Fledglings Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children separate from their parents with ease as they happily enter this warm and welcoming pre-school. They independently find their peg to place their bag and coat on before running over to staff and friends. Children display a strong sense of belonging and show that they feel safe and secure. For example, children cuddle into staff and excitedly talk about their home life. Staff respond with a smile, showing genuine warmth and kindness.

Children benefit from a fun and stimulating curriculum that meets their individual needs. Staff identify what children need to learn next and then plan a suitable range of learning experiences. Children show high levels of enthusiasm as they take off their own socks and shoes, before jumping into a sand pit. Children giggle with delight as they tell staff to cover their legs with sand as they want to be a mermaid. Staff cover their legs with sand and children laugh and say they are a mermaid. Children look at each other and compare 'mermaid tails'. Staff enthusiastically join in with the children's imaginative play and give them praise for their efforts. This helps children to develop their imagination and creativity.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. Staff are good role models and support children to resolve any minor conflicts swiftly. Children display kindness towards their friends. For example, they role play being a doctor and give each other 'injections to make you better'. This helps children to learn to respect each other.

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

• There is a strong safeguarding culture in the pre-school. Leaders carry out detailed risk assessments and know how to record and report any concerns. Thorough recruitment procedures are in place to check the suitability of staff working with children. That said, those responsible for the pre-school have failed to notify Ofsted about changes to committee members within the required time frame. Nonetheless, this has minimal impact on children because committee members, who have not yet had their suitability verified, do not have any unsupervised contact with children.
• Staff provide a curriculum that places the child at the centre. They understand the children in their care well and plan interesting and stimulating activities for them. For example, children take part in an activity which explores floating and sinking. Children work together to find objects. They smile as they guess whether they think the object will float or sink. Children then test out their theories and cheer when they guess correctly. This promotes children's curiosity.
• Leaders review the environment regularly and adapt it accordingly to meet the needs of the children who attend. For example, they recently decorated the walls in a neutral colour as some children found the previous bright walls too overwhelming. This has had a positive effect on children's behaviour.
• Staff promote children's independence well. For example, they attempt to put on their own coats before going outside. However, staff do not always organise this as well as possible. This results in occasions where some children need to wait for their friends to finish getting ready, before they can go outside. As a result, some children become unsettled as they wait.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. Systems to identify where children may need support are good and staff access early help promptly. Staff work closely with parents and external professionals to monitor progress and develop clear targets. This helps children with SEND thrive during their time at pre-school.
• Staff support children's diversity and individuality well. They celebrate children's home languages and support those learning to speak English as an additional language. For example, children have access to a range of story books in their home language. This helps all children to feel valued at the pre-school.
• Staff say that they love working at the pre-school, and they show genuine affection for the children. Leaders place a high regard on staff training and ensure that all staff keep their knowledge up to date. Staff report that recent training on promoting communication has helped them to develop children's communication and language skills. Regular individual meetings between staff and leaders help staff to feel appreciated and valued.
• Leaders carefully consider how to spend any additional funding, ensuring that it meets the needs of the children. For instance, leaders used funding to access a training programme aimed at supporting children's emotional development and resilience. This has a positive outcome on children's self-confidence and self-esteem.
• Partnership with parents is strong. Staff provide daily updates on children's well-being and progress. Parents appreciate the good communication. This enables consistency in children's learning and development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider must:

• ensure that any changes to the registered body are notified to Ofsted within the required time frame. (by 13 December 2024)

The provider should:

• develop further how staff adapt routine transitions in order to limit the amount of time children can spend waiting.