Little Bears Preschool

Inclusion: Strong standard

All children achieve well in the pre-school. Leaders and staff provide families with a warm, welcoming, inclusive environment where every child is supported to thrive. Leaders recognise that children may lack experience in a wide range of cultures and diversity. They provide a range of activities to help children discover the world around them. For instance, children show an interest in the flags of the world and staff use this as a learning opportunity. Leaders enhance the resources in the pre-school to continually promote this area of children's development.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their wellbeing and learning are effectively supported by leaders and staff. Leaders work closely in partnership with other agencies involved with children. They gather and share detailed information and use this to meet their individual needs. Staff complete a range of assessments to help them swiftly identify children's learning needs. Children benefit from targeted teaching to close gaps in their development. This swift and precise action means that some children no longer need further support from other professionals, and they are discharged from other services, such as speech and language support. Feedback from other professionals who work with leaders and staff is highly complimentary. They say that they receive reports with the highest levels of detail, which helps them to accurately support children and families to promote the best possible outcomes for them.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Children show consistently high levels of engagement and enjoyment in the activities and experiences provided by leaders and staff. Leaders have high expectations for all children and provide an ambitious curriculum. Young children demonstrate high levels of independence as they enter the pre-school. They begin to develop the skills they need to start school from an early age. For example, they greet staff and then find their name on the table for self-registration. Children are confident to ask staff for help and are often supported by their friends in the pre-school. For example, children work together as they build structures from magnetic shapes. They talk about their idea and discuss ways to strengthen this and make it taller.

Children practise and enhance a variety of skills in every experience they participate in. For instance, staff provide activities to help children develop their grip and the strength in their fingers and hands. Young children delight as they experiment with potions and press the 'squeezy bottle' to get the mixture out. Older children independently use paints and brushes with exceptional control and produce paintings with a high level of detail. They proudly show staff the picture of themselves with the wildlife they have seen in the pre-school woodland garden. Staff support children to develop a thorough understanding of every aspect of mathematics. They offer individualised levels of support and challenge, particularly for children who excel in this area. For example, they use comprehensive questions to ask children how many girls and boys are in the group, and how many altogether. Young children collect cups and accurately count them out.

Achievement: Strong standard

All children make very positive progress in relation to their starting points. They are well prepared to start school and develop these skills from an early age. Children with potential delay in their speech benefit from focused small group sessions. They swiftly close gaps in this area of their development.

Children demonstrate high levels of self-esteem and independence. They build and maintain positive relationships with each other and understand how to use effective communication to share their ideas and work with others. All children show high levels of enjoyment in learning. They know how to take turns and readily share their resources and experiences with their friends. Children achieve well in their literacy and mathematical skills. They describe the main features of their chosen book and recall and retell favourite traditional tales during their play. For example, children build different types of houses outdoors and then discuss how the 'three little pigs' needed a strong house to hide from the wolf.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

All children benefit from consistent, well-established routines, which they are very familiar with. This is because their attendance is high and staff know them very well. Staff greet families on arrival and welcome children into the pre-school. They gather any information needed to help them make necessary adaptations to meet children's needs throughout the session. Children remove their packed lunches from their bags, hang their coats up and retrieve their name for self-registration. Staff teach children about the importance of personal safety and good hygiene. Children willingly line up to have sun cream applied and talk about the dangers of sunburn. All children know why they need to wash their hands before they sit at the snack table, and older children relish in supporting younger ones to complete this task.

All children demonstrate a consistently positive attitude to learning. They are resilient and determined. Staff are exceptional role models for children and consistently speak to them and each other with kindness and respect. This influences children's positive behaviour, and they use extremely good manners and are very helpful.

Staff provide large- and small-group sessions as part of children's daily routine, which they adapt to meet the differing needs of all children. For example, children sit together in a large group and enjoy singing and story time. Staff sit with the youngest children to help them develop confidence to join in. Children benefit from a small-group time during snack, and staff use every opportunity as a learning experience. For example, young children collect the correct number of cups they need for those at the table. Older children learn about halves and quarters as they chop fruit with staff.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders and staff prioritise children's emotional wellbeing and welfare. Staff establish close, secure relationships with families, which help children to become confident and self-assured. Children thrive in the environments carefully prepared by staff. High-quality learning outdoors mirrors indoors, and children benefit from the serene atmosphere in the woodland by the stream as they play and explore in the fresh air. Children develop a wide range of physical and self-care skills that help them to become independent and prepared for the next stages in their learning. Staff help children to understand how to make healthy food choices and regularly talk to them about this. Children thoroughly enjoy the fresh fruit provided at snack. Staff consistently promote children's safety. They chop grapes in children's packed lunches and they provide information to families about oral hygiene and online safety. All children demonstrate high levels of self-esteem and are proud of their achievements. They maintain high levels of focus and attention, beyond typical expectations for their age.

Children with barriers to their learning and wellbeing are supported by leaders and staff. They use extra funding to purchase specific resources and provide children with more sessions. For instance, children benefit from using a teepee to observe the group when they feel they need a quiet space. Staff ensure children have flexible settling-in sessions to help them to become confident at pre-school. They work in partnership with parents, carers and other professionals to ensure they have detailed and robust information to enable them to meet children's individual care needs.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders have high expectations for staff, children and families. They provide all children with high-quality environments in which they can learn, grow and thrive. Staff are encouraged and supported to develop their own skills and knowledge. They access a range of professional development opportunities that benefit children but also help them to develop as high-quality early years staff. For example, leaders gain qualifications to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff have become 'maths champions' and children excel in this area of their learning. They are nurtured by leaders who show care and consideration for their positive wellbeing.

Leaders have a consistently clear oversight of the needs of the families and children who attend the pre-school. Their community is centred in their ethos and while they celebrate the strengths of rural village life, they are aware of potential gaps in children's experiences and tackle these before they start school. Leaders and staff regularly work together to evaluate the pre-school and make continual improvements. Partnership working is an overall strength within the pre-school and consistently promotes continuity for children's care, learning, welfare and wellbeing. Parents and carers speak very highly of the experiences they have in the pre-school and the progress their children make. For example, parents describe their children's progress as 'staggering and astonishing' and say that the pre-school is 'a safe place, led by experienced and caring staff'.