Lily Pad In The Park

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at this small and friendly setting. A well-developed key-person system enables staff to build close bonds with children. Managers and staff have a strong focus on ensuring that children are happy and safe. They are sensitive to the time that children have had away from the setting due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and changes in the usual environment. Staff provide a secure base for children, to help them to develop confidence and self-assurance in readiness for learning. Staff know the children well, and value the uniqueness of each of them. This contributes to children's positive self-esteem.

This is a busy and fun setting. The learning environment is interestingly arranged, both inside and outdoors. Children's interests are known and considered when planning the activities. For example, the small-world emergency services theme and treasure maps are provided to link with children's personal preferences. Children know the routine of the pre-school and behave well. Staff monitor children's development as they observe children's learning and progress. Staff have high expectations for all children, they identify next steps for children's learning and plan activities to support their development. Children are keen to learn. They enjoy a good range of creative activities, such as exploring colour mixing with primary colours. Children remain enthused and engaged in their learning. For example, they enjoyed playing in a 'construction' area, enhanced with large bricks, a maze track in the grass, crates to balance on and tyres to roll or climb on. Children also enjoy time and space to explore independently and older children develop the necessary skills in preparation for their move on to school.

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

• The staff team have taken steps to improve the provision following the previous inspection. For example, there are suitable arrangements in place to ensure Ofsted is notified of all committee members who are involved in the running of the pre-school.
• Children enjoy a range of experiences and activities that support their learning. They excitedly make handprints and mix paint as they explore the fun, sensory activity. Children demonstrate their knowledge of early science, explaining that combining blue and yellow paint makes green.
• Staff introduce topics which engage children's interest and support their communication and language. During the topic of 'literacy', children have enjoyed listening to a variety of adapted familiar stories, such as 'The three little pigs' and 'Billy goats gruff'. This created discussions and comparisons about how these are similar to the traditional stories that they know or have at home.
• Children have opportunities for imaginative play in the play kitchen, mud kitchen and construction area. The role-play area is altered to link to topics and children's experiences. Children of all ages enjoy mixing together. Older children are actively encouraged to help younger children, who look up to their older peers with respect. Children's friendships flourish and they are socially confident.
• Children learn through their play and make good progress. They remain busy and play with engagement and curiosity. However, the organisation of staff roles and time management is not always effective. This means that, on occasion, some routines do not run smoothly and become quite noisy when children are moving from one part of the day to the next.
• Staff receive supervision meetings to support their professional development. However, the monitoring of staff performance does not focus sharply on identifying and sharing staff's strengths in teaching and fully consider ways to further develop the quality of practice.
• The staff team build effective relationships with parents. They use regular discussions to share information about a child's progress and have changed the way they communicate because parents do not currently enter the pre-school as they would usually. For example, staff routinely share a range of information, including newsletters, social media and an online programme. Parents speak highly of the setting and say they feel well informed, including throughout the pandemic. Parents comment on the benefits of the small, familiar environment and the individual attention that children receive.
• Staff demonstrate that personal, social and emotional development is a strong area. Staff have focused on integrating the children back into the pre-school following a period of COVID-19 restrictions. Staff nurture children's confidence and emotional skills. This helps children to become confident and independent learners.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• sharply focus the monitoring of staff practice and supervision to enhance the quality of teaching and interactions with the children
• ensure staff are organised in a way that supports children when moving from one part of the day to the next.