Little Flyers Preschool & Wrap-Around

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and keen to enter this nurturing and engaging pre-school. They are greeted warmly by staff and readily complete their morning tasks. For instance, they enthusiastically find their pegs and hang up their belongings, separating from parents with ease. The recently reviewed curriculum is ambitious for all. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress. Staff support children with visual aids, such as timetables and emotion cards, and teach them how to use ways to use signing to communicate. Children clearly benefit from being able to converse in a variety of ways with staff and their peers.

Children behave well. They enjoy playing with each other and generally share popular resources, such as ride-on toys. When children find this challenging, staff teach children to use timers to help them turn take. These are used to good effect. Children enjoy the wide variety of activities that staff plan for them, both inside and out. They remain stimulated and engaged in their play for prolonged periods of time. For instance, children delight in making colourful potions and choose items, such as herbs and flowers, from around the garden to enhance this further.

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

• The pre-school is led by a committed team, who are passionate about their work with young children and their families. They have a clear view of what they want children to learn during their time at the setting. The indoor and outdoor areas, activities and resources are adapted when necessary to ensure that all children, including those with SEND, have equal access to the provision. For example, leaders have installed a calming space with sensory resources for children who need time to regulate their feelings when they become overwhelmed. Leaders engage effectively with a range of other professionals, such as speech and language therapists, to gain advice on how best to meet individual children's needs.
• Interactions between staff and children are attentive and engaging. Staff listen to children and respond thoughtfully. They take opportunities to challenge children and to model new vocabulary. For instance, when children play in the water tray, staff ask children to 'half fill' jugs and challenge them to move water from one space to another without spilling 'even one single drop'.
• Children's independence skills are supported well. Children manage their own toileting needs effectively at suitable stages of development and use the independent nose wiping station, when required. Staff help children to understand how to keep themselves and their friends safe. For example, when climbing and turn taking on the climbing equipment.
• Children benefit from the embedded routines at the setting. They know how to sit for group time and how to line up before going outside. Children enjoy registering themselves in the morning and joining in with action songs together during carpet time. Such routines help children develop a sense of security and support an effective transition to school.
• Staff monitor and assess children's progress over time. They plan activities that consider children's interests and stages of development. The activities are stimulating and engaging. However, at times, learning intentions are not planned to target children's individual next steps in learning. This does not always fully support children in building on their current knowledge and skills.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. There is an excellent two-way flow of communication and parents feel that they are heard. Regular parent questionnaires have supported the pre-school in making positive changes, such as the addition of a communication board being placed outside each day. Parents state that managers and staff are always available to listen to comments, and offer advice and support when needed.
• Leaders place a strong emphasis on staff's well-being. They continually evaluate the pre-school and have regular meetings to discuss the whole provision. All staff have completed paediatric first-aid training along with a variety of other courses, such as how they can help children to communicate effectively. Staff feel supported and that their workload is manageable.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff practice to focus more precisely on children's next steps in learning to fully support children's learning.