Little Fir Trees Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle quickly and easily in the pre-school, which parents and carers attribute to the very good support from staff. Children develop resilience as they learn how to work together, share and take turns during activities. Staff skilfully support this by only stepping in to manage any minor disagreements when absolutely necessary. Children show high levels of independence. For example, they recognise that they need an apron to join the water play and take themselves inside to get one.

Children relish music activities. They move around with high levels of enthusiasm to familiar folk songs. They remember the lyrics and dance, climb, jump and hop with control and coordination. Older children demonstrate that they have good core strength and balance as they play outdoors. They carefully step up the bank in the garden and climb the ladder into the playhouse.

Children have very good attitudes to learning. They show focus and concentration as they try to complete tasks, such as clipping paper onto a clipboard. Older children work collaboratively to mix 'Gruffalo crumble'. They stir the mixture and predict what will happen when they add more of a certain ingredient. Staff support children's vocabulary development as they encourage them to describe the texture and introduce new words.

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

• Staff have high expectations for all children. They ensure that the curriculum identifies the key skills, knowledge and understanding that children need for their next stage of learning. Staff know the children very well, and know what they are capable of and what they need to learn next. Parents explain how their children 'flourish' in their learning and development while at the pre-school.
• Staff have frequent and informative conversations with parents to ensure children's needs are met. They ensure that parents know what their child is learning next so that they can support this at home. Parents describe the staff as 'amazing'. They praise how effective the support is to help children to get ready for their move to school. They value how staff give children opportunities to participate in new activities to broaden their experiences.
• Managers are very effective in supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They skilfully use monitoring and assessment tools to quickly identify children's needs. They provide targeted support to help children to catch up if they are behind in their learning. They have well-developed partnerships with other agencies to make early referrals, so that children get the support they need as quickly as possible. They make good use of additional funding to enhance children's progress.
• Staff provide varied opportunities to help children to develop respect for others. For example, they encourage children to vote for where they want to play outdoors, to support them to recognise and value others' views.
• Children benefit from good-quality interactions. Staff join in with children's self-chosen play to support their learning. For example, they encourage children to work out how to complete a jigsaw and give helpful instructions when they are struggling. However, on occasion, staff do not extend an activity to help children to develop further. For example, children ably kick a ball to each other. They repeat the same action until they lose interest.
• Managers are considerate of the well-being of staff and reduce unnecessary tasks, such as completing paperwork. They use the performance management of staff well to drive improvements to practice. A recent focus on communicating with children ensures that staff give children time to join in with conversations to understand and answer questions. Children have good communication skills and make relevant and meaningful contributions to discussions.
• Staff provide adult-led activities so that they can teach children specific skills, especially those who are getting ready to go to school. During a group activity, children demonstrate that they clearly understand the expectations. They also listen, greet each other and answer questions. However, staff do not always adapt these activities to ensure that they are fully supporting what they intend children to learn.
• Children are developing high levels of independence. For example, children of all ages are learning to manage their packed lunch, deciding what order to eat their food in and placing their belongings away when they have finished. They have a go at opening difficult packets before asking for assistance.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the planning of adult-led activities to focus more precisely on how children will achieve the intended learning
• support staff to enhance their interactions with children to provide the highest levels of challenge so that they make the best possible progress.