Greenslade Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and their families receive a warm welcome at this friendly and caring pre-school. Children arrive happy and quickly engage in the carefully planned activities staff organise for them. Children rush in are keen to hello to staff. They independently put their coats on their pegs, find their name cards to self-register, and excitedly start playing with their friends. Staff build strong relationships with children and parents from the outset. They gather information about children's individual needs and experiences and use this to tailor their transition into the setting and build on this to help all children make progress in their learning.

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They take time to embed the routines and boundaries to help children feel safe and secure. Children benefit from staff's positive interactions. For example, staff skilfully extend children's mathematical understanding and language as they support children to build towers with construction blocks. Staff enthusiastically talk to children about how to balance the blocks, which shapes fit together well and ask children if they can make towers as tall as themselves. Children focus on this activity for a long period of time. They beam as the tower gets taller. They proudly tell their friends and staff 'look how tall my tower is. It's taller than me!'

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

• The leadership team are passionate about providing high quality care and education for all children. They have designed an ambitious curriculum with a focus on building children's independence, helping them develop strong personal, social, and emotional skills, and encouraging a positive attitude towards trying new experiences and 'having a go.' The whole staff team share these priorities and work together well to deliver a range of activities that build on children's knowledge and skills both inside and outdoors.
• Children's literacy is supported effectively. For example, older children write their names on their paintings of spring flowers. Staff encourage children to look at the letter shapes on their name cards and point to letters on an alphabet board. This approach helps children recognise letters and allows children to practise writing and saying the names and sounds of letters. Children show pride when they achieve this and say, 'look I wrote a letter 'n''. Young children love drawing shapes outside using chalk. They show good control of the chalk and confidently copy shapes as staff model how to draw lines and circles. These opportunities prepare children well for school.
• Children behave very well. They listen to staff, follow instructions, and share and take turns with each other. Children naturally say 'sorry' if they accidently bump into each other. Staff talk to children about their 'Greenslade Pledge' and encourage children 'to be kind, to try hard, to have fun, and to stay safe.' Staff are positive role models for children. They communicate with each other, children and families in a respectful manner and celebrate each child's uniqueness.
• Staff know all children well. They have a strong knowledge of what each child already knows and can do and what each child needs to learn next. This helps children to make continual progress. However, occasionally, staff do not have a clear enough focus on the intended learning for children during structured activities. For example, sometimes staff try to teach too much during planned activities and the aims of the activities are lost. Consequently, children do not learn as much as possible during these sessions.
• Relationships with parents are positive. Staff work closely with parents from the start and communicate regularly to help parents to become involved in their children's learning. Parents appreciate this regular communication and talk about how welcoming and approachable staff are. Parents comment that staff are supportive and actively work with them to obtain additional help for children when they need it. They appreciate staff's guidance with toilet training, oral health, and healthy eating. These trusting relationships help children's continuity of learning.
• Overall, staff support children's communication and language development well. Staff interact and engage positively with children as they play. They skilfully repeat words correctly to help with children's pronunciation, add words to children's sentences, and introduce new vocabulary. For instance, staff introduce children to new words like 'stem' and 'bud,' as they paint daffodils. However, younger children and those children who are quieter or less confident do not always have opportunities to join in during group story time or song time, to practise using their developing communication and language skills.
• The leadership team has developed strong relationships in the community and work closely with professionals to make sure all children reach their full potential. They use funding effectively to provide children with resources and opportunities to enrich their experiences. For instance, staff organised an event for children to try riding different bicycles, such as bicycles without pedals for example. This enhanced children's physical development and helped build children's confidence and risk taking in an environment where they feel safe and secure.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to have a clearer focus on the intended learning for children so that the aims of planned activities are not lost to fully extend children's learning
• strengthen opportunities for younger children and children who are quieter or less confident, to become more involved during group times to fully develop their communication and language skills.