Fishbourne Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the nurturing and inclusive pre-school with great excitement. They confidently leave their parents at the door and enthusiastically greet their friends and staff. Children feel very happy, safe and secure and form strong bonds with the attentive staff. For example, children enjoy cuddles with them, share jokes and delight in telling stories about their lives. The loving atmosphere helps children to develop high levels of self-esteem, confidence and a willingness to give things a go.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who receive additional funding are supported very well. Those who need it receive additional support and well-tailored experiences to help close gaps in their learning. For example, children with language delay are given consistent opportunities to hear and use language through small-group games. All children achieve well, regardless of their individual circumstances.

Children develop strong early literacy skills and show a keen interest in writing. They learn to recognise their names confidently and children of all ages attempt to copy their name cards. Older children form recognisable letters and show impressive control over pencils. Children very much enjoy imaginary play and confidently take on roles, such as police officer and firefighter. They use speech well to make friendships and share their ideas with each other.

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

• The manager and her deputy are ambitious and are well supported by their enthusiastic staff team. Together, they know the children very well and provide a broad curriculum, designed to help all children achieve their potential. Staff plan a good range of activities and experiences based on children's interests and what they need to learn next. For example, children develop their hand control as they thread ribbons through string and learn about turn taking as they excitedly play snap.
• Staff assess children's learning closely and quickly spot any gaps in development. They plan particularly precisely for children with SEND and use successful strategies, such as picture cards, to help children's understanding. Staff are well qualified and experienced, which helps them to meet children's individual needs confidently.
• Staff are excellent role models for children and create an atmosphere of trust, respect and understanding. Children learn to behave well. They listen carefully to staff, follow instructions happily and include others in their play. For example, as children build towers with blocks, they take turns adding the next block and celebrate their successes together.
• Overall, staff join in well with children's play and extend their learning effectively. For example, as children made their own cardboard goat from a familiar story, they were encouraged to think carefully about how their goat might look. Children confidently talked about the goat needing two eyes, two ears and one nose, and paid close attention to detail. However, staff sometimes ask children too many questions as they play and explore, which interrupts children's concentration and limits their creativity.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents are very appreciative of the high levels of support their children receive. They comment how the manager and staff 'go above and beyond' to ensure children achieve. Parents are particularly pleased with the children's developing social skills and the 'lovely friendships' they make.
• Staff support children's language development very well. They use stories successfully to ignite children's interest in books, introduce new words and teach new ideas. Staff encourage plenty of conversation with children, who enjoy sharing their views and interests. Most children are confident communicators and those with language delay learn new words quickly.
• Children take pride in their achievements and persevere with tasks, such as putting on their coats and matching quantities to numbers. They develop strong mathematical skills and confidently count, compare sizes and recognise shapes as they play.
• Overall, the manager supports staff's professional development well and encourages regular discussion, research and training to support improvements. Staff feel very happy and there is a highly positive team environment. However, the manager does not focus precisely enough on how to raise the good level of staff practice higher. More tailored individual support is needed.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen support for staff's professional development to focus more precisely on how to raise practice to the highest levels
• enhance staff's questioning skills to avoid interrupting children's concentration in their own play and exploration.