Grappenhall Pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The committee-led pre-school at the centre of the community has enabled the warm and friendly staff to form strong bonds with the children and their families. Children are eager to enter the pre-school as they confidently separate from their parents before searching for their friends. They quickly engage in their choice of play activities that staff have planned for them. Children develop good communication skills. Staff support children to learn new words such as 'juicy' and 'spicy' as they describe their food items at snack time. Staff plan exciting trips and visits, such as family fun days and walks to the church to take their harvest festival food collection. Children learn about the world around them and have a real sense of belonging.

Children's behaviour is exemplary. Staff set clear expectations for their behaviour and routines and provide children with lots of praise and encouragement. Children sing and learn to sign the golden rules, which include being kind and listening. They feel confident to share their own ideas with the group about what being kind means, and can demonstrate this in their play and routines. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. Staff have excellent partnerships with professionals and parents. Together, they plan the best ways to meet children's needs both in nursery and at home, which supports children's ongoing learning.

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

• Leaders plan a varied curriculum and staff provide activities that children enjoy. However, at times, they do not deliver the curriculum in a way that meets the different learning needs of children. For example, staff deliver story times as whole-group sessions. Children sit for long periods to listen to a story, then discuss the weather and days of the week. While pre-school children relish this valuable learning, younger children quickly lose attention. This means that some children do not benefit from these meaningful learning experiences.
• While staff know the children well and form strong bonds with them, the key-person system is not firmly embedded. Staff observe and assess children's progress. However, the key-person system is not used as effectively to monitor and plan individual children's next steps in learning. This means that, sometimes, children's otherwise good progress is hampered.
• Staff plan daily routines from the moment children arrive to develop their independence skills. For example, children find their name card and set up their storage tray. Here they store their belongings and, throughout the day, they place their pictures ready to take home. At lunchtime, children collect their packed lunch boxes and feed themselves with little assistance from staff, then help clear the table ready for play. Children are developing an understanding of how to care for themselves.
• Children are developing an understanding of leading healthy lifestyles. Staff and children have their lunch together, and children know they need to wash their hands beforehand. At the table, staff support children to chat about the food in their lunch boxes and how it helps them to be healthy. Children are physically active. They have continuous access to outdoor play to help develop their small- and large-muscle strength. These activities support them in forming healthy habits for the future.
• Staff support children to develop their mathematical skills through exploration and play. Children use pegboards and different coloured pegs to practise their counting and sequencing of patterns. Younger children sing counting songs and name colours when making play dough. Children are developing foundations in mathematical skills in readiness for when they start school.
• Leaders and staff recognise the value of continuous quality improvement. Staff receive regular review meetings, which are informed by observations of their practice. However, leaders have not targeted staff's precise learning needs, which means there are some gaps in staff's knowledge of the curriculum.
• Parents are very complimentary of this pre-school. They comment on how the staff have supported them with their children's care routines, such as mealtimes and toilet training. Parents say they and their children enjoy the family fun days at the setting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• further develop a broad and sequenced curriculum to differentiate children's learning and development
• further enhance the key-worker system to build on what children know and can do
• target staff's precise professional development needs to support their continuous professional development.