Hughenden Valley Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled. Their emotional needs are met well. The kind and caring staff have successfully built secure attachments with their key children. Children confidently explore their surroundings and make independent choices about what they want to do.

The experienced staff team provide an inclusive environment for all children and their families. They are committed to ensuring that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are given fair opportunities. They work effectively with other professionals involved in children's care. This contributes towards the good progress all children make from their individual starting points. For instance, younger children confidently demonstrate good physical skills as they climb the steps of a slide. Older children spend long periods focusing on activities that interest them, such as building a cargo ship using interlocking bricks. They eagerly tell adults that these carry containers across the sea and are delivering their cargo to a different port. This helps children to build on what they already know and develops their knowledge and understanding.

Children demonstrate a positive attitude to learning and develop a 'can-do' attitude when faced with challenge. For example, they adapt their approach when the brick towers they build repeatedly fall. When they finally succeed, they celebrate their own achievements. This helps children to develop confidence in their own abilities and shows a willingness to learn through trial and error.

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

• Children behave well and have a positive attitude to learning. They are kind and considerate and play happily alongside others. They willingly follow instructions and complete simple tasks, such as helping to tidy up toys and wiping tables in preparation for lunch.
• The manager has constructed an ambitious curriculum that is designed to give all children the knowledge and skills they need for the next stage in their learning. However, when planning activities, some staff are unclear of the learning intent and do not consistently focus precisely enough on what individual children need to learn next.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Parents say their children are supported well to learn new skills in the friendly environment. They comment that children are happy and settled and have made excellent progress since attending the pre-school. Staff use effective ways of communication, such as social media and face-to-face meetings, to share information with parents. This keeps them informed about the activities provided and children's progress.
• Overall, teaching is good. Staff have high expectations for children's progress and provide activities that they enjoy. However, they do not always consider how these can be adapted so that all children, especially babies, can become fully involved. Subsequently, babies occasionally watch, rather than becoming absorbed in the experiences provided.
• Staff embed mathematical development well. Children use mathematical language freely in their everyday play. They count the number of bricks they use to build a tower. Children use the language of size and capacity when they compare different sizes of pumpkins.
• Children have a good understanding of the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle. Staff encourage them to follow good hygiene routines, such as regularly washing their hands. Children are encouraged to make healthy food choices, such as choosing from a range of fresh fruits for snack.
• Children enjoy the time they spend outdoors and are eager to explore features of their environment. For instance, they throw seeds from a sycamore tree into the air and discover that these spin around like a helicopter. Other children show pleasure in watching a feather as it flutters in the wind. They giggle with delight as it goes out of reach and try to catch it.
• Leaders and managers are committed to supporting staff's ongoing professional development. Staff benefit from regular training and supervision sessions to help develop their knowledge and skills. They have completed targeted training to enable them to develop positive strategies to guide children's behaviour. This has helped staff to support children in understanding how their behaviour impacts on others.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to have a more detailed knowledge of the curriculum intentions so that they can focus more precisely on what they want children to learn
• further improve the planning of activities for babies to help them become more fully engaged and benefit from purposeful play and learning experiences.