Little Acorns Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the setting excited to see their friends. They wave goodbye to their parents and are full of enthusiasm for the day ahead. Children are beginning to manage their own feelings and behaviour. They share resources with each other and wait patiently for their turn. When minor disagreements occur, staff respond sensitively and provide children with solutions to help them resolve the situation. Children achieve well and make good progress in their development. They access a variety of opportunities to support their learning across the curriculum.

Children use their imaginations to act out storylines with the energetic, engaging staff. For example, they hide in the book corner as they pretend there is a pirate outside who is looking for them. Children demonstrate good literacy skills and suggest how the story should evolve. They are engaged and enthusiastic in the learning experiences available. Children develop good listening and attention skills during group activities. They giggle with delight as staff show them different objects of interest that have been hidden in a bucket. In the garden, children build their gross motor skills pushing the wheeled toys up the slope before whizzing back down.

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

• Staff work in partnership with parents. They share information on children's development and how parents can support learning at home. Parents praise the setting and say that they are happy with the progress their children are making. Staff work well with other early education settings that the children attend.
• Staff teach children about festivals and other cultures that are relevant to the children who attend. This helps children to learn about people and families outside of their own. Staff plan activities to support children's understanding of the world. For example, they teach them how to grow plants and flowers from seeds.
• Children are kept safe. They are reminded of the rules and staff ensure good supervision of the children. However, staff have not considered fully how to include teaching about the safe use of technology in the curriculum to further enhance children's understanding of personal safety.
• Staff know the children well. The manager ensures that a robust key-person system is in place. Staff identify when children are not making progress in their learning and seek support from outside agencies. They implement strategies to support children's communication and language, such as sign language. Children are making good progress in their expressive language.
• Children wash their hands after painting and before snack time. They are making steps towards becoming independent. However, at times, staff do use opportunities for children to do even more for themselves, to help them make even more progress in their learning and independence. For example, when children make play dough, staff do not give them opportunities to pour and measure the ingredients.
• The manager provides the staff with regular supervision sessions. She ensures there are adequate opportunities for professional development and training. The manager attends local networking meetings to share good practice with other managers and obtains updated information.
• The manager has worked hard to improve the setting. She has developed new areas of interest. For example, she has introduced a mud kitchen and a sensory corner and has attached guttering to the wall for the children to pour water down. This has led to improved opportunities for children to experiment and learn through their senses. The manager has plans to further improve the setting by introducing a playhouse in the garden to provide even more opportunity for imaginative play.
• Children are curious learners. They show high levels of motivation and sustained focus when taking part in activities they have chosen. For example, children mix together sand and water and explore what happens as more sand is added. Staff introduce children to new words such as 'absorbing' to describe what is happening. Staff support children's communication and language through their interactions. They repeat words back to children to help them with their clarity.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide opportunities for children to do even more for themselves during planned activities and everyday experiences, to further develop their independence and extend their learning
• incorporate teaching about the safe use of technology into the curriculum in an age-appropriate way.