Headingley Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children have an exceptional start to their early education at this setting. They are eager to arrive and discover the richly stimulating environments inside and outside. Children are encouraged to explore and solve problems. For example, they work together to connect pegs to measure themselves against. They work out how to use pebbles to hold down the board the peg is attached to, to stop the tower falling over.

Children form close relationships with staff, who know them extremely well. Staff are highly successful in helping children to learn about their own feelings and well-being. Children take part in a group activity before lunch. They recognise colours on their clothing and how the colours make them feel, such as that yellow makes them feel happy. Children's behaviour is excellent and they demonstrate good manners. Children celebrate each other's birthdays. They are eager to learn all about each other's celebrations. This helps to foster highly positive relationships.

All children are highly independent. For example, older children know the routine. They find their own coats and put them on independently for the garden. Younger children persevere as they try and do their own zips up and put on their own gloves. Nearby staff offer encouragement and praise to support their achievements.

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

• The committee is fully supportive of the curriculum and the manager's vision for the quality of the provision. Managers and staff have identified the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's communication skills. Therefore, speaking and listening are a top priority. Staff skilfully encourage children to talk, listen and explain their ideas. They are extremely skilled in extending children's learning and language to the highest level through skilful questioning.
• Children have highly positive attitudes to their learning. They show lengthy periods of concentration during their chosen activities. Staff are enthusiastic and motivate children to keep trying when they come across challenges. For example, outside, staff support children to jump down safely off the wooden sculpture. Children practise jumping from sitting before standing up. Children repeat this numerous times, which consolidates their learning.
• As children concentrate on their learning, staff observe them. Staff use their wealth of knowledge and experience to use the information gathered to accurately assess what children have achieved. Staff then set perfect targets to help each child move on. They skilfully weave mathematics through activities for all age groups of children. For example, older children learn to share dough in halves and quarters. They confidently count and subtract, and predict what comes next. Younger children learn about 'full' and 'empty' as they fill cups with water or milk, and talk about different sizes as they sort vehicles.
• Staff are exemplary role models. They are extremely positive to each other and children. Behaviour is exemplary. Children demonstrate great kindness and are confident in managing minor conflicts themselves. They confidently demonstrate their understanding of why behaviour rules are in place and recognise the impact that their behaviour has on others. Children are respectful to each other, staff and visitors.
• All children in the nursery, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language, make superb progress. Staff are highly attuned to children's needs. They quickly put interventions in place, including using national programmes and signing, to help individual children's learning needs. Staff use additional funding successfully. Managers carefully consider how funding can be used to give children the best opportunities.
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive and go out of their way to share feedback. They state that staff have wonderful relationships with, and are attentive to, their children. They feel that the setting has become part of the family, and staff go above and beyond in providing an exciting environment for children. Parents state that they value the information about activities to support their children's learning at home.
• Partnerships with schools and professionals are excellent. The head teacher of the school on site gave extremely positive reviews, stating that she values their relationship with the setting. Many of the children move on to the school. The head teacher expressed how the teachers regularly visit the children and access shared spaces. As a result, children's transitions to school are seamless.