Glitter Bugs Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff implement a positive curriculum that supports all children to meet their milestones in preparation for starting school. Children develop their independence skills and confidently ask for help. They express and manage their emotions with good understanding and control. Staff have good intent for the children's learning. They adapt to children's individual interests and promote learning through their own choices and child-led experiences.

Children excel in their physical abilities. Staff provide children with a wide range of tools to support the development of their small hand muscles in preparation for handwriting. For example, staff set up several stimulating work stations within the environment, such as threading, mark making, digging in gravel with spades and making their own play dough. Children make good progress in using the large climbing equipment with confidence, showing good full body strength and resilience. In recent months, children have developed the ability to climb up the wooden climbing frame and use the pole to slide back down. Children rejoice in their new achievements as they cheer and ask adults to watch them as they demonstrate.

Staff dedicate time to ensure children develop a positive sense of themselves. They aim for all children to feel valued and develop a sense of belonging during their time at the setting. Staff read and send home 'emotion books' and provide parents with information on how to deal with challenging behaviour. Staff discuss how children's actions can make their peers feel, and they always encourage kindness and consideration for others.

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

• Staff provide children with various opportunities to develop their mathematical skills. For example, the monthly focus is based on numbers, with one activity for the older children including digging for coins in the sand tray. Children review the numbers on the coins and count how many they have found. Staff engage children well in these activities and promote good-quality language and ideas to support the children's mathematical skills. However, when staff ask the children questions, they do not always leave a long enough response time, often answering for them. At times, this prevents children from having sufficient time to think, problem-solve and respond.
• Children are respectful of each other and interact very well together. Children successfully seek support from staff when they find activities challenging. They use their manners well to thank adults for their help. Children are confident to choose their own activities and resources and move around the indoor and outdoor spaces freely and safely, following their own ideas and the rules of the setting.
• Staff and leaders consider inclusion and diversity for all children. For example, staff embrace celebrations, such as Chinese New Year and the festival of Eid. Staff encourage children to bring in items and photos to give clear explanations of their own cultural backgrounds, providing children with a deeper understanding of the world around them.
• Staff support all children to develop their communication and language with engaging activities. For example, they carry out music times with the children, using new words, visual aids and interaction. However, at times, staff do not always invite less-vocal children into conversations, including children who are learning to speak English as an additional language, to extend opportunities for them to practise the English language.
• Staff successfully assess children's development to ensure they are reaching their milestones. They support children's learning and introduce ideas to provide challenge and encourage children's exploration. The manager is the special educational needs coordinator. She evaluates the children's learning regularly to highlight any gaps in their development and ensure continual progression for all, including for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Parents feel incredibly supported by staff. The well-established key-person system ensures children and their families build good relationships with staff and have clear communication. Staff hold parents' meetings to discuss children's progress and provide ideas of how parents can support their child's development at home. Parents express their gratitude for the support and advice the staff provide regarding school readiness and the development of children's health and self-care.
• The manager supports the staff team well. She ensures staff continually develop their professional abilities, such as through staff meetings and a wide range of training opportunities. The manager ensures staff do not have an overwhelming workload in order to spend quality teaching time with the children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• engage quieter children more frequently into conversations to enable them to practise their language skills, particularly for children who are learning to speak English as an additional language
• provide children with more time to respond to questions to further develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.