Longstanton Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children have fun and enjoy their time in the pre-school. They collect water in buckets from the garden tap, pouring the water in the mud to make muddy puddles. They then squeal and laugh as they jump and splash wearing their wellington boots. Staff ensure they take the time to get to really know children and their families. This helps them to offer a fully tailored approach to their care and learning. Children demonstrate the close bonds they have formed with staff. They sit on their knees for cuddles and happily talk about the things they do at home. Staff smile and use warm facial expressions in their interactions. This helps children, especially those who are very new to the pre-school, to feel welcomed and secure.

Children are confident. They busy themselves at activities and demonstrate a positive attitude to learning. Children demonstrate good language skills that enable them to express their needs and wants with adults and each other. They show kindness towards each other. For example, they offer to pass the fruit tray to their friends at snack time. Children engage in plenty of games and activities that help them to learn about sharing and taking turns.

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

• Leaders and staff have worked hard since the last inspection to improve the pre-school and the experiences children receive. They ensure staff understand their intent for children's learning and follow an ambitious curriculum that is sequenced to build on children's knowledge and skills. Staff plan around children's emerging interests and have a clear understanding of what they can do and what they need to do next.
• Overall, staff demonstrate good teaching skills and an understanding of how children learn. Staff demonstrate, support, and encourage children during activities to help them learn and achieve new skills. For example, how to balance on one leg and breathe calmly during yoga. However, some staff do not always recognise when they need to adapt their teaching to fully challenge and extend children's learning.
• Children have many opportunities to practise skills that enable them to become confident to care for themselves and gain independence. At snack time, children prepare and serve food, they pour their own drinks and wash their plates and cups. Children dress themselves for outdoor play and understand and follow hygiene rules. Children are consistently praised for their efforts and achievements, helping to build their self-esteem and confidence.
• Staff provide good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and know the children and their families well. Children are provided with a learning environment that consistently meets their needs. Staff work closely with other professionals to help children receive appropriate support to help them make good progress.
• Communication and language are a key focus for the pre-school. Staff read stories and sing songs throughout the day. Daily routines, such as self-registration, help children to begin to see and recognise their name in print. Visual clues and flashcards provide a further way to help children to communicate and understand rules and routines. Staff have engaged in training that has strengthened their understanding of how to promote children's speech and language as they play.
• Staff have formed strong relationships with parents, and they warmly greet parents and children on arrival. There is constant communication with parents regarding their children's time at the setting and they are invited to attend special occasions, such as an International Day of Language, where parents read stories in their home languages. Story sacks and a book lending scheme help parents to encourage and support children's learning at home. Parents comment very positively about the pre-school and the bonds their children have developed with all staff.
• Staff work very closely together as a team and share the same vision for the pre-school. Leaders closely monitor the delivery of the curriculum and provide staff with regular mentoring and training opportunities that help to continually improve practice. Staff morale is good, and they say that they feel included in decision-making, such as planned improvements to outdoor play spaces. Staff's well-being is fully considered and supported by leaders.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to understand how to consistently extend children's learning.