Little Greenfields Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily at this pre-school and are excited to play and learn. Their relationships with staff are warm. Key persons know children well and make sure that favourite resources are on offer. This helps children to settle quickly. Relaxed settling-in sessions enable new children to join in at their own pace. Staff spend time getting to know children before they start at the pre-school. For example, they find out about children's interests and weave this information into what is on offer in play activities.

Children follow simple instructions and behave very well. Older children expertly take turns and share as they play a game about the sounds animals make. Younger children excitedly tidy their toys away when it is time for snack. Most children know the routine well, while those who are new to the pre-school make good use of a 'now and next' visual routine board.

Children enthusiastically sing along to familiar songs and rhymes. They laugh gleefully as they march around the room singing 'The Grand Old Duke of York'. They stand up tall as they climb to the top of the hill, and crouch down low as they climb back down. Furthermore, they learn about simple mathematical ideas as they sing 'Five Little Ducks' and count down from five to one.

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

• Leaders have taken effective action to address the weaknesses identified at the last inspection. Staff have received extra safeguarding training so that they know what to do if they need to report a concern. Leaders have modelled good teaching practice to ensure consistency in teaching. They are passionate about the pre-school and show a strong commitment to ongoing improvement.
• Leaders have a well-designed and ambitious curriculum for all children that builds on what they already know. They are very clear about what skills are most important for the children to learn to equip them for the next steps in their learning. Managers have worked alongside staff to ensure that there is a shared understanding of some curriculum areas. However, there is capacity to ensure that all staff fully understand and implement the remaining curriculum areas.
• Staff know children very well. They understand child development and make sure that learning activities reflect children's interests. They follow a routine that allows for plenty of time for play. There is scope to improve the learning environment to fully support the ambitious curriculum intent. This is particularly in relation to building on staff's knowledge of the characteristics of effective teaching and learning. For example, children relish the gloop mixture, cheerfully making marks and footprints in it with the toy dinosaurs. However, children did not have time to extend their experience of this activity because staff tidied it away too quickly.
• Effective partnerships with parents support the needs of all children. Staff liaise with parents to find out about children's likes and individual needs before they start at the pre-school and during the time they attend. Parents know about their child's ongoing development because they receive regular information through an online communication tool. In addition, staff and parents have daily chats about children's progress.
• Leaders provide regular and varied opportunities for staff to increase their knowledge and understanding. They access a wide range of professional development courses and talk about various topics in team meetings. The manager monitors staff's health and well-being through 'job chat' meetings. This means that they can share any concerns or ideas whenever they need to.
• Staff use their knowledge of child development to highlight any gaps in learning. They put in place strategies for early intervention and ensure that children are making good progress. For children who need extra support, they draw up action plans to support them before making a referral to other agencies.
• Children's communication and language development is a priority. Leaders and staff make sure that their interactions with children are rich in language so that they hear a wide vocabulary. They listen carefully to children, ask well-thought-out questions and give children time to respond. Children listen attentively as staff read well-loved stories to them. They retell parts of a favourite story as they look at books quietly by themselves.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's understanding of the curriculum so that it is embedded securely and consistently across the pre-school
• build on professional development, particularly in relation to the characteristics of effective learning, and use this to further improve the learning environment and fully support the curriculum intent.