Harlequin Forest Pre-School (TW)

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are safe, confident and incredibly happy at this inspiring pre-school setting. The inclusive and engaging environment allows children to develop close and effective relationships with the nurturing staff. This enables them to develop excellent emotional stability and gain a strong sense of belonging. Children are highly inquisitive and motivated to explore and learn. They have excellent opportunities to learn about nature and are taught to develop a great respect and appreciation for the natural world.

Children's behaviour is exemplary. Staff are excellent role models who have extremely high aspirations for all children. They provide plenty of praise and encouragement. This builds children's self-esteem and confidence to the highest level.

There is a real sense of fun in this pre-school environment. Children swing from rope swings in the trees and create musical instruments from various objects and materials found in their woodland area. During their play, staff skilfully extend the children's knowledge as they encourage them to use their thinking skills. For instance, staff ask, 'How do you think this hole was made in the tree trunk?'

Children experience awe and wonder when searching for minibeasts under logs using a magnifying glass. Staff are excellent at supporting children to make predictions about what they might find. Children show incredible empathy and care for living things, such as the newt they revisit after first discovering it the previous day.

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

• Children benefit from an exceptionally stimulating and varied curriculum. Staff are highly creative in planning exciting activities and experiences that successfully cover all the different areas of learning. Staff know children extremely well and have a deep knowledge of their interests, personal traits and what they need to learn next. It is evident that children are making extremely strong progress.
• Children who speak English as an additional language and children from disadvantaged backgrounds receive outstanding support and flourish in their development. The manager and staff go above and beyond to ensure that children and their families receive all the possible support available to them. This means that all children are helped to reach their full potential.
• The passionate manager and staff are highly reflective and constantly review their practice to make positive contributions to this outstanding provision. Staff have superb opportunities to enhance their professional development, and there is strong commitment to mentoring and coaching staff to ensure consistency in the excellent quality of education.
• Children have excellent opportunities to learn how to keep themselves safe. Even in their newer woodland environment, they know the safety rules. Staff frequently talk to children to help reinforce these. For example, children learn to be vigilant and stop and check the 'deer crossing' area before proceeding forward. They talk about identifying the boundaries and know the signal to gather as a group during the session. Children are extremely confident in their own abilities. They take and manage calculated risks. For instance, they carefully consider how sturdy the structures are before climbing on them.
• Staff are highly focused on developing children's communication and language skills. Children confidently use language to express their thoughts and feelings. They are introduced to a breadth of vocabulary as they play, such as 'chrysalises', 'minute' and 'phenomenal'. Staff continually talk to children as they play. Additionally, children's enjoyment of books is fostered extremely well.
• Staff provide an abundance of opportunities for children to master skills and be confident learners. High priority is given to the development of children's small-muscle movements as part of a sequenced curriculum towards excellent safety knowledge and life skills. Children enjoy peeling the bark from sticks, using their fingers in their creative work. They later move on to using a vegetable peeler for this task and eventually master the safe use of real tools in their woodland creations.
• Partnerships with parents are exemplary. Parents speak extremely highly of the pre-school and the rich experiences that their children receive. They say the nurturing staff go 'above and beyond' their expectations. Parents know what their children are learning and how they can support their rapid progress at home. Information is shared daily. This provides excellent and consistent continuity of care.