Little Rainbows Community Preschool CIC

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children's happiness and enjoyment are at the heart of this setting. As children arrive, staff greet them warmly, helping them to feel settled and secure. Babies' emotional well-being is enhanced by staff who know them well. Staff recognise when babies are tired or hungry, giving comfort and cuddles to calm and soothe them. Toddlers and pre-school children greet their friends and staff with enthusiasm. Older children are quick to share what they have been doing at home and what they want to do in the setting that day.

Pre-school children remain highly engaged through focused attention, and demonstrate good listening and attention skills. They are curious and explore their environment. Staff help children to develop positive friendships. Confident children are happy to remind their friends of the expectations of the setting, such as remembering to wash their hands before snack time. Babies join in with singing sessions. They clap their hands and try to copy the signs that staff do.

Children of all ages are supported to behave well, and they demonstrate a positive attitude toward their learning. They learn to be kind, share and cooperate. This is demonstrated in the baby room when babies learn to take turns when coming down the slide. In the toddler room, when friends are upset, children comfort and reassure them. Pre-school children display patience as they use sand timers to wait for their turn to the equipment.

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

• Since the last inspection, the management team and staff have made significant improvements and have addressed the actions and recommendations raised. Risk assessments are effective in ensuring that areas that children have access to, as well as activities that they are engaged in, are suitable and safe.
• Overall, staff interactions help children to develop their imagination and communication well. Staff encourage children to think about what resources they could use in their pretend doctor's surgery, using appropriate language to support this. They observe what the children can do and, overall, build on this as they play. However, sometimes, staff focus too much on what they want children to learn and not what children's needs or interests are. Therefore, at times, staff do not interact in a way that fully supports all children to develop the most skills and knowledge.
• All children develop good physical skills and enjoy exploring the environment with the staff's encouragement. Pre-school children have fun as they confidently use scoops in the mud kitchen. Staff support two-year-old children to set up an obstacle course and carefully practise balancing and other physical skills. Babies begin to expertly cruise around furniture and climb low-level steps up to the slide. However, staff do not make the most of the space available for children to play. The environment becomes crowded, and staff are not able to provide children with the attention they need to get the most from their chosen play.
• Children with special educational needs are very well supported in this setting. Staff take time to get to know their individual needs, working closely with parents and outside agencies as needed. Activities are tailored to support their individual needs and allow focused play. For example, staff use 'what's in the box' activities to help children concentrate and build their communication skills.
• Parents and carers comment that staff help all children to thrive and grow. They speak highly of the setting and the positive relationships that staff have with their children. Parents state that staff are dedicated to children's happiness and well-being, which is apparent in the confidence that children have developed in their care. They say that they feel fully involved in their child's care and education, and note how much effort goes into staff building strong relationships with members of the children's families.
• Staff report high levels of well-being, and comment on the positive staff team and supportive management. The manager completes regular supervision meetings where key children are discussed and training needs identified. However, the management team do not use what they know about staff's gaps in practice to target and drive improvement for some individuals.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to understand and recognise how to provide children with the best support during play to get the most from activities to support their learning
• improve how staff use the environment during child-led play to be able to better support all children
• target professional training for staff to strengthen their skills in teaching and learning to bring about the best improvement for children.