Little Frogs Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the setting keen to play with their friends. Staff warmly welcome children, who quickly become interested in joining in with activities in the attractive environment, with plenty to choose from. Children chat as they play together imaginatively and enjoy developing physically in the inviting outdoor area. They learn to pull on waterproof jackets themselves and explore rainwater in puddles and containers.

Parents are full of praise for the staff; they feel that children are helped to learn and settle into the pre-school because of the warm relationships staff develop with them. Children are friendly and behave well together. They learn about taking turns and sharing the resources; for example, when they use blocks to make cars and bikes. If children become upset, staff remain very calm, and they kindly help children to manage their feelings.

Parents value how supportive the staff are and appreciate the effective communication they receive, such as the photographs and comments that staff share about children's learning. Teachers from the schools where children will move on to are invited to visit and get to know the children. Staff also communicate with shared settings that children attend, including childminders, which helps to provide consistency for children across their day.

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

• The manager focuses the curriculum on developing children's language and social skills. Staff provide role-play opportunities for children to practise playing imaginatively in a home, caring for baby dolls and making play food. Staff extend children's experiences further with role-play rockets, where children learn to use new vocabulary. Children are excited to join in together, developing their own ideas, such as adding a 'charger' to the rocket and pulling on 'space boots'. Staff respond to children's interest in numbers as they count down from ten as their role-play rocket takes off, and they introduce mathematical ideas such as 'fast', 'slow', 'up' and 'down'.
• Staff know the children well and liaise with other professionals and parents to provide consistency for children's learning and development, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Some staff are particularly effective in supporting children's communication skills, using signs and visual support, for example. While all staff interact with children and know how their key children are developing, they do not all have sufficient confidence in using a range of strategies consistently to further support children's developing speech. For example, sometimes, staff ask children questions before children have enough understanding of words and their meaning.
• The manager provides support for staff, such as updating their knowledge about first aid, food handling and their understanding about changes in requirements to the early years curriculum. The manager is less effective in monitoring staff's practice, in order to support and coach them. As a result, some staff are less confident about what they want children to learn and how this should be implemented. For example, children are provided with boxes and tape to build rockets, but struggle with managing scissors effectively to complete the task.
• The manager enthusiastically introduces children to stories, books and songs. She carefully considers the books she provides for children's interests, and staff read to children regularly during the day. Children sit together as a group and listen attentively. They delight in joining in with the rhyming language in books and anticipate what is happening in the story. Staff provide instruments and encourage the children to learn songs together. Children enjoy singing 'Jingle Bells' as they prepare for Christmas celebrations.
• Staff support children to become independent; they are encouraged to learn about staying healthy by using tissues and washing their hands before eating. Children learn skills such as pouring themselves a drink and clearing away their plate after their snack. Staff teach children about looking after their teeth by inviting a dentist in to visit and talk with them. Children are encouraged to be active as they run around together in the outdoor area, and staff praise them when they practise skills in aiming and throwing bean bags into tyres outside.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop the effectiveness of systems for supervising and coaching staff in order to support and improve staff practice and knowledge
• improve the effectiveness of staff teaching skills in order to further develop children's speech, communication and language development.