Little Bears Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The setting provides a safe and nurturing environment for children. Children settle quickly and are happy and content. Staff have positive relationships with children and know them well. The key-person system is effective. Children behave well and are kind and polite towards their friends. They have good listening skills and follow instructions from staff. For example, children listen carefully as staff play musical instruments in a range of ways. They move quickly or slowly to the beat and stop and freeze when staff stop playing.

Staff have high expectations of what children can achieve. They plan interesting activities and provide challenging next steps to build on what children already know and can do. Children benefit from well-thought-out environments that reflect all areas of learning. They learn about healthy lifestyles and enjoy daily opportunities to go outside for fresh air. Staff teach children about diversity and different places around the world. They help children to understand what makes them unique. Children enjoy celebrations and festivals that are relevant to them. For example, on Saint David's Day, parents teach children Welsh and how to bake Welsh cakes.

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

• Members of the management committee do not have a secure knowledge and understanding of their roles and responsibilities. They have failed to inform Ofsted of changes to the nominated individual and committee members. As a result, Ofsted has not been provided with the information required to check the suitability of all committee members. However, there is no risk to children's safety because they do not have contact with the children.
• The manager provides a broad curriculum. She knows what she wants children to learn during their time at the pre-school. Staff are sensitive to individual children's backgrounds and plan activities they want all children to experience, such as baking and growing vegetables. The manager carefully tracks children's progress so that any gaps in learning are quickly identified and appropriate support is put in place. Consequently, all children make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff have a good knowledge of how young children learn, and use this to support children's learning and development. They skilfully weave mathematical learning into play. For example, staff encourage children to measure worms that they have made from play dough, and use words such as 'longest', 'shorter' and 'half'.
• Overall, staff support children's communication and language development well. There are plenty of opportunities for children to enjoy singing songs and nursery rhymes. Staff follow specialist programmes to support children's early language skills. They read books with great enthusiasm to engage children. However, at times, staff ask too many closed questions, and questioning is not skilful enough to develop sustained conversations with children. Furthermore, quieter children are not given enough time to think and respond.
• Routines are well established and children are familiar with them. Children develop good independence. Older children confidently put their own wellies and coats on and younger children try themselves before staff support them. Staff regularly praise children for having a go. Therefore, children have high levels of resilience. For example, a child perseveres when attempting to throw pom-poms into a box and they demonstrate pride in their achievement.
• Staff have established positive partnerships with parents and other childcare settings. Parents share positive feedback about the regular communication they receive, including daily updates and termly newsletters. They comment how pleased they are with the way staff support their children's learning and the progress they are making. Staff share information with other settings children attend, such as two-year-old progress checks. Children are well prepared for the next stage of their learning and for starting school.
• The manager provides regular meetings and effective supervision to staff. She evaluates the setting to identify any gaps in practice that need improving. Staff attend appropriate training to develop their teaching skills further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider must:

• ensure members of the management committee fully understand their roles and responsibilities and inform Ofsted of any significant changes to committee members and the nominated individual so that necessary suitability checks can be carried out. (by 27 May 2022)

The provider should:

• make greater use of open-ended questioning to extend children's conversations and allow them time to think and respond.