Jumping Jacks Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and their families are welcomed at this homely setting. Children enjoy playing with resources provided by staff who know them well. They spend time making maps and talking with staff about directions to get to the beach. This encourages their communication and thinking skills. Staff promote children's emotional well-being. They encourage children to identify how they are feeling using different 'emotion' bottles. This supports children's understanding of themselves. Staff plan activities to develop children's language, physical and social skills. Babies use soft-play equipment to climb and balance. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported to walk around the garden. This successfully builds children's confidence.

Children behave well. They offer to help staff by being 'special helpers'. Staff frequently praise and encourage them. Children delight in feeding the guinea pigs and helping staff count how many children are in the pre-school today. This develops children's personal and social skills well. Staff plan a motivating and stimulating curriculum based on children's interests. For example, children sustain high levels of interest when looking for bugs outside. Staff promote children's talking and thinking skills well. They explain patiently to children how they can turn their magnifying glass around to look more closely at the stick insects they have found.

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

• Managers are proactive and hard-working. Since the last inspection they have ensured all staff have undertaken further safeguarding training. Managers ensure staff are well qualified and supported in their roles. They work well with the local authority to support improvements in practice.
• Staff plan a varied range of activities for children and have a clear idea of what they want children to learn. However, at times, staff are not always deployed most effectively to support all children in their play. This means, on occasion, staff are not aware when they could involve themselves further in children's learning to help them move their learning on.
• Staff promote children's understanding of others. Children who speak English as an additional language are included well. For example, staff learn words in different languages to help the children settle in. They encourage other children with the same languages to communicate together. This helps children to become familiar with the setting and each other.
• Children benefit from opportunities to develop their literacy skills. Staff have created 'room bears' that go home with children regularly. Children enjoy sharing the adventures that the bears have. This helps children's communication skills. However, at times, staff do not fully extend the conversations they have with children to support language skills even further.
• Children with SEND make good progress. Staff actively liaise with relevant agencies for support and advice. Children who could not walk when they started are now taking their first steps. Staff support children well, providing comfort and reassurance that build children's self-esteem.
• Staff ensure they provide children with a range of activities based on their interests and needs. For example, babies enjoy exploring 'gloop' in a tray. Older children who are interested in Chinese New Year spend a long time making fans, proudly showing their friends. They confidently ask for what they want.
• Children begin to become more independent. Older children go to the toilet independently and help wash up their plates and bowls. Younger children know to get their coats on when they go outside. However, at times, staff do things for children that they are capable of trying for themselves. This does not support children to fully extend their self-care and independence skills.
• Children benefit from staff who are good role models. Staff encourage children to be kind to each other and to use good manners. They promote children's positive behaviour. Where children need support, staff explain to them how their behaviour affects their friends. They offer children choices and demonstrate how to use timers to help them take turns. This helps support children's sharing skills well.
• Communication with parents is good. Parents are well supported. For example, the setting use funding well to provide additional holiday sessions for families where needed. Staff share important information regularly with other agencies and partners to support children's transitions to school. Parents talk highly of the friendly and approachable staff.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance staff's deployment and their awareness of where to position themselves to support all children fully in their play and learning
• extend staff's knowledge and understanding to recognise when they can support children's engagement and language skills further
• support staff to identify when older children can do things for themselves to support their developing independence skills.