Little Butterflies Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and enjoy their time at the setting. They receive a friendly and warm welcome from staff, with whom they have formed secure bonds. Staff treat the children with kindness and respect. They listen to, and act upon, the views and ideas of children. Children display high levels of confidence and are keen to interact with visitors. They are praised for positive behaviour and for using good manners. Children have formed friendships and are kind to each other. They play together harmoniously, even when adults are not present. They can negotiate and decide on ideas for their play. Children develop narratives for their role-play games and spend extended periods of time engaged in these activities.

Staff members are knowledgeable and effectively support children's developmental needs. Key persons have effective methods of developing relationships with, and seeking information from, parents so they know the children well. They adapt their practice to meet children's individual needs. Children's interests are considered when learning experiences are planned. This ensures children have high levels of engagement. As a result, all children make good progress from their starting points, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

• The manager is reflective and has a clear and ambitious vision for the nursery that is shared with the team. They strive to deliver high-quality care and education. Staff are offered support and coaching to help them carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively. They are encouraged to complete regular training courses and attend development meetings to raise the quality of education provided for the children to an even higher level.
• Children are becoming confident communicators. Staff have meaningful conversations with children that are personal and individual to the child's needs. They model words for the children to hear and introduce new words to extend their vocabulary. They use effective questioning to encourage children to vocalise their thoughts. Children are encouraged to communicate with each other. For example, staff encourage them to tell their friends what they have found in the garden.
• Children's independence is promoted well. At snack time, children are provided with child-sized jugs so they can pour their drinks successfully. They carefully use knives to butter their fruit loaf. They put their art work onto the drying rack without needing reminding. Children are encouraged to wash their hands before eating and wipe their noses and put the tissues in the bin. However, staff do not encourage the children to wash their hands after they have done this. In addition, staff do not always wash their own hands after helping children wipe their noses. This does not promote positive attitudes towards good hygiene practice.
• Children behave well and interact positively with others. However, when children need to be gently reminded of the rules, staff do not consistently provide suitable explanations to enable children to develop a deeper understanding of the rules and boundaries. For instance, they remind children not to walk around with scissors in their hands without explaining to them why this could be dangerous. As a result, children do not gain a clear understanding of why the rules are in place to enable them to self-regulate their behaviour.
• Children have access to fresh air as they move freely between the indoor environment and the garden. Children have fun rolling down the hill on their sides. They laugh as they splash in the water when filling buckets with funnels and tubes. They are keen to take part in a bug hunt, searching the garden and ticking the bugs off on their lists. Staff encourage the children to look up the bugs they have found in a book so they can learn some facts about them.
• There is a strong partnership with parents. Parents speak positively about the setting. Staff share detailed information about what children are experiencing at the setting and what they want children to learn next. Parents are given suggestions about activities they could complete with their children at home. The setting works in close partnership with the on-site school. This ensures continuity of care.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to implement the nursery's hygiene procedures in relation to handwashing consistently
• improve consistency in how staff support children's understanding of the impact of their behaviours and why there are rules in place, so that they can learn to self-regulate their behaviour.