Little Berries Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish in this outstanding pre-school. From the outset, the manager and her staff have extremely high expectations for children. Staff's focus on children's personal, social and emotional well-being is foremost in the vision and ethos of the setting. Children develop exceptional social skills. They behave well and are kind, caring and thoughtful. For instance, as they share the drawing board, children ask their friends if they can remove some of their artwork to make a little space for them. Children recognise the needs of their friends and make space for them, showing consideration and kindness as they reply, 'of course'. Children's behaviour is exemplary.

Staff plan and provide a sequenced curriculum that follows children's interests. Staff focus on children's communication skills is exceptional. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make tremendous progress in all areas of education. Staff provide exciting activities that ignite children's curiosity. They help children to persevere when learning is more challenging and expertly adapt teaching to the individual needs and abilities of each child. Children engage extremely well and remain highly focused as staff expertly interact alongside them. For instance, as older children learn to count, staff teach them some written numbers. Children successfully learn to match numbers to quantities as they count out favourite coloured ponies confidently. Children gain a strong foundation of skills for their future learning

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

• The manager and her staff work exceptionally well together. Their shared passion for ensuring that children benefit from high-quality care and learning opportunities is evident in all that they do. The dedicated manager leads her team with a clear vision for what she wants children to achieve from the outset. The deep understanding of the curriculum aims, including how this is woven through children's daily experiences, by all staff, is outstanding.
• Staff benefit from the manager's coaching, supervision and support to help them achieve at their full potential. The manager regularly helps staff to reflect on their own skills and knowledge. Together, they consider how they can build on their knowledge to most benefit children. For instance, staff have undertaken speech and language training, which they use to help refine some children's speaking and concentration skills. Staff say that they really enjoying working at the pre-school. They feel valued and exceptionally well supported.
• Staff prioritise children's early communication skills at every opportunity. There is very good support in place for all children, including those with SEND. Staff develop strong links with other professionals in education and health to help provide a consistent approach to support children's learning. Staff provide children with expert teaching that focuses on speech and language acquisition. This has an extremely positive impact for all children, including those who are pre-verbal, those who speak English as an additional language and those who are less confident to share their ideas.
• Children are highly independent. Staff intuitively support their needs. They know children's capabilities and skilfully give them space and time to develop their coordination skills. For instance, toddlers chose to put on their socks and shoes as they get ready to go outdoors. Children concentrate and persevere, succeeding at pulling on socks and fastening shoes. Staff praise children with a 'high five'. Children respond with pride as they celebrate their growing skills.
• Teaching is exceptional. All staff know children extremely well. Opportunities to weave learning into activities are expertly captured by staff. For instance, children learn to estimate and count the number of cakes missing in the story. They check their estimations as they work out how many would be left if one more was taken. Toddlers learn how to hold pens and trace shapes, as staff teach them about squares and hexagons. Pre-school children learn about changes in nature as they explore pine cones and conkers. They listen to staff's explanations of how seeds are stored and then share this information with friends, as they enthusiastically remember and recall new knowledge.
• Partnerships with parents are exceptional. Staff know children and their families extremely well. A shared vision for helping children to benefit from shared learning is a strength of the setting. Parents are fully involved in supporting learning at home. Staff offer ideas and suggestions of activities that children enjoy and those that would help to build on children's progress. Parents talk about how they help children with reading, counting and cooking. Parents say that staff are amazing. Staff support families, and parents feel that children are cherished in the setting.