Happy Days Pre-School Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, busy and confident. They establish secure relationships with staff who are deeply caring and responsive. Children spend their time engaged in meaningful learning and regularly invite staff to share the experiences with them. Children develop strong friendships and enjoy each other's company. For example, children work in collaboration as they build an intricate house out of bricks. They listen to each other's ideas and value each other's contribution, as they watch their building evolve. This demonstrates that children feel safe and secure.

Staff provide children with a wide range of opportunities to develop early mathematical knowledge. This provides children with a secure foundation to support future learning. For example, during a drawing activity, staff and children explore shapes together. Children compare similar shapes, such as an oval and circle, and consider what makes them differ from each other. Staff enhance children's learning by introducing new language such as 'semi-circle', as children cut their circles in half.

Children develop positive attitudes towards their learning. For example, they develop their critical thinking skills, as staff support them to follow illustrated instructions, breaking down each step until their models are complete. Children show pride in their achievements as they receive praise for a job well done. This helps them to become motivated and curious learners.

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

• Leadership and management are effective. The manager and her skilful staff team create a curriculum that is ambitious and well sequenced. They work in partnership with parents and other professionals, such as health visitors, to ensure children who may have gaps in their development receive the support they need. However, staff do not always work in collaboration with other settings that children also attend. This has an impact on the opportunities children have to reach their fullest potential. Despite this, children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good and steady progress from their starting points.
• Children develop a love of letters and sounds as they engage in a range of activities. For instance, children concentrate intently as they complete a letter puzzle, exploring each letter in turn and making the initial sound that corresponds with each letter. Children recognise that they can change some letters by turning them upside down. This helps strengthen children's pronunciation, while introducing early literacy.
• Staff provide children with first-hand experiences that help them learn about the world around them. For instance, children take care of caterpillars and tadpoles, observing their transformation and documenting each stage with the use of photos. Staff help children make connections with the world through their senses. For example, they ask children to consider whether the ground feels warm or cold when the sun shines and whether the leaves on a tree are hard or soft.
• Staff use a range of strategies to help children navigate their feelings. For instance, children explore 'emotion monster' puppets and study their facial expressions to identify how the monster may be feeling. Children recognise emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger and fearfulness, and they share their experiences of when they have felt these emotions. This provides children with the language they need to express themselves. Staff are sensitive to children's needs and provide quiet areas where children can rest, reflect and regulate their emotions.
• Staff help children learn how to keep their themselves safe and healthy, enabling them to make choices that have a positive impact on their bodies. For instance, children learn about the importance of oral health. They receive their own toothbrush and learn techniques to keep their teeth clean. They learn about the types of foods and drinks that may be harmful for their teeth, such as foods that are high in sugar. Children learn to keep themselves safe from germs through good handwashing practices. For instance, staff refer children to handwashing posters and model each step as children wash their hands.
• Overall, children behave well. They take turns with their friends, show kindness towards others and respect their environment. Most children learn to follow the rules. However, staff do not use opportunities consistently to broaden children's understanding of why the rules are important. For example, staff ask young children to stop running inside but do not explain the potential consequences of breaking this rule. Therefore, not all children have the knowledge they need to make consistently good decisions.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide children with clear explanations as to why rules are important, so they have the knowledge they need to make positive and good decisions.