Nellies Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children are settled, confident and happy during their time at the welcoming pre-school. Staff encourage children to be independent. For example, children are confident to choose their own play and complete their own tasks, such as serving snacks and pouring drinks. Staff have made significant improvements since their last inspection. They now demonstrate a good knowledge of the curriculum and how they embed challenging activities effectively to support all children to make good progress. They understand where each child is in their development and plan motivating activities accordingly. Children are eager to learn. For example, staff teach them about the natural world. Children are keen to learn about volcanoes and build their own using construction equipment.

Children enjoy bringing their imaginations to life. They become pirates and create their own maps to 'hunt for hidden treasure'. All staff are positive role models. Children are polite and behave well. They are kind to each other. For instance, children are understanding of other children's different abilities and needs. Staff teach children about the importance of healthy lifestyles. For instance, they discuss healthy foods during mealtimes. Children gain good physical skills. For example, they confidently and safely climb and balance on a wide range of equipment, such as climbing structures and tyres.

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

• Staff establish positive relationships with children who feel safe in a secure and trusting environment. Children are confident and enjoy the company of staff and each other. For example, they are keen to initiate their own games with confidence. Children demonstrate this when they invite each other and staff to join them in making sure they don't 'fall in the lava' when engaging in volcano role play.
• All staff support all children to make good progress. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. For example, staff liaise closely with outside agencies, such as speech and language and occupational therapists. They implement helpful strategies that support children, including using visual timelines. Staff have implemented a 'dark den' and encourage children to access it if they feel overwhelmed. This helps children feel safe and calm and settle quickly into pre-school.
• Overall, the manager and staff establish positive partnerships with parents, who speak highly of them. Staff keep them informed about the activities their children have been enjoying during their time at pre-school. However, there is less information shared with parents regarding their children's learning and individual next steps. Therefore, staff do not share enough information with parents to support children's learning at home even further.
• All children demonstrate a positive attitude towards their learning and, overall, they are engaged in their learning experiences. However, staff do not always organise large-group activities effectively to ensure that they successfully maintain the attention of all children throughout, particularly the youngest.
• The manager closely monitors the good quality of education and care that staff provide. She regularly observes them teach children and provides them with constructive and helpful feedback. Staff evaluate their practice together and discuss daily what went well and what they would like to enhance further. They undertake weekly planning meetings to ensure that their planning and curriculum is implemented effectively. Staff use their findings to support their future activity plans.
• All staff attend regular and beneficial training. They have recently learned about the different ways to manage children's behaviour consistently and effectively. This has helped staff to understand how to support children to express their feelings appropriately. As a result, children self-regulate their emotions maturely and behave well.
• The manager and staff support children to gain a good understanding of other cultures and countries from around the world. For example, children learn about the festival and traditions of Hanukkah.
• All staff support children to develop confident communication skills. Children have access to a language-enriched environment. Staff build on their range of vocabulary. For instance, they teach children the meaning of new words, such as eruption, when discussing volcanos.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the communication with parents about how they can further support their children's leaning at home
• support staff to be more aware of the organisation of their larger group times to ensure that all children, particularly the youngest, remain fully engaged in their learning experiences.