Little Teapots Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish in this inclusive, welcoming and community-focused pre-school. Highly dedicated leaders, together with the enthusiastic staff, implement an ambitious and carefully sequenced curriculum that meets the needs of every child. Staff know the children extremely well and adapt their interactions and routines to ensure that children feel safe and secure. They deliver engaging experiences with care, warmth and respect. Children delight as they sit with staff to share books. They eagerly match the toys to the animals in the story, naming each one and thinking about the noises they make. Staff praise children's achievements, which raises their confidence and further fuels their love of learning. Children show high levels of motivation to learn as a direct result of the staff, curriculum and environment. Subsequently, they make the best possible progress in their development.

Staff act as excellent role models. They provide exceptional support for children's personal, social and emotional development. With guidance, children are able to identify a range of emotions and discuss strategies to regulate their responses effectively. They explain how they can use the dinosaur's feet to stomp on when they are feeling cross. Staff remind them of this strategy, when needed, during the day. Children mirror staff's respectful, caring behaviour in daily interactions. They laugh and giggle as they take it in turns to throw a ball back and forth to each other before inviting more friends to join their game. Experiences such as these develop children's emotional resilience, social skills and confidence. In turn, this supports their well-being and readiness to learn.

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

• Leaders are inspirational, ambitious and highly reflective. Children sit at the heart of every decision, and their individual needs are carefully considered and meticulously planned for. Leaders foster a positive culture and prioritise staff's well-being and professional development. Staff feel supported and motivated, and they deliver excellent care and education. Leaders' passion for giving every child the best start is shared by all staff, who show dedication and commitment.
• Support for children's communication and language is exemplary. Staff immerse children in a language-rich environment. They consistently narrate younger children's play and engage older children with thoughtful, open-ended questions. They make skilful use of books to enrich vocabulary and promote discussion, encouraging children to predict and explore story outcomes. Children recall repeated phrases from well-known texts. Staff discuss the meaning of new words, such as 'trembling', to further develop their growing understanding of vocabulary.
• Staff know children and their families very well. They gather detailed information from parents when children start, such as developmental overviews and their likes and dislikes. Through careful observations and assessments, staff quickly identify any gaps in learning and provide targeted support to maximise children's progress. For example, children take part in one-to-one and small-group sessions where staff focus their teaching on children's individual next steps.
• Staff provide experiences that promote children's sense of identity and celebrate their diverse backgrounds and cultures. During morning group times, children learn to count and say 'hello' in different languages. Staff use sign language to support children's communication, ensuring that every child has an opportunity to express their needs effectively. Children learn from a range of visitors, including the police, dentists and residents from the local care home. Experiences such as these develop children's understanding of diversity, strengthen their sense of belonging and build on their understanding of the world around them.
• Staff plan an environment that promotes children's early literacy skills. Books are integrated in every area of the provision, and children sit and look at books independently. Children use a range of resources, such as paint brushes, chalk and old typewriters, to make marks in different ways. These experiences help children to develop their fine motor skills in preparation for writing and help them to understand that marks carry meaning. During 'physical phonics' sessions, children link actions to newly learned letters and begin to practise how to move their mouth to make different sounds. After the session, older children set their own challenge of writing the letters on paper. Activities such as these help prepare children well for the next steps in their learning journey.
• Leaders demonstrate an exemplary approach to working in partnership with parents. Coffee mornings as well as arts and craft sessions enable parents to be part of their children's learning journey in the pre-school. Families report that they feel welcomed, supported and well informed about their child's progress. Staff regularly share children's assessments and keep parents up to date with their children's development, enabling them to continue learning at home. Parents state that the pre-school has given their children the 'perfect start to school life'.