Jellytots Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children happily arrive at this nurturing pre-school. Kind, caring staff welcome them. Children develop their independence as they hang up their belongings, find their name card and place it on the registration board. They then find a space to sit ready for morning circle time. Children confidently say 'good morning' to their friends and staff. They discuss the weather and their day ahead. Children learn the 'sound of the week' and make links between the sound and words. Children engage well and develop their language skills.

Staff are fun and approachable. Children build secure relationships with them and demonstrate they are safe and secure in the pre-school. In the garden, staff initiate a game. Children giggle with excitement as they run from the 'sharks'. Children use their physical skills to balance and climb on the climbing frame so they don't fall into the 'water'. Staff model play and entice children to join in. Children flourish with the attention staff provide them.

Children learn how to care for animals and watch them grow. Children attentively tend to the pre-school chicks. They watch them play. Staff discuss with the children what the chicks need to stay healthy. Children explain that they need food and warmth. Staff praise children for their answers. Children smile happily, showing how proud they feel.

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

• The manager and her team work very well together. They regularly discuss the children, their ideas and plans. Staff morale is high. They report that they are very well supported. As a result, children are happy and settled. Staff provide a high-quality learning environment that they centre around the children's interests and needs. Children are well prepared for their next stage of learning.
• Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. Children are aware of the pre-school 'rules'. They are very respectful of their friends and play well together. Children make patterns with pegs and peg boards. They concentrate intently as they develop their fine motor skills. When other children attempt to join in, children say 'would you like to help me?' Children are accepting of others and invite them to play.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who speak English as an additional language are very well supported. Staff work closely with parents and outside agencies to ensure the transition into the pre-school is successful. Staff use audiobooks with pictures and other visual aids to support children's understanding. Children are happy, settled and make good progress.
• Parents speak highly of the kindness and support they receive from the staff team. They are well informed of what their children are learning and say they have made good progress. Parents of children with SEND state that the staff have made a 'life-changing' difference to them and their children. Families are very well supported.
• Children excitedly engage in music and movement. They develop their mathematics, listening and attention skills. Staff ask children to select two others to join their dance. Children hold hands and skip to the song. Children mostly participate well. However, on occasion, staff do not support children to fully engage and follow the next steps of the activity. As a result, children are not always aware of what is happening and how to engage successfully.
• Staff foster children's love of books. Children intently listen to a story about animals. Staff identify that children like the book because it uses rhyming words. The children develop their recall when staff encourage them to predict what might happen next in the story. Children are keen to share their predictions. They excitedly fill in the gaps of the rhyming words. Staff finish the story and ask children to tell them about it. Children become confident to join in, share their ideas and what they have learned.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the support provided by staff during group activities to ensure that all children are able to engage successfully.