Jungle Hut Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle easily to play and demonstrate that they feel safe. They respond positively to the caring staff and show delight at seeing their friends arrive and they play happily together. They become engrossed helping each other fill up buckets with sand and carefully carry containers of water to mix with it. They begin to initiate their ideas and eagerly stir in conkers or fir cones to their mixture.

Children recognise the familiar daily routines, such as tidy up time, and help staff pick up the toys. They show pride as they find their name card and hang this on the 'kindness tree' to signify that they have been helpful. Staff are keen to support children's learning. They provide a broad curriculum that supports children to make good progress overall.

Children develop their early understanding of the world and literacy skills well. For example, they listen well to a favourite story. They tell staff they can see the spider in the picture, and it has eight legs. They talk about the animals from the story and recognise a parrot, snake, crocodile and a dragonfly in the pictures. They talk about an insect and decide it could be a grasshopper, telling staff that it is not small enough to be an ant.

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

• Leaders have failed to notify Ofsted of recent changes to the committee and nominated person. This is a breach of the requirements of the 'Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage'. However, there is no impact on the children and the provider is improving their knowledge of notifications to be made to Ofsted.
• Leaders support staff to continue developing their knowledge and understanding. Staff have completed training that has raised their awareness of ways to assess and support children's stages of communication and language more effectively. For example, when singing a familiar song, staff emphasis words such as 'big', 'small' and 'tiny'. Children gain confidence and are keen to respond to questions about a favourite story.
• Parents give positive comments about the pre-school and say staff are very supportive to them and their children. Parents comment that their children are happy and make good progress. Staff keep parents well informed about their children's activities. However, they do not liaise as well with other providers children attend, to provide a more continuous approach for children's care and learning needs.
• Staff encourage children's good behaviour effectively. They talk calmly and quietly with children, giving reassurance and support. Staff praise children for their achievements. Children listen well to staff and know their 'golden rules' of using 'kind hands and words'.
• Children have fun using up their energy, such as when running around the school playing field. They hold on tight to a rope to help them climb up the ramp onto a large wooden pirate ship. They confidently cross over a 'wobbly bridge' and jump and climb across the variety of static tyres secured in the playground.
• Staff get to know their key children well and identify how they need to progress next. Staff provide purposeful, interesting activities for children, which helps them make good progress. However, at times, leaders do not monitor practice as well as possible to ensure staff support the individual next steps of learning for all children consistently well.
• Children use their imaginations well in their play. They like to dress their dolls and pretend to change their nappies. Children invite staff to their role play cafe. They make staff an orange-flavoured ice cream and say, 'It will cost £4'. They present staff with a 'cupcake' of sand and tell them to be careful as it might still be hot from the oven.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the arrangements for monitoring staff practice to ensure staff support all children's next steps of learning consistently well
• strengthen the sharing of information with other providers children attend, to provide a more continuous approach to support their care and learning needs.