Hanborough Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive eager and motivated for a day of exciting and stimulating activities. They are greeted warmly and enthusiastically by the extremely nurturing staff. Promotion of children's well-being is outstanding and their behaviour is excellent. Children develop their confidence and social skills and learn to manage their behaviour. There is a strong focus on friendship and kindness, and children are taught to have patience and show respect for others.

Books, songs, rhymes and storytelling are a prominent feature of pre-school life. Children develop their early literacy skills incredibly well and have access to a superb range of books. Staff provide excellent support for all children to initiate their own play and use their imagination. For instance, through highly effective staff training, children communicate their ideas, thoughts and feelings and learn how to manage their emotions. For example, young children are taught to introduce themselves to the pretend spider who is very shy. Older children chat together as they play. They speak in sentences and their speech is clear. For example, children are excited about their findings in the mud kitchen and confidently share their findings with the inspector. Children explain they have found red ants and talk about he difference between black and red ants.

Early intervention ensures that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, or children in receipt of additional funding, have the targeted support that they need from the very start. Staff quickly work to identify what children's needs are and make adaptations in the environment.

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

• The new manager leads the staff team with vision and passion. She has embedded a rigorous system to support and monitor the development of staff. The dedicated manager coaches and mentors staff to help them confidently perform to their full potential. All staff say they really enjoy working here and feel exceptionally valued. For example, there have been changes to staff's working conditions, which has had a positive impact on their workload.
• Partnerships with parents are exceptional. From the moment children start at the pre-school to the time they move on to school, parents are actively involved every step of the way. This creates a true partnership for supporting children's learning and development. Parents describe the staff as 'knowledgeable' and 'professional', and parents say that they 'trust staff implicitly'. Parents report of the exceptional communication from pre-school to home. For example, information evenings to inform parents of the the importance of children's online safety, topic themes, books of the week and activities parents can undertake at home to enrich children's learning experiences.
• 'The depth of commitment staff show to the children in their care is excellent. New children settle remarkably quickly. This is supported by exceptional information obtained ahead of children starting. Staff find out about a range of information about the children and their families ahead of starting pre-school. In addition, staff undertake home visits to meet the children and their families. Visits include the manager and the key person for children to establish exceptional early bonds with staff, before they even start pre-school.
• Children rapidly learn from staff about turn taking and sharing. Children's behaviour is managed incredibly well. If a child does behave unkindly, they receive caring, patient support from staff. This helps children to learn how to manage their feelings so they may focus on enjoying their learning and play.
• Staff plan an exciting and ambitious curriculum for all children in their care. Their intentions are clear and unique for each child. Staff have high expectations for children's achievements. Staff use their deep understanding of each child to guide their learning in a simplistic, but highly effective way. For example, staff plan a range of activities outside, with regular visits to their allotment and forest school, as well as daily use of the pre-school garden. Staff recognise the importance of these rich learning opportunities and identify, for example, how not all children have access to an outside area at home.
• Children develop excellent physical skills to improve balance, movement and coordination. For example, toddlers learn to develop their fine motor skills as they build on these skills using a range of planned activities, such as 'funky fingers,' to develop their dexterity. Older children expertly use pens demonstrating excellent early writing skills. Staff skilfully challenge children's abilities by engaging in activities. For example, children learn to take appropriate risk by jumping from crates and learn to balance on beams to further extend their skills.
• Pre-school is a highly valued part of the community. Staff use their local contacts extremely well to help children begin to understand different people and the world around them. They invite a variety of visitors in, to give children rich learning experiences. This includes a dentist to support them in their understanding of good oral health and children visit the elderly community where they sing together regularly. In addition, children enjoyed visits from a range of people from the emergency services as well as a local beekeeper and farmer, when they were learning about 'people who help us'.