Little Stars Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

There have been significant improvements to the provision since the last inspection. Staff have worked tirelessly to improve outcomes for children, including developing their understanding of children's learning and development.

Staff are warm and welcoming as children come in. They support children who then confidently select the resources they would like to play with. Staff have improved their management of behaviour. As a result, children understand and, overall, follow the golden rules of the provision, such as using 'kind hands' and 'listening ears'. Children play cooperatively with each other and are keen to include others in their play.

Staff sing and read with children throughout the day. Children actively engage with staff as they do, and this helps develop children's communication skills as well as their love of reading. Children adore using the new garden space. Staff have worked hard to provide children with a space to explore and be curious about the world around them. For example, staff encourage children to go on bug hunts in the garden and to look through their checklists to see what they have found. In addition, children learn about the world and their community around them through regular outings, such as trips to the local library. They have also developed strong partnerships with the local fruit and vegetable stallholder as well as the local retirement volunteers who visit the setting regularly.

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

• Leaders have made significant improvements in their understanding of the curriculum. There is now an ambitious curriculum in place that builds on what children know and can do and is designed with the children in mind. This helps children to make good progress in their learning and development.
• Leaders have a good oversight of the provision and staff performance. They now provide regular feedback to staff about their performance. However, the arrangements for supporting and training staff are still not fully robust to ensure that all staff are consistent in their teaching and their understanding of the curriculum and how to implement this.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) now have their needs met well. Staff have attended training to develop their knowledge of supporting children with SEND. Leaders ensure that prompt referrals are made to relevant local professional agencies, such as speech and language therapy, when needed. They also ensure that children have plans in place to support their learning and development. However, some staff do not yet fully understand the individualised education plans that children are working on to ensure all children experience fully consistent support.
• Staff have developed their understanding of the role of the key person. They recognise the role they play in supporting children's learning and development. There are clear bonds between children and their key person. Children actively go to their key person for reassurance throughout the day when needed before happily going off to play.
• Staff skilfully introduce literacy into everyday routines. For example, children are encouraged to help write and then read the shopping list for their trip to the supermarket. Children excitedly recall the different items on the list as they refer to it while shopping. This helps develop children's early writing and reading skills.
• Staff have built strong partnerships with local schools to support children's transitions to school. This helps children to be prepared for their next stage in learning, as staff know the children very well and what support they will need to flourish at school. Leaders have also used these partnerships to develop an understanding of the skills children may need to learn before starting their local school. For example, following feedback from local schools, staff are developing children's independence skills, such as being able to put on their shoes and coats.
• Parents note that they have seen a vast change in the pre-school since the last inspection. They note that they now feel part of the pre-school and understand what children are learning and what they are working on next.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen arrangements for supporting staff to further improve the consistency of teaching and their understanding of the curriculum
• embed fully the new processes for supporting children with SEND.