' contribute to the well-being of the team. Staff feel extremely well supported and valued by leaders.
• Staff support children's communication skills superbly. They talk with children throughout the day, encouraging them to practise their acquired language skills. Staff adopt strategies, such as visual timetables, to help children develop their understanding skills.
• Staff expertly incorporate children's interests into learning opportunities. For instance, they adapt songs to include children's favourite superheroes. This promotes social communication between children as they take turns and share ideas about which superhero will be next.