Marden Pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Caring staff support children effectively to be ready for the move from home to the welcoming pre-school. They invite parents and children to attend settling-in sessions, which they tailor to meet their individual needs. This helps children to become familiar with their surroundings and build secure relationships with staff from the very start of their attendance. Children arrive happy, leave their parents and/or carers with ease and are eager to engage in their chosen play. Staff greet children with a smile as they arrive and offer a reassuring cuddle if needed.

Each morning, staff take children out for walks into their community. This helps them to be physically active and learn about the world around them. Staff support children's communication and language skills well. They encourage them to listen to the sounds they hear, such as the birds singing. Staff engage children in thoughtful conversations and ask them to recall past learning experiences. Children are eager to talk about the lambs they recently saw. Staff use mathematical language, such as the words 'big' and 'small', to describe the lambs. They help children learn how to keep themselves safe. For example, they remind them to hold hands and to stop, look and listen as they cross the quiet lane back to the pre-school.

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

• Children make good progress in their learning because staff have a good understanding of child development. They provide an ambitious curriculum inspired by children's interests. Although staff make regular assessments of what children know and can do and use this information to plan for their future learning, there are times when staff do not consider how to provide the older and most able children with resources and experiences that help to challenge their thinking and extend their learning further.
• Staff organise the learning environment generally well. They provide structure to the day and support children to independently access a wide range of toys and resources. That said, at times, children's play and learning are interrupted as they are left waiting for prolonged periods of time. Staff do not always organise themselves or the resources well enough to manage everyday routines effectively.
• The enthusiastic and experienced manager is dedicated to her role. She strives to deliver high-quality care and education to all children. The manager works alongside her staff team on a daily basis. This helps her to monitor the quality of the provision and identify staff's training needs and areas for further development. Staff morale is high. They feel very well supported in their roles and comment on the high levels of support they receive from the manager for their well-being.
• Children display positive attitudes to learning. They behave well and know what staff expect from them. Staff model good manners and treat children with kindness and respect. They recently attended behaviour management training to further their knowledge. This has resulted in all staff using a more consistent approach to managing children's behaviour.
• All children develop a love of books because staff read to them throughout the day. They provide children with books to read at home with their parents. Young children sit comfortably on a staff member's lap. They turn the pages to look at pictures. Staff use single words and associative sounds to support children's emerging speech.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. They work with parents and other professionals to share information and provide targeted support to help children with SEND make the best possible progress. Any additional funding the pre-school receives is used to support children's individual needs, such as purchasing additional resources or extra staffing to allow even more focused support.
• Staff keep parents updated on children's progress in a range of ways. For example, they speak to them at the beginning and end of the day, add photos and comments to children's online learning records and hold regular face-to-face meetings with them. Parents are extremely happy with the service the pre-school provides. They cannot praise the manager and her staff team enough. Parents value the welcoming and safe environment and the high-quality care and education their children receive. They comment on staff's great communication and state 'it is an excellent setting,' and 'the manager and staff go above and beyond'.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide the older and most able children with even more experiences that challenge their thinking and further extend their learning
• strengthen the organisation of everyday routines and reduce the time children spend waiting, to minimise disruptions to their play and learning.