Newquay Pre-school and Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are curious about the world around them. Babies explore their environment with confidence. They crawl over a wooden ramp and move around furniture to build on their core strength. Toddlers search for insects and like to listen to the wind blowing in the garden. Pre-school children watch the rain fall onto their umbrellas. They watch a spider walk across their hands. Children learn in a safe and secure environment.

Staff establish children's starting points in conjunction with parents when they start at the setting. They build on what children know and can do from this. Staff plan experiences for children based on their interests. For example, pre-school children show an interest in butterflies. Staff bring in real caterpillars for the pre-school children to observe and care for. Children learn about the life cycle of a caterpillar. They look after them and check on them every day. Staff use this experience for pre-school children to develop a deeper understanding of being kind.

Parents comment that their children make good progress in their overall development. Staff support children's learning at home. They regularly inform parents of what their children are working on next. Staff suggest books to broaden their understanding of topics they are learning about.

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

• Children develop their independence skills effectively. Pre-school children choose which cereal they would like for breakfast. They spread butter onto their toast themselves. After snack time, they clear away their plates from the table and scrape any waste into a bin. Staff praise pre-school children for remembering what to do. Toddlers help to clean the table with staff before lunch. Babies begin to learn how to feed themselves independently.
• Staff follow the interests of babies and improve their learning outcomes successfully. They notice when babies show an interest in making noises with toys. They add to their play and offer them musical toys. Staff support babies' communication and language skills effectively. Babies listen intently to a storybook and make sounds from the book. They say 'beep beep' when looking at a story with a bus. Babies begin to learn how to turn the pages. Staff sing songs regularly with the babies to help their speech to develop.
• Toddlers love to play in the sandpit together. They find a ladybird and excitedly watch it crawl away. Other toddlers play on the carpet with vehicles and a garage. However, staff do not always use effective communication and language strategies with toddlers to practise their language skills and build their vocabulary. For example, they ask toddlers a question, answer the question for them and do not give the toddlers time to respond.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) effectively. They ensure that children are fully included and access all learning experiences. For example, staff use visual cards to help children communicate. They show children objects to help them understand what activity is coming next. Staff work in partnership with external professionals and parents to ensure that children with SEND make progress.
• Pre-school children develop their knowledge of mathematical concepts. They talk about the vegetables they like to eat at lunchtime. Staff ask them, 'How many do you eat every day?' Children count aloud up to five. Pre-school children learn about shapes. They play with construction toys on the carpet. Staff set them challenges to make a house with different-shaped pieces. Children enjoy this challenge. They proudly tell staff they have added 'an extension' to their house.
• Leaders have begun to improve the systems for the training, supervision and mentoring of staff to improve their skills. This is not fully in place for all staff though. For example, staff provide pens and paper for toddlers. Staff intend for them to learn about colours and numbers, and some toddlers enjoy making marks with the resources. However, staff do not fully understand how to help toddlers to further their learning and do not support these skills during the activity.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve communication and language strategies used with toddlers to help them practise their language skills and build their vocabulary
• continue to embed systems for the training, supervision and monitoring of staff in the toddler room to help staff further toddlers' learning effectively.