Little Barn Owls Pre-School Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show confidence, a sense of belonging and well-being at this pre-school. They choose the activities they want to do and become fully engaged in their play. For example, children explore real vegetables. They cut up courgettes, use toy tills and price labels on the vegetables to play shops and practise their counting. Staff work closely with all parents, including those whose children have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They successfully adapt activities, so all children can take part and take care to meet children's specific needs. Staff are caring and spend time with children, which helps children build positive relationships with them.

Staff follow children's interests when planning activities. They help children lead their own play and extend their learning by allowing them to try things out and explore. For example, children digging in the sandpit say they want to make sandcastles, but the sand is too dry. Staff suggest they add water and allow them to choose how much. Children learn when the sand is too wet it gets stuck in their bucket. This learning comes from positive staff involvement with children's play and experiments.

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

• Since the last inspection, the manager and the staff team have taken positive steps to address the actions raised. Staff have completed training relating to teaching and how to improve their interactions with children. The manager has improved the coaching and support she provides for staff. She encourages staff to observe one another's practice. These changes have helped improve staff's confidence and provided them with additional knowledge. This has had a positive impact on the quality of education children receive.
• Overall, staff are effective in promoting children's communication development. Children are confident to speak to staff about what they are doing. Staff talk to children as they play and introduce new language and vocabulary. For example, as children explore toy sea creatures, staff help them to learn their names, such as stingrays and hammerhead sharks. However, staff continually ask children lots of questions rather than continuing with natural conversations.
• Children benefit from the staff's positive and encouraging involvement during activities. They are encouraged to develop their independence skills. For example, they use knives safely to spread butter on their toast and help themselves to toys and books from the shelves. At the end of the session, children eagerly help to tidy toys away.
• The staff know the children well and plan activities that provide age-appropriate challenges. Children enjoy learning about new topics, such as healthy eating. Staff successfully incorporate discussions about good food choices and how different foods affect children's teeth. Children come together for large-group activities. However, these activities are not planned to meet the needs of the children who take part.
• Parents state they are happy with the pre-school. They comment on how well staff meet their children's individual needs. Parents like the daily communication about children's activities and how their child has been. The positive working partnership helps staff to gather information about what children enjoy doing at home. They use this information to plan activities that broaden children's experiences. For example, staff ensure children have daily opportunities to play outside. Staff take children to the local shopping centre to purchase fruit and vegetables for snacks and to find out what happens at the hairdresser's salon.
• Children are interested in the activities and motivated to explore and take part. Children understand the daily routines and know what comes next. Staff are respectful of children and support them to behave well. They are consistent in their approach and give children gentle, but clear reminders to share resources, consider the feelings of others, and work together.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff's teaching of communication and language to support and encourage children's conversational skills further
• improve the organisation of larger group activities to ensure they have a clear purpose and meet each child's needs.