Hilltop Children's Centre Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and form good relationships with staff who support them to feel safe and secure. Their individual personalities are well known and supported by staff who promote children's self-confidence.

Children lead their own play and learning. They benefit from a carefully considered curriculum that places a strong focus on their communication and language skills. Children enjoy small-group music activities. They sing enthusiastically to familiar songs and rhymes. Children use drums and shakers to tap out the beat. They take turns to lead the group and model actions while their peers copy. Older children develop good early writing skills. They make marks, draw pictures and write the letters of their name on note paper. Children are proud of their achievements. They read their writing back to visitors and hold it tight before they place it in their drawer to take home.

Children have daily access to the setting's outdoor area. They develop good physical skills as they climb on tyres and balance on wooden planks. Children are independent and take themselves off to collect saucepans of water to add to a muddy puddle. They walk through the puddle in their wellies to assess the depth. Children jump in the puddle with both feet. They say, 'it's even splashier now!'

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

• The setting has a well-established, key-person system. Detailed information about children's interests and previous learning is gathered from parents to support staff to plan the settling-in experience. Staff complete home visits and spend time with children and their families in their own home. This helps to develop a trustworthy bond and gives parents the opportunity to ask any questions or raise any concerns they may have.
• Staff use mealtimes to support children's independence. They give children small responsibilities, such as handing out the plates to their peers around the table. Staff remind children to concentrate as they pour themselves a cup of milk. Some purposeful conversations between staff and children take place. However, at times, the environment can be noisy and over-stimulating. This means that children become distracted by what is going on around them and do not fully engage in discussions with their key group.
• Overall, the quality of teaching throughout the setting is good and children display positive attitudes to learning. Staff offer children praise, which supports their motivation to learn. However, on occasions, staff do not always organise themselves effectively or recognise the best times to intervene in children's play. For example, when playing outside, some children lose interest and begin to wander around. Staff do not always adapt their teaching and interactions to fully support children in their learning.
• Children enjoy helping staff to care for the setting's pet rabbits. They display an understanding of the rules in place when caring for the rabbits and proudly explain these to visitors. For example, children learn that they must not poke the rabbit's face. They learn to be respectful and treat animals with kindness and consideration.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Staff use an online system, alongside verbal feedback, to share information about children's learning and development. They support parents with children's learning at home. For example, children take home pictures of characters from familiar stories to support their understanding of feelings and emotions. Parents speak highly of the setting and comment on the strong bonds their children develop with staff. They state their children thrive following the setting's routine and that they feel safe and settled.
• Additional funding is used effectively to meet the needs of the children it is allocated to. Staff are trained to lead small-group music activities to support children's communication and language. The setting has also recently purchased additional percussion instruments for these focused activities. All children, including those with special educational needs (SEND) and those that speak English as an additional language, make good progress in their learning.
• Leaders and managers monitor staff's performance through regular observations and six-monthly supervision meetings. Staff state that that feel happy and supported in their role. They value team meetings when they have the opportunity to share their early years experience and ideas for children's future learning. This supports staffs' overall well-being and helps them to feel valued members of the team.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review arrangements at mealtimes to make sure all children are supported to engage in purposeful conversations that extend their learning
• strengthen ways to guide and support staff, to help them better organise themselves and recognise when to adapt their teaching and interactions, to promote the best possible outcomes for children.