Heather Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide children with warm and nurturing interactions. Staff have a good understanding of children's interests and how to support their learning and development. The activities and resources on offer are adapted to suit the children in attendance. For example, children have recently been interested in exercising. Therefore, staff provide a physical education session, where the children follow instructions, copy the member of staff and learn what happens to your heart when you move around quickly.

Staff have strong relationships with parents, communicating and informing them about what their children have been learning. Parents speak highly of the pre-school and comment on how they have a good relationship with their child's key person, how they respect the staff and value them. Children are provided with lots of opportunities to make their own choices and to be independent. Children use knives to cut their fruit and prepare their snack, and pour their own water and milk. Children are encouraged to self-register when they arrive, which gives them a sense of belonging. They choose their own resources, inside and outside, and know where they are stored. Staff discuss what the children are drawing, and have thoughtful conversations about their families and people who are familiar to them. Children are happy at nursery. They play well with each other and share resources. Children's behaviour is good, and they follow rules and routines well.

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

• The manager and staff have a vision for the pre-school and high expectations of what they want the children to learn. They support the children to be independent, resilient, and physically active. For example, the children are introduced to an obstacle course in the garden, where staff scaffold their learning until they can balance and master the structures themselves. This builds on children's core muscles and upper body strength.
• Children are encouraged to be independent and make their own choices. Opportunities for learning are available both inside and outside. Staff know their key children well and provide a sequenced curriculum based on their interests. They challenge the children, encouraging them to learn to self-regulate, manage their emotions, discuss their feelings and resolve their own conflicts. However, there are some less-able children who struggle to do this, which results in conflicts occurring.
• The manager is reflective of the learning environment. She reviews how children access areas of the environment and how to make resources more accessible. She ensures children have room and space to play and explore. Children have opportunities to visit the forest school, where they learn to build with natural resources, such as pallets, look for bugs and insects and develop team building skills as they work together to make dens.
• Children make good progress from their starting points, particularly children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is an asset to the pre-school, she sensitively supports the children and has high expectations of what the children can achieve. She provides stimulating and targeted activities, working closely with parents and other professionals, to meet children's individual needs. The SENCo builds on what the children already know and prepares them for the next stage of their learning.
• The pre-school works closely with parents, informing them of what the children are learning, so this can be continued at home. Parents are kept updated about their child's progress and next steps. Parents state that they feel fully included. The key persons are on hand to welcome the children in the morning and available to provide feedback at the end of the day. Parents value this time and interaction. Additional funding, such as early years pupil premium, is used effectively to support children's development and experiences.
• Children are taught how to care for, and respect, themselves. They are encouraged to be independent and manage their self-care skills, such as handwashing and toilet training.
• Staff help children to understand mathematical concepts. Children are encouraged to use size language, such as 'bigger, smaller, more' or 'less'. Staff use songs and rhymes to introduce numbers and encourage the children to count along with them. Children are creative and imagine they operate an ice-cream van. Staff question how much the ice creams are, and ask for more sprinkles and sauce.
• Children are introduced to new and more complex vocabulary. For example, when playing with the play dough, children describe the shape of the dough, and staff carefully repeat what they say back using more descriptive language.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop children's existing knowledge of rules and boundaries, including them in the decision-making process.