Mortimer Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and clearly enjoy their time at this welcoming pre-school. Children benefit from the good support they receive from staff, which helps them to feel safe and secure. This is demonstrated as they leave their parents with confidence, place their belongings on their pegs and wash their hands before settling to play. Staff know the children in their care well and all demonstrate that they are making good progress in their learning. Children demonstrate a positive attitude to learning. For example, they relish the opportunities to explore freshly picked herbs as they create 'potions' and make 'food' in the role-play area.

Overall, children are focused and engaged as they play and explore. They demonstrate determination and curiosity as they construct with foam blocks to create towers and build with construction. Staff effortlessly support children's early mathematical learning well. For example, they help children during activities to compare shapes, count and match patterns. Children behave well. Staff support children's behaviour with consistent praise and encouragement. Children clearly know the routines as they follow instructions well and adapt to changes in routines. Staff engage purposefully with the children throughout activities. They introduce new vocabulary to the children while they communicate with them, sing songs and read stories.

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

• The management team and staff are clearly dedicated to maximising learning for the children. They provide a wealth of activities and experiences for the children to help them advance to their full potential in their learning. Staff understand how activities can be used to incorporate the areas of learning, and they interweave these well to support children's future skills. For instance, while children are being creative with dough, staff encourage them to manipulate it in different ways, to help them build the muscles in their hands ready for future writing.
• Children have many opportunities to be physically active. They enjoy the time they spend in the garden, where they run and negotiate obstacles as they push wheeled toys around the patio area. Children show that they have good control of their bodies as they move them in different ways when participating in yoga and physical education sessions. Children are developing a good awareness of healthy practices, such as handwashing and drinking plenty to remain hydrated. Children eat together well, although the snack time routine is not as well organised as the lunchtime routine.
• Children show good independence skills. For instance, staff support children in mastering the skills of taking off and putting on their shoes and socks. Children self-register at snack time by finding their name card and putting it on the table.
• They are eager to be self-sufficient at mealtimes as they pour their own drink, select fruits at snack time and scrape their plates into the compost bin. Children show that they are independent explorers as they self-select from the good range of activities, following their individual interests. They demonstrate good levels of self-confidence and self-esteem. Children behave well and are motivated to explore and play together.
• Staff work closely with parents to build effective partnerships. From the onset, staff collect relevant information from parents about children's learning, needs and current interests, which helps them to get to know the children before they start. Parents speak highly of the 'dedication' that the staff have for their children's learning and how they 'go above and beyond' in helping their children to succeed. Children benefit highly from the consistent approach that staff have for working in partnership with parents and other professionals involved in their care.
• The management team and staff work well together. They benefit from daily handovers and a communication book to help them know about any important information as needed. Overall, the management team is aware of some areas where teaching needs support. Although they have some monitoring processes in place to support staff practice, these are not always targeted accurately enough on coaching and mentoring to help identify and address improvements needed in staff practice. Despite this, staff comment that they feel well supported and part of a team and have good opportunities to extend their professional training.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review snack time to ensure that there is a fully consistent approach to promoting children's good health
• build on the arrangements for staff supervision and training, to further develop their skills and raise the quality of teaching.