Little Sunbeams

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy in the pre-school. They are well behaved and sit patiently in a circle listening to staff at the start of the day. Children are good communicators and confident speakers. They answer questions and talk about toys they bring from home to show to each other. Children who are new to the pre-school settle quickly. They form close bonds with staff and this helps them to feel safe and secure.

Children enjoy exploring the resources available for them to choose. They involve staff and other children in their play and share their ideas. Children develop good skills. They paint pictures and manipulate dough which helps them to strengthen their fingers in readiness for early writing. Children are eager to participate in a range of stimulating activities that promote their learning. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress.

Children test their skills and learn to take risks. For example, they use small hammers to tap nails into a pumpkin. They concentrate closely as caring staff show them how to use the tools safely. Children learn to be patient and wait for their turn. They learn to be caring towards smaller and younger children.

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

• The experienced staff team assess children's abilities from information obtained from their parents and their own observations and assessments. Staff are swift to identify any delays in children's learning. They provide effective support for parents and seek professional intervention to promote children's continuing development.
• Staff plan the educational programme in accordance with the interests of the children. They carefully plan the activities and resources they provide to engage children and motivate them to learn. Staff listen to children's requests. For instance, they rearrange the furniture when children say they prefer to use a higher table for their artwork.
• Children play and learn together in harmony. Staff gently help them to become familiar with the rules and routines and encourage strong friendships. Children sit with their friends in the cosy reading area and discuss the books together. Staff notice when opportunities arise to support children's enjoyment of stories and develop their language skills. They introduce new vocabulary and engage children in conversation about their experiences outside of the pre-school.
• Children have free access to outdoor learning. Interesting activities are provided outside to attract children and encourage their physical development. The pre-school room is well ventilated. Children learn to keep themselves safe and take part in regular fire drills to help them understand what they should do in an emergency situation.
• Staff support children to become independent. They help children to understand why they should make healthy choices at snack time. They support them as they learn to pour their own drinks. Staff promote this time as a social occasion and ask children about their preferences for their play and learning. This daily feedback encourages thinking and discussion and helps staff to understand children's wants and needs.
• The manager and staff develop good partnerships with parents. They provide parents with regular information about their children's learning. Parents say that staff are supportive and kind. Some parents were keen to offer positive feedback to the inspector and praise the staff for their nurturing care of their children. However, although parents are encouraged to continue children's learning at home, this is not always successful.
• The manager carries out regular supervision meetings with staff to ensure their well-being and training needs are met. They have faced difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic together with fortitude. Refurbishments to the premises have also provided a challenge but staff have ensured that children stay safe and their learning is not interrupted.
• Staff have worked hard to maintain a clear understanding of their key children's progress and know what they need to learn next. However, these time-consuming difficulties have prevented the manager from maintaining a clear overview to ensure that the curriculum provided by staff is sharply focused and that all children make as rapid progress as possible.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue to build a coherently planned curriculum that focuses sharply on children's individual learning needs and helps to ensure their rapid progress
• increase support for parents to help them engage more effectively in continuing their children's learning at home.