Happy Faces Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children separate from their parents with ease as they happily enter this friendly and welcoming pre-school. They independently find their peg to place their bag and coat on. Children display a strong sense of belonging and show that they feel safe and secure. For example, children spontaneously sit on the lap of staff members and cuddle into them. Staff respond with a smile, showing genuine warmth and kindness.

Children are self-motivated and active learners. They enjoy the outdoor learning environment and have many opportunities to develop their physical skills. For example, children are excited to join in with yoga and ballet. Children make good progress in their learning and develop good friendships and imagination. For example, they talk about going on a sleepover and how, 'we need to pack a bag to take our things'. Children demonstrate a love of books. They listen intently to their favourite stories and join in with familiar phrases, such as 'kissing a frog'.

Children who need extra support are successfully identified by staff. They provide appropriate activities to support children to make faster progress in their learning. For example, they provide items that stimulate children's imagination, such as magnetic letters and numbers. Children are eager to try the resources and they join in enthusiastically.

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

• The enthusiastic manager leads her staff well. She supports staff in implementing a meaningful curriculum that focuses on developing children's independence and confidence. For example, children independently use plastic knives to chop up fruit for snack time. They talk together about how they need to wash their hands first so they do not have germs on them.
• Staff plan engaging and stimulating activities to support children's development. They use their knowledge of the children well to focus the curriculum on their next steps and interests. Staff work effectively with parents to find out what children already know and what they need to learn next. They use this information precisely to build on children's existing knowledge to develop their skills and understanding further.
• The manager and her staff place a strong emphasis on supporting children to develop good communication and self-help skills. Children who need extra help with their language receive individual support from staff. Staff model new vocabulary and repeat words back to check that children understand their meaning. On occasion, however, staff do not give children enough time to consider and answer a question before asking another. This does not fully support children to develop their language skills.
• Staff have high expectations for the children. They are positive role models and are enthusiastic and kind. As a result, children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning and their behaviour is good. Children feel safe and secure and explore the environment confidently. They play with their friends, co-operating and sharing resources. For instance, children pass one another cardboard tubes and material so their friends can help to build a castle.
• Staff are passionate about providing good quality care. Children have strong bonds with their key person. For example, children know what key group they are in and happily run over to their key person at group time. The key person does a thorough handover to ensure continuity of care for the child. This supports children's social and emotional development.
• Staff offer good support to families of armed forces personnel. For example, a map of the world shows children the country where their parents are serving. Staff also talk about the role their families are carrying out. As a result, children are better able to cope with these periods of time apart. This has positively improved children's knowledge and well-being.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents talk about the supportive and caring environment, and how staff have helped children to become more confident. Parents share positive feedback about the range of ways staff share information with them. They are aware of what their children are learning and what their children need to learn next. This allows parents to provide opportunities to further their children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the promotion of children's language skills by ensuring questioning is more effective and children have time to process information and demonstrate what they know.