Fawkham Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children love spending time in the highly nurturing home-from-home pre-school. They are extremely motivated learners, and they thrive within this unique, rich and enchanting environment. Children are exceedingly happy and confident. They develop high levels of self-esteem and know that they are cherished by staff. Staff celebrate each child's uniqueness and the excellent progress that they make.

Children have many fantastic opportunities to develop their physical skills. They learn to confidently navigate the woodland area as they balance and climb. Children manage their own risks with skill as they use a rope swing or climb trees. Children demonstrate excellent spatial awareness and coordination as they run and chase in the impressive range of outdoor areas.

Children's behaviour is excellent. They are totally focused and enthusiastic in their play. Children learn to share and take turns as they play incredibly well together with their friends. They fully understand what is expected of them and show excellent independence from a young age. For instance, they assess the weather and environment in order to know how to appropriately prepare and dress themselves to go outside. They make independent choices in their play and delight in sitting together to enjoy the honey sandwiches that they prepared for a picnic.

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

• The staff have an impressive understanding of the curriculum and plan activities, which are consistently aligned with this. They are skilled and experienced and provide exceptional support for children to express their ideas. Staff know precisely when to interact with children to support their learning to the full potential. They invite children to help plan their own learning and play experiences for the next day. Children are excited to explore the inspiring, creative spaces that quickly capture their interests. Staff see the learning potential in everything children do. They embrace children's ideas and sequence their learning in a way that helps all children to become highly motivated learners.
• There is a very strong emphasis on supporting children to care for things and the world around them. For example, when children discover a worm in the garden, they talk about its needs and work together to very gently return it to a safe place. Children thoroughly enjoyed caring for ducklings and handling them with extreme care, as part of their sustainable development project. Children also learned about healthy foods and different food from around the world in depth. This helps children to learn about nurture, well-being and diversity.
• Children's communication and language development is supported exceptionally well. Staff introduce new words to children through exciting storytelling, rhyme and discussions. They skilfully provide children with superb challenges and ask questions that encourage children to think and provide detail in their responses. For instance, they provide children with descriptive clues to help them carefully discover the answer to challenges. Staff talk to the children about their own experiences that relate to their favourite stories. This helps extend their thinking, builds their vocabulary and children's language skills flourish.
• The manager is inspirational and highly motivated. She is committed to high-quality childcare and works exceptionally hard to achieve this aim. For instance, she provided children and their families with ongoing support, home activities, projects and regular updates during the COVID-19 lockdowns. These were provided in an enjoyable and unique way to support children's understanding of sustainability and provide support and reassurance.
• Since returning from the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, staff have focused on helping children to manage their own feelings and behaviours. Children and staff form wonderful, supportive bonds. Staff empower children to develop their self-esteem. They encourage children to be respectful and give them lots of praise and recognition as things go well for children. Children are incredibly well prepared for the next stages in their learning or move on to school.
• Partnerships with parents and carers are exemplary. Parents speak very highly about the pre-school and say that the provision is 'unique and very special'. The manager provides superb support for parents and her staff team. Staff commit to regular training and share what they learn with each other. They work together to regularly evaluate the quality of all they do in order to provide outstanding experiences for children's learning.