Noah's Ark Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and parents receive a warm welcome from staff as they arrive at the pre-school. Children engage in conversation about their morning and the opportunities that await them. They say goodbye to their parents and confidently join their friends to explore the wide choice of stimulating experiences the staff have created. For example, children access real vegetables as they role play shopping and use them to create meals in the mud kitchen that they share with both friends and staff members.

Children thoroughly enjoy their time at the pre-school. They feel safe and secure in the friendly environment. Staff provide excellent support for children's emotional well-being. For example, they encourage the less confident children to join imaginative play opportunities by giving them a role to support their participation.

Children receive an excellent language-rich environment as staff actively participate in their play. Staff utilise every opportunity to create stories based on children's interests. This helps to motivate children to engage in activities and stimulates their imaginative play. For example, children construct an obstacle course from planks, crates and pallets. As the children balance, staff suggest they take care to avoid the crocodiles. This excites the children and pretend play unfolds. Staff engage in the make-believe play and construct stories about pirate islands and pirate songs with the children.

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

• The quality of teaching is exceptional. Staff's interactions extend children's knowledge and skills across all areas of the curriculum. For instance, children playing with dinosaurs are directed to reference books where they engage in conversation about the similarities and differences of the various species from the illustrations. They learn the names of the dinosaurs they play with and interesting facts, such as some dinosaurs were carnivores while others were omnivores. They learn the term 'extinct' and recognise that different dinosaurs come from different areas of the planet.
• Staff are highly skilled at supporting children's cooperative play. For example, staff initiate stories with children while playing with the play dough. They encourage children to create props from the dough and support children's participation. They role model turn taking and include each child's idea to extend the story and build on the sequence of events.
• Staff provide a rich curriculum, both in and away from the pre-school. For example, children spend time in the community where they explore the natural environment while collecting leaves and conkers. They visit the library where they enjoy stories told by the librarian. Children engage in exciting activities, such as hunting for different colours they can find on doors, cars, leaves and animals.
• Children who speak English as an additional language develop their understanding of the English language quickly. They are provided with excellent, individualised support. For example, staff create visual prompt cards to support their understanding of the routine along with the words for the activity. This helps to provide a safe and predictable environment for the children to learn in. Additionally, staff collect phrases from parents to enable them to communicate with children in their home language while they develop their new vocabulary.
• The key-person system is highly effective to ensure that new children and their families receive tailored support to help them settle. For example, home visits are provided to build relationships prior to starting at the pre-school. Parents are left with a photograph of their child's key-person and details of the daily routine. Videos are shared with families to offer reassurance and enable them to see their child at play.
• Parents speak very highly of the pre-school. They value the 'precious videos' they receive, as they have not been spending time in the pre-school following the pandemic. Parents are pleased at how quickly their children settle and the exceptional progress their children make.
• The manager and staff are well qualified. The long-established staff team is committed to providing the best possible care and education for children. The manager conducts regular staff meetings to discuss areas for improvement and raise the quality of their practice further.