Greasby Pre-School Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children separate from their parents with ease as they eagerly start their day at this welcoming pre-school. They independently find their peg to place their coats on before they greet staff and their friends. Children display a strong sense of belonging and show that they feel safe and secure. For example, children cuddle up to staff and excitedly talk about their home life. Staff show genuine warmth and kindness. Children benefit from a fun and interesting curriculum that meets their individual needs. Staff identify what children need to learn next and then plan an appropriate range of learning experiences. Children show high levels of enthusiasm as they melt ice to free toy animals. Children giggle with delight as they use a range of tools and brushes to help remove the ice. Staff expertly introduce a range of new words such as 'melt' and 'dissolve'. Children develop their vocabulary.

Staff promote children's creativity exceptionally well. Children relish singing and enacting the roles of people who help them. Staff encourage children to immerse themselves into role play. Children pretend to be vets. Staff encourage children to develop their critical thinking from a young age and solve the problem of helping the animals feel well. Children learn how to tend to their own physical needs and are keen to help to tidy toys away. Children develop the necessary skills in readiness for the move on to school.

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

• Staff provide a curriculum that centres around each child. All staff have a detailed knowledge of the children in their care and plan interesting and stimulating activities for them. For example, children enjoy creative activities. Some children enjoy the feel of paint on their hands and learn new words such as 'paint' and 'splodge'. Other children work together to mix paint. They laugh as they guess whether the colour will change. Children then test out their theories and cheer when they guess correctly. This promotes children's creativity and curiosity.
• Staff promote children's independence well. For example, they attempt to put on their own coats before going outside. Children independently empty their reading bag and choose a replacement book from the setting library. They are excited to share favourite stories with their families. Staff clearly support children to develop a love of reading in this pre-school.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are extremely well supported. Systems to identify where children may need support are robust, and staff access early help and support 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 the pre-school.
• Staff say that they love working at the pre-school and that they feel supported by managers. Leaders place a high regard on staff's training and ensure that all staff keep their knowledge up to date. Regular meetings between staff and leaders are used to support staff. However, feedback that staff receive does not always identify clearly how they can further enhance their practice. This means that some inconsistencies in how staff support children to develop their conversational skills have not been identified and acted upon.
• Leaders carefully consider how to spend any additional funding, ensuring that it meets the needs of the children. There has been an increase in children who need extra support with the pronunciation of words. Funding is used to provide in-house speech and language therapy. This has a positive outcome on children's communication and development.
• Partnerships with parents are exceptionally strong. Parents speak highly of the support they receive and describe the early identification of children's specific needs as life changing. 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.
• Staff provide opportunities for children to develop their knowledge about the local community. They visit local shops and learn about people who help them. Staff create opportunities for children to celebrate some cultural events. However, the curriculum does not always support children effectively to learn about and reflect on their differences and understand what makes them unique. This does not fully prepare children for the diverse world around them.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen feedback given to staff to support them to identify precisely how they can improve their practice further, with particular regard to helping children develop their conversational skills
• enhance the curriculum to support children to learn about and reflect on their differences and understand what makes them unique to prepare them for the diverse world around them.