Mayford Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children benefit from a curriculum that is designed to give them the knowledge and skills they need ready for school. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and those learning English as an additional language. Children show they are happy and settled. They quickly engage in discussions with staff, show high levels of confidence and are keen to explore activities of interest with their friends. Children behave well and have good attitudes to learning. They show kindness and consideration to others and help each other carry water across the garden, clearly proud of the muddy puddle they are creating. Children take turns and learn to share at a young age. They listen to instructions when it is time to tidy up.

Children enjoy the freedom to take measured risks. They show good balance and coordination as they navigate their way across, through and around outdoor play equipment. The manager has adapted risk assessments, in view of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, to ensure the good health of children. Drop-off and collection arrangements have been altered so that parents no longer come into the pre-school. Children quickly learn about new routines and follow simple rules that are in place for their safety. For example, they wait patiently and wash their hands on arrival in the morning.

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

• Staff assess children as they play and use this information to offer children a rich programme of interesting learning activities. All areas of the early years foundation stage are covered, both inside and outside.
• Staff build on children's language and communication skills well. This is illustrated as children show an interest in the natural resources staff provide. They listen to each other, are imaginative and discuss how they are going to sail or row their boats across the sea. On occasion, in particular when children are initiating their own play, the quality of teaching is inconsistent as not all staff fully challenge and extend children's learning. For example, in their eagerness to engage in children's play, they do not always give children enough time to express their own views and suggestions. That said, staff introduce new words, such as 'oars', speak clearly to children and pronounce words correctly. This helps to build on children's speech and developing vocabulary.
• Staff provide an outdoor space that enriches children's physical development and enjoyment of the natural world. Children build on their arm muscles and show high levels of curiosity as they turn over leaves and stumps in the garden. They show pleasure in finding creatures such as ants and woodlice. Staff extend children's knowledge of creatures and discuss the characteristics of insects they find. This supports children's understanding of nature and the environment around them.
• The manager undertakes regular supervision of staff and observes their interactions with children to help improve their practice. However, further work needs to take place to ensure that any coaching is differentiated for the different abilities of staff. She recognises further improvements need to focus on professional development to ensure teaching is at the highest level. Staff say that they feel well supported by the manager. They participate in regular staff meetings and have opportunities to share their views and ideas. They have identified emerging gaps in children's learning as a result of the national lockdowns and times when settings were only open to some children due to COVID-19 restrictions. Following this, they worked together as a team and have put individualised plans in place to support children who are not secure in all areas of their development.
• Parents praised the manager and staff highly. They appreciate how the manager and staff have kept in touch during COVID-19. All parents said that their children loved attending and staff share information with them about their child's progress and next steps in learning. When children first start at the setting, staff gather information from parents on what their children know and can do. However, they do not continue to seek information of children's learning experiences at home, to help extend children's outcomes to the highest levels.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide children with time to respond to questions in order to fully support them to express their own ideas and suggestions
• strengthen staff's professional development to improve teaching to the highest standard to ensure children continue to make the best possible progress
• gather more information from parents about children's learning experiences at home to help build on children's learning even more.