Little Paxton Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create a friendly, welcoming atmosphere for all children. They greet children and families warmly, fostering good relationships and ensuring that children feel safe. Children independently choose resources for their play and request assistance from staff when needed. For example, they observe and listen as staff teach them how to use scissors safely, paying close attention and eventually mastering it on their own.

Staff help children to develop strong early literacy skills. Older children confidently write their names on their artwork. Younger children build their vocabulary as they join in with familiar stories and rhymes. Children are becoming confident communicators. Staff ensure that the pre-school environment is inclusive for all children and provide them with good quality learning experiences. For instance, staff help to promote a love of books as they read to children in a quiet area. Children listen carefully for extended periods. Staff use questioning well to deepen children's understanding of the story and make predictions about what will happen next to support their literacy skills.

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

• The pre-school offers a nurturing space that caters to every child's care and learning needs. Staff know children well and carefully plan activities based on the things they need to learn next. They work with a wide range of other professionals to provide specialised support for all children and their parents. To ensure that children are adequately prepared for school, transition sessions are conducted in collaboration with schools. Parents comment that the pre-school feels like a 'little community'. They describe the ways in which the pre-school has helped with their child's learning at home.
• Staff's engagement and interactions with children are extremely positive and supportive. Staff enthusiastically join children's play, respond to children's requests and answer their questions. This helps children develop positive attitudes towards their learning.
• Parents are invited to the pre-school to share information about their occupations. Recently, they were visited by a parent who is an engineer. These types of visits help to broaden children's experiences.
• Staff know children very well and complete regular assessments to ensure that children are making good progress. Staff use these assessments to inform the planning of activities. Activities are fun and engaging, with clear learning outcomes. However, at times, the activities provided are not well adapted to allow individual children to build on what they already know and can do effectively. This prevents some children from making the best possible progress.
• Leaders and staff are focused on continual improvement. They share an ambitious vision for the pre-school and are proactive in making changes to the provision. For example, they recently received a visit from the lending library and hosted a zoo at their pre-school. These activities have significantly enriched the children's experiences.
• Staff report high levels of well-being, and they are appreciative of the support they receive from their management team. As a result, staff morale and retention remain high. Leaders provide regular supervision meetings for staff to identify continuous professional development. Staff attend all compulsory training to keep their knowledge and skills up to date. In-house training is also provided. However, it is not always targeted well enough on staff's teaching skills to provide the highest possible standard of teaching across the setting.
• Children learn to become independent and manage their own self-care needs. They learn that they should apply sun cream to protect their skin in the sun. Staff teach children about hygiene routines and about healthy eating. Children form healthy habits and learn skills for life.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consider how they can further improve children's participation in set-up activities so that all children can engage in learning
• provide more targeted professional development support for staff so that they consistently extend children's learning.