Little Potters Pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders and staff warmly welcome children into this inclusive pre-school. Children show they feel safe and secure as they confidently explore their environment and enthusiastically share with new people what they enjoy about the pre-school. Staff and leaders know their children and families well. They focus strongly on meeting all children's needs, consistently supporting their emotional well-being. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are active, motivated learners who thrive when attending.

Staff plan learning environments meticulously around children's interests to support and build on their learning and development. Children are highly motivated as they explore the outdoors with determination. They confidently select from the range of resources on offer. Children use the water dispenser to pour water into their sand mix and use different tools to make pretend cakes for their friends. This helps develop their physical skills.

Staff foster a mutually respectful environment with children. Children behave well and listen to each other. When children become overly excited, staff remind them to be kind and help them to understand what is expected of them. Staff play games with children. For example, they count together the steps they need to reach the pretend wolf. Children giggle in sheer delight when they run away so they are not caught. This helps children develop social skills when playing with others.

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

• All staff work very closely with families to find out what prior experiences children have already had. The team reflect and adapts the curriculum, experiences and environment to support children's next steps. For example, staff provide opportunities for children to learn how to care for animals. Children experience first hand how to care for duck eggs and watch them hatch and grow. This provides children with rich learning experiences, supporting their understanding of the world.
• Parent partnerships are strong. Staff adapt how they share information to be fully inclusive for all families that attend. Parents comment positively about the care their children receive and the support staff provide for their individual circumstances. Staff regularly share with parents what their children are learning in the pre-school and how they can support children's learning at home.
• Leaders have made changes to the routines to support the different ages of the children who attend. Most of the time, children engage in their learning. However, there are times when staff interrupt and stop children's learning to ask them to join in with group time. As a result, during some of these group times, some children struggle to stay focused and can become slightly distracted as they want to continue playing.
• Staff plan a range of activities to support children's learning and development. Children excitedly take part in these as they count out pom-poms into cones to help with their understanding of mathematical concepts. However, during some activities staff who are less confident do not always adapt their teaching techniques to extend children's knowledge further. This means not all children make even further progress in their learning.
• Leaders complete regular supervision with their staff. Staff attend meetings and a range of training opportunities to further their professional development. Staff comment they feel a valued member of the team and leaders promote a positive culture that supports their well-being.
• Support for children with SEND is highly effective. Staff work in close partnership with external agencies and professionals to help children with SEND make expected progress. Staff use various strategies to help children with their learning when they struggle to self-regulate. For example, they offer a dedicated sensory area that they adapt to meet the needs of the children, such as providing a swing that allows them time to calm down and support them to re-engage and be ready for the next activity.
• Staff support children with transitions, which helps children to adapt well to change. For instance, the pre-school provides a tailored and flexible settling-in process to meet the individual needs of children. Additionally, staff promote children's confidence and self-care routines effectively, which prepares them well for going to school.
• Children thoroughly enjoy listening to stories read by staff. Staff use puppets and props during the story to help bring meaning to the pictures children see. Children confidently join in with familiar parts of the story. This promotes their listening and communication skills and develops their use of vocabulary.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support less confident staff to develop their teaching practice to help extend children's learning even further
• develop and modify routines even further to allow children the time to lead and engage in their own learning.