Graveley Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are eager to come into the setting. They separate from parents with ease and quickly become engaged in activities in the room. Each child has their own table with their drink and a chair for hanging their jumpers and cardigans. They access this independently through the day. This gives children a sense of belonging in the setting. Children enjoy playing together and actively seek each other out to play. This develops their social skills. Children are confident with visitors and enjoy talking to them about the toys they are playing with. This demonstrates how safe and secure the children feel in the setting, knowing their key persons are close by.

Staff praise children throughout the day. Children are praised for being kind to each other and for their achievements during activities. This helps to build their self-esteem. Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. All children behave well. They share toys with each other with ease and staff are always on hand to support where needed. Children develop their independence skills throughout the day. They put on their own coats and aprons as well as peeling their own oranges at snack time.

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

• Staff monitor children's progress well. They spend time with children when they start at the setting, getting to know them. This enables staff to support children's learning well. Staff offer a wide range of activities for all children. They extend children's interests and follow their lead when planning activities. Staff skilfully adapt activities to ensure they challenge the most-able children. However, on occasion, staff do not differentiate activities for the quieter and less able children. This often means that these children observe rather than join in with the activities.
• Staff help children to develop their language skills. They listen to children and talk to them throughout the day. Children enjoy singing nursery rhymes. They are eager to listen to stories, and staff successfully read stories to children in a way which keeps them engaged. Children have time to respond to questions, which helps to develop their critical thinking skills. However, staff do not always introduce a wider vocabulary into children's play to support the most-able children further with their language development.
• Children's mathematical skills are developed throughout the setting. In the role-play area, they collect orders from each other and discuss how much money they owe. Children enjoy exploring and matching the correct dinosaur to the labels available. Staff discuss with children the features of the dinosaurs. For example, they count the number of horns on his head.
• The manager and her team have very good relationships with other professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff identify early when children may require additional support. They work together with professionals to ensure the best possible outcomes for all children. These effective partnerships enable staff to meet children's individual needs. The manager is extremely passionate about meeting children's needs, and adaptions are quickly put into place when required.
• The manager knows her families well. She understands each individual circumstance and works closely with her whole staff team to ensure that the needs that families come with are met. The manager works very closely with them to offer support and ensure they get the support they require. Parents comment that the team goes over and above to support them in their day to day lives. They are very complimentary of the communication they receive day-to-day and on their child's progress in their learning and development.
• Staff feel well supported by the manager. A buddy system supports all staff with their own reflective practice and professional development. The team completes regular training and cascade this down to others. This ensures the setting remains at a high standard. The manager regularly discusses individual performance, and staff observe each other to support improvement in practice. The manager ensures that staff well-being is a priority.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to aid children in building their language skills to gain a wider vocabulary
• develop the use of differentiation in teaching to ensure the youngest children are supported and remain engaged in activities.