Forest Bears Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are confident and eager to learn at this nurturing setting. They are welcomed by friendly staff, who help children have a calm start to the day. Children settle quickly as they engage in the variety of activities on offer. They happily explore and investigate, on their own as well as with friends. Children proudly smile when they share their achievements with staff. This affirms their raised levels of self-esteem.

Children love being active outdoors. They have ample opportunities to practise their physical skills, such as riding bicycles, developing ball skills and running in the garden. Children participate in daily yoga sessions. They remain fully focused and master different body poses that strengthen their balance and aerobic capacity.

Children behave well and are courteous towards others. For example, they recognise the importance of sharing their toys and waiting patiently for their turn. Children learn to identify different emotions. They are supported to self-regulate their feelings, such as going to the 'quiet tent' that has several books to help them calm down.

Children enjoy taking part in community events that help them to learn about the world around them. For instance, they planted bulbs, with invited members of the community, ready for spring. Children remember this experience well as they share photographs with the inspector.

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

• The setting's provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is a strength. Staff are committed to ensuring all children have equal access and benefit from the curriculum on offer. They swiftly identify any specific needs through assessments and observations, and seek appropriate advice. Any emerging gaps in children's learning are shared with the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) and the parents. For example, children who display speech delay are helped to understand daily routines by using a sequence of pictures for each event. Parents use similar strategies at home. This joint way of working enables children with SEND to make progress equally as well as their peers.
• The manager and staff work as a cohesive team to support children's all-round learning and development. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, they highlighted areas to focus on even more, such as to improve children's communication and language skills. Additionally, they prioritised teaching children to be more independent and manage their self-care needs. This has proved effective as children show growing confidence in their own abilities.
• Children thoroughly enjoy accessing the well-equipped craft area to enhance their imaginations and creativity. For example, they design cards for Mother's Day and create patterns as they experiment with the wide selection of resources. Staff encourage children to write for a purpose, such as making controlled marks to represent their names. Children produce some recognisable marks, including the initial letter of their names.
• Staff provide children with a varied and nutritious breakfast at the setting. This helps to prepare children for the day ahead. However, the opportunity to learn about how foods and drink contribute to a healthy lifestyle is not fully explored. At lunchtime, children talk to staff about the contents of their packed lunch. Staff do not extend this chat to support children to learn about the benefits of healthy food and drink on their bodies.
• The manager strongly supports staff's well-being. As a result, staff feel listened to and valued. Staff undertake meetings with the manager to consider ways to further their professional development. The manager has a broad overview of the impact of individual staff's strengths on children's good progress. However, the existing system for identifying specific areas for further development in staff's practice is less effective.
• Parents are very complimentary of the setting. They appreciate the good communication they receive about their children's progress. Parents state that their children have shown increased confidence and independence. They comment that their children 'go in with a smile and come out with an even bigger one'. Parents thoroughly enjoy the organised events for families and children at the setting, such as 'movie night'. This gives them the opportunity to meet other parents.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider ways to extend children's understanding of healthy food and drink choices and the effects that different foods and drink have on their bodies
• sharpen existing monitoring processes to effectively identify specific areas that strengthen individual staff's interactions with children and raise the quality of teaching even further.