Little Dunmow's Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and excited to start their day at the pre-school. Staff greet children by name and engage enthusiastically in discussions with them. This helps children to settle quickly and feel valued. Children develop positive relationships with the caring and nurturing staff, helping them to feel safe. Staff provide a stimulating learning environment that supports children's interests. Children are keen to explore and seek out their friends to join in with their play. They show high levels of curiosity, concentration and enjoyment as they play and learn.

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They are good role models and have a consistent approach to managing behaviour. Children behave well. They are polite, listen to others, take turns, and share the resource. Children develop good communication skills. They readily engage in conversations and demonstrate their growing vocabulary as they confidently share their thoughts and ideas with staff and each other.

Children have plenty of opportunities to learn and play outside. Staff encourage children to challenge themselves as they climb, jump and balance. Staff praise their efforts and children smile with pride. This helps to develop children's physical skills and promotes their confidence. Children strengthen their small hand muscles as they use spoons and forks to dig and scoop mud and flower petals into pots.

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

• The provider, who is also the manager, is dedicated and highly ambitious. She is a strong leader and works closely with her enthusiastic staff team to continually develop the provision and provide high quality care and education for all children. Staff know children very well. They provide a broad curriculum that reflects children's ongoing emerging needs and development. The staff team invest time getting to know families well to help them understand about children's backgrounds and their lives at home. They share information and advice, and parents advise that staff 'go over and above' to support them.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well. The knowledgeable special educational needs coordinator is confident in her role. She works effectively with parents, staff, and other external professionals to ensure that children swiftly get the help they need. Support is put in place to help children work towards achievable targets. This helps children make good progress in their development.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills effectively. They encourage children to engage in back-and-forth conversations, showing genuine interest in what they have to say. Staff model language and introduce new words. Children enjoy listening to stories and looking at books in the cosy book area. They enthusiastically sing familiar songs and join in with the actions.
• Overall, staff provide an ambitious, well sequenced curriculum and children make good progress. They use observations and assessment to plan opportunities to support children's learning and to help them develop the knowledge and skills to be ready for school. Staff demonstrate good teaching practice. However, at times, staff do not ensure they challenge and extend children's learning as far as possible to help them make the most progress.
• Staff provide effective resources to spike children's imagination, promote their thinking and help them to extend their own play. For example, children concentrate as they pretend to type on keyboards, speak into telephones and carefully wrap dolls in bandages in the 'doctor's surgery'. They chop and prepare real vegetables in the play kitchen, adding additional ingredients, such as rice and pasta that staff provide in jars.
• Parent partnership is strong. Parents say their children are 'enthusiastic to attend' and that staff are 'supportive, caring and professional'. They comment that their children flourish and make good progress. Parents value the regular updates they receive about their children's development and how they can support learning at home. This helps to provide continuity in children's care and learning.
• The provider meets regularly with staff to discuss any concerns they may have and to provide feedback on their practice. She encourages staff to engage with professional development opportunities to enhance their good knowledge and skills further. The provider places a high priority on staff well-being and staff advise they feel supported and enjoy their roles. This promotes a happy atmosphere throughout the pre-school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to strengthen their already good teaching skills, to challenge and extend children's learning as far as possible consistently.