Hemingbrough Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a cheerful welcome as children eagerly enter the pre-school to start their day. Children demonstrate very positive attitudes to their learning and this is supported by the well-planned and stimulating environment. They get busy straight away, happily exploring and playing with friends.

The curriculum is highly ambitious. The new manager has a clear focus on supporting children fully across all areas of learning. This prepares children very well for their transition to school. Staff are responsive to children's interests and quickly step in to provide support to develop children's skills in their play. For instance, they support children who are interested in trying out the Easter collage activity to correctly hold and snip with scissors. Younger children show curiosity and independence as they spread glue onto their paper eggs.

There are very high expectations for children's behaviour in the pre-school. Children follow these expectations beautifully. They show high levels of independence when they wash their hands. At story time, children sit on the carpet, showing excellent listening skills. Staff are kind and respectful towards children. As a result, children have learned these behaviours themselves. This can be seen when they involve others in their play and when kindly rubbing a friend on the back to show their affection.

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

• The curriculum is carefully planned and sequenced to ensure that children make good progress in their development. For instance, staff base children's learning around books which they choose with purpose. Children accumulate new knowledge and vocabulary through high-quality teaching which is linked to these stories.
• Staff support children well with their communication and language skills. They engage most children in high-quality conversations, particularly with children who are very confident talkers. When invited to take part in a baking activity, children demonstrate their imaginations and respond that they could pretend that it is their 'own bakehouse'. The manager is keen to provide even more support for children whose speaking skills are less well developed. However, these strategies are not yet fully embedded in practice. This means that occasionally, quieter children do not have as many opportunities to practise their speech as their more vocal peers do.
• Staff support children to practise their self-care skills, such as using the toilet. They encourage children to persevere when hanging their coats up and show pride when they achieve this.
• Staff promote and celebrate children's creativity. For instance, when children have their own ideas to create faces on crumpets using chopped fruit, staff praise their ideas and encourage others to join in. They provide positive feedback to support children to develop their self-confidence and social skills.
• Staff use their assessments effectively. The manager looks closely at the individual development of each child to ensure that they receive the right support to stay on track. As a result, children make good progress in their learning which prepares them well for school.
• The manager also recognises wider themes when analysing the data. For instance, she identified that more support was needed to develop boys' early writing skills. As a result, staff have provided increased opportunities for boys to develop their arm and hand muscle strength. This has resulted in boys increasing their skills in strength and control when using tools to make marks.
• The manager undertakes the role of special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator (SENDCO). She demonstrates a strong understanding of supporting children who need additional help to make sure that they make progress. The manager ensures effective communication with parents and understands the processes for referral to outside agencies where needed.
• Parents and grandparents are extremely happy with the pre-school. They say their children are making excellent progress. Parents praise the communication they receive. For example, they appreciate the weekly newsletters which help them to understand what their children are learning and how to help at home.
• The manager is keen to support staff to develop their skills to the highest level. She uses staff supervision sessions effectively to support staff to develop their practice, including through providing training. Staff discuss how this has raised their confidence in delivering the curriculum.
• There are good recruitment and induction procedures in place. This includes staff being clear in their roles and responsibilities. However, there has been a delay in adding new committee members to the pre-school's registration, which shows a weakness in the committee's vigilance in running the pre-school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance the good practice in promoting children's communication skills even further, particularly when supporting quieter children in the pre-school
• build on the good induction procedures, particularly in relation to committee members.