Hop Skip and Jump

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children at this pre-school are happy, engaged and show that they feel safe and secure. They arrive eager to meet up with friends and are provided with an exciting curriculum. Children are very motivated to learn and persist with activities they enjoy. They have tremendous fun in the well-resourced outdoor mud kitchen. They take on familiar roles as they wash dishes and cook dinner. Children enjoy using their experiences and imagination to create stories with small-world people in the doll's house. They chatter away to friends as they explore features on the doll's house and rearrange furniture.

Children's behaviour is good. Staff are positive role models and clearly communicate to children what is expected of them. This supports children to learn to negotiate and share with one another. Children have daily opportunities to develop their physical skills. For instance, they access wheeled toys, soft-play resources and balls in the large hall. They develop their hand-eye coordination when they play catch with staff and take turns throwing balls into buckets. Children develop strength in their hands and fingers in preparation for handwriting as they access dough. Regular outings and nature walks in the local community further help develop children's physical strength.

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

• Staff foster children's literacy skills well. Children listen to daily stories intently during circle times activities and delight in answering questions as they recall what was read. The pre-school implements a lending library, which enables children to borrow story sacks, filled with props, to take home. This supports children to build on their love of familiar stories with their family in the comfort of their homes.
• Children develop a good understanding of mathematical concepts. Staff have a good knowledge of how to bring the teaching of mathematics into everyday routines. For example, while creating pretend cakes with dough, children are encouraged to count the number of candles on their cake. This helps to support their understanding of number.
• Staff regularly assess children's progress. They effectively use this information to carefully plan opportunities for children to develop their skills and interests.
• Parents speak positively about the care their children receive in the pre-school. They feel that the staff are welcoming, and their children are progressing well in their learning and development.
• Snack time is a sociable occasion, where staff sit at the tables with the children. Staff engage children in meaningful discussions to reinforce the importance of making healthy choices. They talk about food that is good, and not so good, for their bodies to encourage children to make healthy choices. Parents are responsible for providing their children with healthy snack and lunch boxes. Children follow good hygiene practices. For example, they wash their hands before meals and are taught to cover their mouths when coughing.
• There is a key-worker system in place that supports children to transition into the pre-school. However, when children start at the setting, staff collect limited information about children's development and interests from parents. This hampers staff's ability to build on what children already know and further enhance their transition into pre-school.
• The staff closely monitor children with suspected delays and special educational needs and/or disabilities. They quickly purchase resources, and seek professional advice, for children who may need additional support. Staff are proactive in signposting parents to external groups to further build on and extend children's development. This helps to ensure children benefit from the targeted support they need.
• The staff are successful at engaging and supporting the entire family unit. They recognise and respond to the differing needs that some families have. Staff organise workshops where parents can extend their knowledge and learn new skills. For example, they learn cookery skills and what to expect from the early years foundation framework. This helps parents gain ideas about healthy eating, and how they can continue their child's learning at home.
• The management team have a positive and ambitious outlook for the continuous development of the pre-school. Staff take part in meetings and have access to a broad range of online and face-to-face training. They complete courses on subjects such as 'How Learning Happens' and 'Supporting Physical Development'. This helps to promote positive outcomes for children and contributes to the pre-school's further development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the information gathered from parents when children first start, to ensure their starting points and interests inform planning.