Groombridge Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are very happy at the pre-school. They are settled, confident and independent. Children have a positive attitude towards their learning. They remain engaged in motivating experiences that staff carefully plan for them. For example, children become engrossed in talking about the solar system. They go on to use materials to make planets and build on new ideas to make an entire 'robot' outfit. Children learn a song about space. They can confidently name the planets and a fact about each of them. Children enjoy bringing their imagination alive. For instance, they enjoy 'writing' appointment cards for their friends to attend their 'X-ray' at the 'hospital'.

Staff are positive role models, and children know what is expected of them. Therefore, children are polite and behave well. They show good levels of maturity as they use timers to indicate when their turn is up on a resource. Children learn about the benefits of healthy eating. At lunchtime, they talk about the importance of being mindful of the quantity of sugar in their food. All children develop good communication skills and share their own ideas and thoughts with confidence. Children use different ways to communicate. For example, they use sign language and learn to sign along to songs. This includes the United Kingdom's national anthem.

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

• Staff establish secure and trusting relationships with children and get to know them well. This includes their individual personalities and abilities. This helps staff to plan activities that they know will motivate children to learn. All children have a good sense of belonging and positive levels of well-being and self-esteem.
• The manager and staff support all children make good progress, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Highly trained staff attend a wide range of training to fully understand children's individual needs. They liaise closely with outside agencies and share helpful strategies and ideas to support children with SEND very well. For example, staff have implemented a 'safe place' where children can go to feel calm if they become overwhelmed.
• Overall, staff have a good knowledge of all areas of learning. Children have daily access to outdoor play. For example, children enjoy hunting for bugs and excitedly show their friends the centipede they have found. There are many activities aimed at promoting children's physical development. For example, bikes are available for them to ride after lunch. Each week, an outside company comes to the pre-school and carries out sports and dance activities. In addition, staff set up climbing and balancing equipment on some days. However, they do not monitor the days and times that children attend to ensure that they all benefit from these more challenging physical play opportunities.
• The manager and staff establish very positive partnerships with parents. They keep them well involved and inform them about their children's progress. For example, staff share information about the children's day and their achievements. They share useful tips with parents, such as healthy eating ideas. Staff ensure that parents feel valued. For instance, they attend meetings with outside agencies with them to provide support.
• The manager closely monitors the good quality of education and care that staff provide. She routinely observes staff interacting with children and provides them with constructive feedback. Staff evaluate the pre-school together. They have discussions daily to talk about how they can continue to enhance their practice.
• Staff attend regular and beneficial training. They have made good use of recent training to develop children's understanding of sustainability. As a result, children are confident to recycle and enjoy litter-picking activities. They talk about the importance of doing so and understand that it helps to protect and save the planet.
• Overall, staff successfully support children to develop a good understanding of the similarities and differences of people from around the wider world. For example, they talk about festivals such as Diwali and Hanukkah. However, some staff are uncertain about what other languages are spoken in children's homes. As a result, they cannot use this information to build on children's all-round language development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the organisation of physical play opportunities to offer all children the same challenging experiences
• improve arrangements to share information with all staff about the languages spoken in children's homes, to help them build on children's all-round language development even further.