Little Acorns Pre-School Moulton

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create a welcoming atmosphere, where children are happy and settled. Children arrive excited and eager to start their day. Staff know their key children well and form good bonds with them. Children display positive attitudes to their learning. They select where they want to learn from the range of activities that staff carefully plan for them. For example, children spend an extended time making cakes using conkers in the mud kitchen. They talk with their friends, counting how many cakes they each have in their pan. Children are confident to ask for support from all the staff, showing they feel safe and secure in their care.

Staff are excellent role models. They support children to build caring and respectful relationships. At group time, staff remind children to listen to each other as they reflect on what they have learned during the morning. Staff support young children to share toys as they play in the sand tray. Older children wait patiently for their friends to climb the ladder as they take turns to go down the slide. Children learn the pre-school expectations and follow instructions well. For example, children tidy up when staff sound the tambourine and then sit down for group time. Children's behaviour is very good.

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

• Managers plan a curriculum that builds on what children know and can do. Staff use what they know about the children to help plan learning experiences, which focus on children's interests. For example, children pretend to make bread using the play dough. Staff plan activities for children to make their own bread and then eat it. Children engage well in this learning.
• Staff monitor children's development and are prompt to identify gaps in learning. They work in partnership with parents and other professionals to plan and provide support. For instance, they use gestures and visual cues to help children understand routines and express their needs. This helps all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff support children's communication and language development well. Children enjoy joining in songs and stories at group time. Staff use vocabulary such as 'juicy' and 'sticky'. Children repeat these words to their friends as they cut and squeeze different fruits. Staff engage children in conversations, valuing and responding to what they say. This helps children to become confident communicators.
• Overall, staff support children to be safe. They remind children to use 'walking legs' inside and to be careful of other children when riding the scooters. However, in some instances, such as children walking up the slide in socks, staff intervene too quickly by telling them they could slip and fall. Therefore, children do not learn how to assess and manage their own risks.
• Managers and staff work together as a committed team. They communicate well and contribute to the smooth running of the pre-school. Managers support staff to deliver the curriculum, such as through regular meetings and giving feedback on their practice. This helps staff to know how to best support children to reach the next stage in their learning. Staff mention that they feel valued and listened to and that the pre-school is a 'wonderful' place to work.
• Overall, parents are very happy with the care their children receive. They have daily communications about their child's day. Parents talk about how staff have supported them with toilet training. However, staff do not provide parents with information about their children's next steps or how they can further support children's learning at home. This reduces parents' opportunities to fully support and extend learning at home.
• Staff support children to develop their physical skills. Children crawl through small spaces on a climbing frame, balance on scooters and use the pedals on a tricycle. Staff provide opportunities for children to develop their hand-eye coordination, such as pouring and scooping water into containers. These skills help children to develop their independence when pouring water into a glass at snack time.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support children to manage and assess their own risks during play to further enhance their learning
• provide parents with information about their children's progress and how they can support and extend learning at home.