Kirkham Pre-School Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle in extremely well as a result of the caring and cheerful staff team and effective care practices consistently implemented. Staff show high expectations of children's achievements. As a result, children very quickly become independent, confident and motivated learners who delight in exploring the large, free-flow environment and wide range of activities available. Overall, staff support children well in developing positive behaviours. Children are beginning to learn to manage their feelings and enjoy reminding their friends about the pre-school rules.

The carefully designed and informed curriculum means the activities, experiences and interactions from staff are ambitious and well matched to the needs of the children. Staff provide an array of resources and activities that promote children's large-muscle skills. Children use planks of wood to create a see-saw. They rock back and forth using excellent balancing skills. Later, they use their small muscles to operate spray bottles to wash away their chalk markings. Staff incorporate stories, songs and time for quality interactions, which successfully promotes children's communication and language skills. Children listen and join in with familiar songs.

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

• The curriculum is very well sequenced and continually builds on what children know and can do. The manager and staff fully understand the way in which children learn. They ensure that children have plenty of opportunities to learn, embed and practise their new skills and knowledge to ensure learning builds over time. Children make good progress.
• Overall, the manager ensures that the curriculum is well understood and implemented by staff. However, staff are less well informed of some areas of the curriculum. As a result, planning and interactions from staff do not always contribute to delivering the curriculum intent in order to precisely promote children's learning needs.
• Activities are carefully planned to provide children with exciting and stimulating opportunities to practise their skills. In turn, children show high levels of concentration and strong motivation to complete tasks. Children develop excellent attitudes to learning.
• Staff use positive reinforcement and consistent reminders to help children learn safe behaviours, such as using their 'walking feet' while inside. However, the curriculum for supporting children to build relationships is not fully understood by all staff. As a result, children are not always supported to learn to play cooperatively and take turns with others.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is excellent. The pre-school special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is entirely committed to ensuring that children with SEND have the very best start to their early education and that their needs are met. With the manager, the SENCo works tirelessly, through strong partnership working, to ensure that children's needs are well known and met .
• The professional development of staff is highly effective. The manager uses insight from performance management to determine training needs that best promote the needs of the children. As a result, children benefit from interactions from staff who are skilled, knowledgeable and confident.
• Children's good health is very well promoted. There is a strong focus on children being active, and staff teach them about the impact of exercise on their bodies. These messages are well understood, as children talk about needing to drink water after lots of physical play to help them cool down.
• Staff work closely with parents and value the benefit of establishing trusting relationships to further support children. Parents are provided with information about their children's progress, and staff value the information parents provide about their children's learning at home. This good two-way flow of information helps to ensure that children's needs are well known by all involved in their care and learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• embed the curriculum intent more securely and consistently so that all staff have a firm and common understanding and what this means for their practice
• strengthen the curriculum to promote children's skills in managing their own feelings and behaviour.