Kingsway Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish and thrive in this extremely stimulating and engaging pre-school. They benefit from a brilliantly resourced environment. It is completely tailored to children's natural curiosity and fascination of the world. Children learn to care for the environment. They learn the importance of recycling and go litter picking in the local area with staff. Even the youngest of children know what is expected of them, as staff set clear and age-appropriate boundaries. Children are extremely polite. When passing visitors, they say 'excuse me please, coming through'. Children are inquisitive, eager to have a go and relish the challenges when they encounter difficulties. They develop excellent concentration and perseverance skills. Children build and rebuild their towers of bricks until they balance successfully.

Children acquire exceptional imaginations. They pretend to make potions that will turn them into lizards. Children climb aboard a pirate ship. They discover buried treasure of shells, medallions, and other resources. Children use a variety of cardboard boxes to create more pirate ships. Children are encouraged to be as independent as possible right from the start. Even the youngest of children dress themselves, make their own sandwiches and are encouraged to hang up their aprons after using them. Children are acutely aware of their surroundings and how they can be active members of society. They identify coats that have fallen on the floor and go and hang them back up, even if it is not their coat. Children develop extremely high levels of confidence and social skills. Children approach visitors and introduce themselves and their peers.

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

• Children and the wider family are at the heart of everything the managers, staff and committee do. Everyone contributes their knowledge, skills, time and care to the pre-school community. The committee members act out their roles proudly and have an active role in pre-school life. They organise regular parents' coffee mornings. Parents describe the pre-school as a 'family'.
• The managers are extremely passionate and have ambitious visions for the pre-school, which they implement seamlessly. Their curriculum is worthy of sharing with others. The managers have an excellent understanding of child development. They use this knowledge to ensure that all children receive high-quality care and education at all times.
• All staff have a first-rate knowledge of how children learn. They work cohesively together to provide exceptional learning opportunities for children. Staff are completely led by children's interests. Children loved the crochet sandwiches in the role-play area. This has led to children writing shopping lists for staff, so they can go and get ingredients to make their own sandwiches at pre-school. Staff continually reflect on their practice. They make sure they are always providing children with exactly the care and education they need to make the best possible progress.
• The managers carefully monitor all children's progress, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They swiftly identify gaps in learning, so the appropriate support can be implemented. For example, they identified a slight gap in listening skills. They introduced resources, such as a drummer, for children to develop in this area. Consequently, no child gets left behind.
• The managers and staff really value parents as their children's first educators. They educate parents, in detail, on their curriculum and how they assess children's learning. This enables parents to support their children's learning at home seamlessly. Parents comment on the incredible work the staff carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic. They provided video calls where staff read stories. Parents received communication from their child's key person. Staff provided weekly online challenges for children and their families. Parents speak very highly of all the staff. Staff provide workshops to support parents. They recently held a session on the 'Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage' and the next workshop planned is to help with children's transitions to school.
• Children acquire excellent language skills for their age. Staff continually add new words into children's vocabulary. They skilfully ask children questions in their play and encourage them to speak in longer sentences. Children develop a strong love of books. Older children spontaneously choose a book from the book corner and sit and trace their finger along the words as they make up their own story. Younger children snuggle up with dolls and pretend to read to them.
• Staff place a high importance on supporting children's emotional and physical well-being. Staff have incredible bonds with the children. Children take part in yoga sessions and have recently been visited by a mindfulness coach. Children self-regulate exceptionally well, as staff support them to deal with disappointment superbly.
• The managers and staff support children to have extremely high levels of respect for each other. They embrace similarities and differences, and children get to experience the wider world at pre-school. Children feel a sense of belonging as everyone is represented. Parents attend to share their family cultures and ways of life. Children have recently learned some Spanish words and all about the foods their peers eat at home.