Little Stars Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive confidently and ready to play, learn and have fun. They form strong bonds with the staff who care for them. This helps children to feel settled and at ease. Children show high levels of confidence in their interactions with adults. For instance, older children happily approach adults and ask for help when needed. Children behave well. They understand the routines and follow these appropriately. Overall, staff know and support children's needs effectively.

Children engage well in the broad range of learning activities available, which they enjoy. They maintain their interest effectively and develop their concentration skills as they spend long periods engaged in activities. For example, a group of children and a staff member explore toy farm animals together. They talk about the animals and count them. In addition, children identify patterns and different sizes during the activity. This helps them to acquire the skills and knowledge they need for their future learning, including moving on to school.

Staff identify gaps in children's learning well. They understand the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on some children's development, particularly their communication and language skills. Children who need extra help to catch up are identified quickly. Staff involve them in focused activities to support their language development. In addition, they support children at their self-chosen activities. For instance, when children explore play dough, staff introduce and model vocabulary to them.

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

• The team of staff work effectively together. The managers promote staff's well-being in a sensitive and supportive way. Staff undertake professional development opportunities, including training, to help to build on their practice. The staff team generally reflects well on the quality of the pre-school. There are ongoing discussions and reviews, to help identify future improvements. This includes evaluating activities and identifying staff's skills that will help to build on children's experiences even further. For instance, the staff team plans to implement forest school sessions in the future.
• Staff know the children well. They obtain suitable information from parents about children on entry to the pre-school. Overall, this helps them to understand and meet children's needs well. However, staff do not always obtain further details or research information, to help them to further enhance how they reflect children's uniqueness, such as children's similarities and differences, including cultures and other languages spoken at home.
• Children receive a good quality of education at the pre-school. Staff are responsive and interact effectively with children. Overall, staff use most times of the day well, to promote children's development. On occasion, they do not use daily routines as well as possible to extend children's skills, for example to build even further on their developing independence skills.
• Staff ask questions that help children to think and recall information. This helps staff to determine children's knowledge and understanding. Children's development is tracked closely. Their next steps in learning are identified. Staff support these well through their daily interactions and activities that children show interest in.
• Staff model expected behaviours to children effectively. They are polite and calm in how they respond to children and other adults. Staff encourage children's understanding and expectations for behaviour and promote positive social skills. For example, children play ball games that enable them to learn each other's names and which support their understanding of how to take turns.
• Parents and carers comment very positively about the staff and their children's experiences at the pre-school. They say that staff are welcoming and friendly and that the communication with them is good. For example, they receive daily feedback when they collect their children and have access to information online. Parents state that their children enjoy their time at the pre-school and are progressing well. Staff make links with other settings children attend, to share information to support their needs.
• Children learn about healthy lifestyles. This includes becoming aware of dental health and healthy eating, which staff involve parents in. For example, they encourage parents to provide healthy snacks and lunches for their children. Children enjoy being active outside. They spend time outside daily and use equipment that helps to develop their small- and large-muscle skills. For instance, children use different resources to tip and pour water, including measuring jugs, buckets and cups. They strengthen their muscles and coordination as they climb play equipment.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• gather more information from parents, carers and other sources, to further enhance the support for children's individual needs, particularly in relation to their backgrounds, to help reflect these more meaningfully
• make better use of daily routines to support children's learning effectively and build even further on their developing independence.