Harbury Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children make excellent progress across every area of their learning. Staff are highly skilled at supporting and challenging them to try and reach their full potential. Staff consistently demonstrate exemplary practice across the provision, serving as excellent role models for children. Children demonstrate levels of engagement, concentration and enthusiasm in their learning that exceed the typical expectations for their age. For example, children are fascinated as they learn about how recycling supports their role in caring for the planet. Older children utilise their extensive vocabulary to engage in discussions with staff in a group setting. They describe how they plan to dress up for their part in the local carnival on the pre-school float.

Promoting children's communication skills is a focus that is embedded and evident throughout the pre-school. Staff use stories to link children's learning across the curriculum as they develop a love of books. Children listen and respond with thought as staff speak calmly and quietly to them. Children demonstrate prior learning in the cosy book corner as they pick out a story about how rubbish has an impact on sea creatures. Children become independent, managing their self-care needs efficiently, as a result of receiving appropriate support to persevere with challenging tasks. Children are confident and competent learners. They are well-prepared for their eventual move to school.

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

• Leaders are inspirational. They support staff highly effectively, and this contributes positively to a culture of reflection and excellence across the provision. Staff describe how well they feel supported. For example, highly effective supervision sessions help them build their knowledge and continuously reflect on their practice. This enables them to meet children's individual needs at the highest level.
• Leaders and staff maximise links in the local community, which contributes to children's understanding of the world around them. For example, staff plan exciting visits to the local market, where children select and weigh fruits and vegetables. Upon returning to pre-school, they prepare these for snacks. Children show a much greater interest in the fruit that they have bought, which encourages them to try new foods
• Staff are exceptional role models for children's communication and language. They skilfully deliver targeted interventions that support children in making substantial progress in their attention, listening and speaking skills. As a matter of course, staff use extensive vocabulary that builds on what children already know. They ensure that children hear new words in context and help them to understand the meaning. For example, children learn about the difference between paper, metal and plastic as they engage in a recycling activity.
• Leaders plan creative role play opportunities to extend children's understanding of the world around them. Children benefit significantly from uninterrupted periods of play as they engage with others in pretend games. They negotiate the roles as well as the rules in their cooperative play. Children demonstrate kindness and compassion towards others, which helps quieter children become more involved in play.
• Children practise and refine their physical skills through access to varied resources. Staff deploy themselves effectively to ensure high levels of interaction. For example, they engage with children who enjoy creating and painting models of minibeasts for use in the carnival. In contrast, others explore water by filling, emptying and capturing it in the outdoor area. Both experiences support children in refining their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills while staff extend their knowledge of mathematical concepts such as capacity, volume and shape.
• Staff maximise opportunities for children to develop high levels of independence through firmly embedded care routines. Children competently wash their hands before and after mealtimes. Staff encourage them to persevere with their lunch when packaging and containers need to be opened. Children confidently use tongs to select their fruit and competently manage small jugs to pour their drinks. All of these routine activities help children develop essential life skills.
• Partnership working with parents is exceptional. Staff respect parents as their child's first educators, gathering information when children first start. This, coupled with skilful observations of children in the setting, contributes to planning that reflects children's individuality and supports them to make strong progress and achieve the best possible outcomes. Parents share that they feel exceptionally well involved and included in their children's learning and development.
• Staff are consistent and sensitive as they support children to make positive behaviour choices. They skilfully engage children when they struggle to follow the rules, and this supports them in understanding staff's expectations. Leaders have developed a creative approach using five superheroes to embed the skills that children need to self-regulate. This helps children to understand the impact of their behaviour on others.
• Staff are excellent role models for respectful interaction. As a result, children respond positively to them. For example, they want to help with visual and sound cues that inform others of what is happening next. Staff use 'now and next' images to support all children's understanding of the routine, which contributes positively to their feelings of security.