Hopscotch Tuel Lane Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children receive a warm welcome on arrival. Staff provide a calm and nurturing environment, which enables children to feel safe and secure. They understand the importance of supporting children's personal, social and emotional development. They are kind and always available to children who need emotional support. Children independently find their own names and photograph to stick on the self-registration wall. This helps children feel a positive sense of belonging. Children behave well. They are confident to explore and show a positive attitude to their learning. They particularly enjoy being outside, where they enjoy using sweeping brushes and water to make patterns on the pavement. Staff help children to begin to understand how their bodies work. For instance, children know they need to rest to recover after running around outside. Children know they need to drink water to rehydrate.

Staff regularly discuss children's next steps in learning to ensure that all staff know children well. This promotes continuity in children's learning. Children learn independence through everyday routines. They take pride in spreading butter on their toast at snack time, and staff support them as they learn to wipe their own noses. Staff recognise children's efforts and achievements, and children receive lots of praise and encouragement. This builds children's confidence and self-esteem.

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

• Managers and staff plan a well-balanced curriculum, which is effectively sequenced throughout the pre-school. Staff know what skills children have already learned and what they need to learn next. For instance, staff know that children show an interest in colour and making marks. Staff encourage children to investigate colour changes. For example, children predict the secondary colour that mixing two colours will make.
• Staff support children to develop their mathematics skills. For example, they introduce positional language, such as 'top', 'middle' and 'bottom' as children play with bricks. Children talk about size as they play with dough, breaking this into small and large pieces. They confidently make spiders and count the spider's legs.
• Staff provide healthy and balanced snacks for children. They ensure that children's dietary needs are met and implement good hygiene procedures. Staff offer advice and support to parents on how to promote good habits with food. This helps children and parents to make well informed decisions about the foods that they bring in their packed lunches.
• Staff position storybooks carefully in the pre-school. Children happily present them to staff, confident they will be read to. Staff make sure that they read clearly and slowly so that children can join in. They extend children's knowledge as they read by asking questions and introducing new vocabulary. This helps children to develop a love of books.
• Staff act as good role models. Children use good manners, and they are respectful towards each other. For example, when children want the same shape cutter, they discuss who should use it first. This helps children to learn how to take turns.
• Partnerships with parents are effective. Parents say that their children have made good progress in their social and independence skills. Parents say they 'couldn't ask for any better'.
• The manager has built positive links with staff at the local primary school. There are effective systems in place to support children when they move on to school. Staff take children to the local school, and teachers visit the pre-school. This helps to promote consistency in care, learning and children's welfare.
• The manager and staff are passionate about making continual improvements within the pre-school. The small staff team feel extremely supported in their roles and morale is high. The manager provides access to a wide range of support and mandatory training for staff to enhance the quality of teaching.
• Staff place a focus on communication and language. Staff enthusiastically join in children's play and role model new words. They encourage children to develop their imagination as they pretend to take orders and eat fruit and cake in the pretend café. However, on occasions, staff do not provide sufficient time for children to think and respond to questions or comments, to enhance their skills even further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on staff interactions with children to make sure children are given enough time to think and respond to questions and during discussions.