Happy Hours Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children demonstrate they feel safe, secure and happy in this nurturing pre-school. They have formed close bonds with staff, who greet them warmly and are continuously attentive to their needs. Children are motivated to learn. They freely explore the inviting play environment and independently access the wide range of learning experiences that staff provide. For example, children delight in mark-making activities and describe their drawings in detail. This helps to support their early literacy skills.

Staff help children to develop good levels of independence and implement this well. For instance, children learn to manage their personal care routines at a young age. They confidently wipe their own nose and naturally put tissues in the bin. Children wash their hands without being prompted and actively discuss why they need to remove germs.

Children learn how to manage their emotions and engage in discussions with staff and their peers about how they are feeling. They show consideration for each other and comfort their friends who have had a small accident and are feeling a little sad.

Staff monitor children's learning closely and work with other professionals and parents to ensure that children receive the targeted support they need. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress.

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

• The dedicated manager and management committee show a positive commitment to the ongoing improvements of the provision. They seek the views of parents and children, which plays an integral part in the continuous development of the pre-school. Staff work well as a team and comment that they feel valued and very well supported. They say that they thoroughly enjoy working at the pre-school.
• The manager and staff are knowledgeable about the individual learning needs of the children in their care. They have clear intentions for children's development and for the learning experiences they provide. However, on occasion, in their enthusiasm to engage and interact with children as they play, staff do not support and challenge the developing vocabulary of younger children to the highest level.
• Children benefit from fresh air and exercise throughout the day. They tip and pour and experiment with different ingredients in the mud kitchen. Children build on their core muscles as they move backwards and forwards on the swing. They delight in riding on tandem bicycles with their peers, and they demonstrate good coordination skills as they make their way over climbing apparatus.
• Parents speak highly of the kind and caring staff team. They say their children are happy and are making good progress. They appreciate the regular updates about their child's ongoing development and the support staff provide to help them continue their children's learning at home.
• Staff promote diversity and inclusion well in the pre-school. They embed children's traditions, backgrounds and festivals into daily activities. This helps children to value themselves and their peers as unique individuals.
• Staff support children's mathematical skills well. For example, children use rulers and enthusiastically measure a variety of objects during craft activities. They excitedly use numbers in their play and count down from 10 as they 'blast off' their rockets. Staff encourage children to think critically and teach them about the concept of density as they learn about sinking and floating during water play.
• Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. For example, children choose what they want to play with and tidy away toys when they have finished playing with them. Children understand the pre-school rules and actively use sand timers when taking turns on apparatus. They learn to think about their personal safety and are mindful of the space around them when their friends are using the swing.
• Children develop a love of books. They enjoy listening to stories throughout the day and make predictions about what could happen next. This helps to build on children's early reading skills. The manager and staff have recently introduced a lending library to give further encouragement to parents to read with their children at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to build more consistently on the vocabulary of younger children, to help them make the best progress in their language development.