Great Gransden Pre-School Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive in this calm environment, which fully embraces a child-centred approach, where the children's needs are truly valued and catered for. The wide-ranging variety of activities in the stimulating environment supports children to make excellent progress. Children are highly motivated to take part in the variety of interesting activities and demonstrate very high levels of engagement. For example, during a baking session, children show high levels of concentration as they learn cookery skills. They are taught to chop with a knife and to grate cheese as they follow the recipe to weigh all of the ingredients. Staff give ownership to the children during activities, resulting in children demonstrating high levels of self-esteem and pride in their achievements.

Children are relaxed and comfortable in the care of the professional, dedicated staff and demonstrate high levels of emotional security. Children settle quickly and have established strong, affectionate bonds with staff. They receive lots of praise and encouragement, resulting in children developing a can-do attitude. Children are given lots of opportunities to be physically active outside, alongside invitations for calmer activities, such as meditation and yoga. This successfully supports children to develop an awareness of their emotions and teaches strategies to support children to deal with these.

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

• Partnerships with parents are excellent. Parents appreciate the child-centred approach and the highly effective, consistent staff team. Staff initially visit children at home, which supports them to build a secure foundation for the partnership. Parents report smooth transitions and staff that are highly attentive to each child's individual needs. Parents feel fully involved in their child's learning and development due to regular and open communication. Staff update parents and carers daily through oral feedback. They also update observations and assessments regularly through an online portal. Additionally, parents visit the setting once a term for a more in-depth discussion about a report summarising their child's learning and development. Enjoyable family events bring parents, children and staff together.
• Outdoor learning is an important part of children's everyday routine. They are given numerous opportunities to learn outside during all weathers. Children develop physical skills, such as balancing, climbing and running. Furthermore, children use tools, such as saws and screwdrivers, during woodwork sessions to build fine motor control.
• The children's voice is at the centre of the curriculum they have designed. Children are given lots of choice about how and where they choose to spend their time. Staff actively listen to the children as they talk and respond to their wishes. Children are encouraged to take risks and given many opportunities to test ideas out; this helps to develop their self-esteem. For example, children pretend to be builders using the construction resources. They are actively encouraged to evaluate their own choices as staff ask 'Is it safe?' and then they carefully monitor children's decisions.
• Children's communication and language skills are developed through highly productive conversations with the skilled staff. One of the ways staff do this is through their regular reading of a core set of books. This repetition helps children get to know these stories very well and gives them the language and confidence to retell the stories independently. Furthermore, staff learn key words and phrases in the children's home language to support settling in. All children are given the opportunity to learn Spanish and they enthusiastically count to 10 and join in with rhymes in Spanish.
• Children's behaviour is excellent. Staff are clear about expectations and children respond positively to instructions. There is a very respectful culture and children mirror this in how they speak to one another. During minor points of conflict, skilled staff support children to talk about the rules of sharing and being kind.
• Dedicated staff have an excellent understanding of child development. Staff discuss each child's needs and plan a wide variety of suitable, stimulating activities. Staff are clear about what their children need to learn next and ensure activities are planned.
• The committee work closely with management to ensure the very high standards of the setting are maintained and continuously improving. Staff report high levels of support from management, which includes supporting their well-being. Training is given high regard. For example, during the pandemic, all staff were given access online to an early years training provider. Staff discuss their learning together during regular staff meetings, sharing new knowledge and skills with one another.