Hollies Road Pre-School Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are greeted with a smile and a cheery word from leaders and staff, who take the time to welcome each child into the setting on arrival. Children are happy, settled and demonstrate that they are comfortable in their environment. They know the staff well and separate easily from parents. Interactions between staff and children are effective, with staff extending children's play and learning through sensitive questioning and supportive modelling. They encourage children's love of stories and song through daily activities. Staff model effective language and introduce children to new words, such as 'submarine'. This helps children to develop a love of reading and helps to extend their language and vocabulary.

Leaders and staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. Routines are well established and understood by the children, who know what is coming next. Staff encourage children to share and take turns. They teach them to respect their friends and support children to explore this through small-group activities. Leaders and staff offer a wide variety of experiences for children. They take the children out in the local area to visit shops to buy ingredients. They also go on trips to the library and for nature walks in the woods. Staff teach children to take controlled risks, such as how to use a zebra crossing to cross the road safely. These activities support children's knowledge of the community and the wider world around them.

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

• Leaders and staff plan and implement a well-sequenced curriculum. Focused activities are well planned to provide the necessary skills and knowledge children need to take their learning to the next level. However, intentions for self-initiated learning are less well planned and do not always meet the needs of the most able children. As a result, independent learning is less impactful on children's development.
• Staff teach children about the wider world through events and experiences that mean something to them. For example, they celebrate Spanish Day with food, music and learning about Spanish culture. Staff also invite parents and children to join them to celebrate events such as World Book Day, Halloween, and Christmas. This helps children to develop an understanding of the world around them.
• Children's good health is promoted well. They learn the importance of good oral health and participate in daily toothbrushing. They know the importance of washing their hands, to keep them clean and to stop the spread of germs. This helps children to learn about personal hygiene and how to help prevent infection and cross-contamination.
• Staff deliver interventions and follow plans provided by external agencies to help all children make progress. They make referrals to other agencies and professionals, such as speech and language and occupational therapists, to ensure that children get the support they need to make progress, regardless of their needs and abilities.
• Parents feel involved in their child's learning. Staff provide parents with home-learning packs. These help them to keep up with what their child is learning and to support their learning at home. They also provide advice and support to parents on behaviour and toilet training. This promotes a coordinated approach to supporting children's learning.
• The new leadership team has a clear vision of what it wants from the setting and has worked tirelessly since its appointment to make improvements to practice. The team aims to implement a new performance management structure to be more effective in highlighting areas of training for staff in order to help improve outcomes for children.
• Supervisions are in place and are supported by staff observations. There is evidence that some of the actions identified from these observations have been implemented. However, leaders do not always focus on identifying the impact from actions taken. This means leaders cannot assure themselves of the effectiveness of the actions taken on improving outcomes for children.
• Leaders use additional funding effectively to enhance children's individual development. For example, some funding has been spent on purchasing equipment for a sensory den to support children with additional needs. This helps children to make progress in these areas and ensure their nursery experience is tailored to their needs.
• Leaders and staff support children to be polite and courteous. They model appropriate behaviour and encourage children to use manners. Children learn to identify emotions. This helps them to talk about their feelings and identify how their feelings affect others.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• focus more precisely on intentions for children's learning during free-choice activities so that learning opportunities are well matched to children's needs
• build on the supervision arrangements for staff that focus on the impact of actions taken on improving outcomes for children.