Little Pippins Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are friendly, confident and settled at this inclusive and nurturing pre-school. Their emotional well-being is given a high priority by leaders and staff. This helps children to form close bonds and feel safe and secure. When children start, staff make home visits to meet them and their families. The detailed information they gather, is effectively used to plan activities around children's interests, needs and abilities. For example, children show a true fascination for creatures they find, especially snails. They get excited when staff suggest going on a bug hunt in the garden. Staff skilfully talk about a snail's characteristics, such as the purpose of the spiral shell. Children show their inquisitive natures and ask meaningful questions to learn more. They become competent learners, supported by knowledgeable staff.

An atmosphere of mutual respect is created by leaders, staff and children. Staff are good role models and work together to share clear and consistent expectations for children's behaviour. They are quick to help rectify any minor disputes, such as when related to sharing. Staff sensitively explain the process of treating everyone fairly and suggest ways to do this. They actively support children to develop important skills, such as taking care of their personal needs, in preparation for their eventual move to school. All children, including those with special educational needs and/disabilities (SEND), respond well as they independently take sips of water throughout the day and wash their hands thoroughly before mealtimes.

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

• The pre-school sits at the heart of the community, serving children and families well. Leaders seek new and rich opportunities for children to experience, such as entering harvested vegetables and fruits from their community garden, in village competitions. Local gardeners are invited to enhance staff's and children's knowledge on how best to tend to their produce, from scratch. This combined effort has led to the pre-school winning many of these competitions.
• Children gain a good understanding of culture and diversity through well thought-out activities. Staff work with parents to share cultural celebrations from around the world, such as designing henna patterns for Eid and reading stories from children's home cultures. In this way, children develop a sense of togetherness through meaningful community engagement.
• Children with SEND are supported very well by all staff. Leaders are alert to swiftly address any emerging gaps in these children's development. Timely referrals occur with relevant agencies. The expert's advice forms part of children's personalised support plans. This includes, staff diligently working with targeted groups to improve children's speaking, listening and concentration skills. Additional funding is spent effectively to support those children who receive it, such as providing one-to-one support from trained staff members.
• During independent play, children eagerly immerse themselves in exploratory activities. They demonstrate positive attitudes to learning and enjoy participating in the range of learning experiences, with curiosity and enthusiasm. For instance, children put on face masks in the dental surgery role-play area, use pretend tools to check each other's teeth and give advice on how to brush them. However, leaders do not always consider the effectiveness of some group times that happen as part of the daily routine. During these moments, such as at story time, staff do not always notice when quieter, less confident children lose interest compared to older children who ask and respond to questions. Consequently, in these situations, not all children get the opportunity to share their ideas or build their confidence.
• Overall, leaders monitor the effectiveness of the provision well. For instance, they help staff strengthen their practice in developing children's communication and language. Leaders show that they carefully consider the quality of children's learning experiences in this area. Through their interactions, staff expertly select new words to share and extend children's vocabulary, such as modelling the word 'delicate' to describe a baby snail's shell. However, at times, staff do not always recognise opportunities to extend learning by building on individual children's existing knowledge and skills. This means that, on occasion, children's learning is not always fully maximised.
• Relationships with parents are strong and trusted. Staff keep parents informed of their children's progress through an online application, regular parents meetings and newsletters. Parents value photographs and videos sent to them of their children's accomplishments. They state how their children come home, eager to tell the family about their experiences at pre-school. Parents readily take on advice from the key persons to support children's learning at home, which enhances children's continuity of care and development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support all staff to further develop their teaching skills to consistently take individual children's learning to the next level
• target support more effectively for quieter, less confident children, to help increase their confidence and engagement, particularly at routine group activities.