Little Learners Preschool Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are excited to learn in this stimulating and welcoming setting. They arrive happily at the pre-school and immediately seek out their peers. Children form affectionate bonds with the staff, who help them feel safe and secure. They are encouraged to express their views at every opportunity. For example, children are asked whether they want to go to the local park or stay at the pre-school. Children behave well. They display polite and respectful behaviour to their peers and staff. Children skilfully use timers to help them share toys and wait their turn. For example, one child finds a timer and tells another they will 'wait their turn' to play with a chosen car.

Children love the outdoor environment. They are physically active and demonstrate good balancing and climbing skills in the garden. Children develop an awareness of risk and confidence. For example, they walk along planks with their peers as they try to 'escape' from a member of staff, who is pretending to be a crocodile.

Children develop their mathematical skills as they play out in the garden. For example, children use scales and weights to test out how heavy some vegetables are. Staff encourage children to make the scales balance and praise them as they manage it. Children show a great sense of achievement and encourage other peers to have a go.

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

• The manager and staff have a clear vision of what they want children to learn from the curriculum. They tailor their curriculum to focus on communication and personal, social and emotional development to meet the needs of their children. Staff prepare children for the next stage in learning. For example, they support children as they grow in confidence and make new friendships.
• Staff know children well. They use information gathered from parents and from regular observations of children to find out their individual interests. They use these to successfully plan interesting and stimulating activities, to further develop children's learning.
• The manager and staff have identified a need to develop some children's communication and language skills. They highlight gaps in children's learning and seek support from relevant external agencies. Staff support children's language development within the setting by modelling language and introducing new words, such as 'pak choi'.
• Children excitedly join in with group activities led by staff. They enjoy playing 'pictionary' on the whiteboard. Children give each other clues using phonic sounds. There are, however, some occasions where quieter children are not fully supported with joining in with others, as staff do not engage as effectively with those who are less confident.
• Staff work well as a team and support each other. They communicate regularly to support children's learning effectively. For example, key persons explain to each other new methods in how to communicate with children who have a speech and language delay.
• Partnerships with parents and families are at the heart of the pre-school. Parents speak positively about the staff and how their children enjoy attending, comparing it to, 'finding a gold nugget.' Staff use parent's home language to communicate with them. They educate parents about the curriculum, and parents are inspired to replicate the learning and resources at home.
• Staff encourage children to be independent. Children follow the morning routines as they arrive and independently hang up their coats and bags. They continue to use their independence skills throughout the day. For example, children open their own lunchboxes and packets of food inside at lunch time.
• Staff incorporate numbers and mathematical language into daily routines and play. Children fill ice-cream cones with sand to make pretend ice creams for their friends. Staff support children to count how many scoops of sand it takes to fill the cones to the top. Children then serve ice creams to their friends and patiently wait as their peers come over to collect them.
• Children use their imagination well as they play with plastic minibeasts. They giggle as they find different 'bugs', and then use binoculars and magnifying glass to examine them. They then enjoy ordering the minibeasts into size order.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure quieter children have access to the same learning experiences, during group activities, as the more-confident children.