Noah's Ark Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff are nurturing and form strong bonds with children in this welcoming pre-school. Children are greeted individually and warmly welcomed by staff, who prioritise their emotional well-being. This helps all children feel safe and secure. Staff find out detailed information about children and their families and provide settling in periods, helping children new to the pre-school to settle quickly. Children respond well to routines. For instance, when staff indicate it is group time, children confidently move to the area. Children show enjoyment as they actively join in when staff encourage them to shake their bodies. This helps children to develop their physical skills.

The committed staff team ensures daily that the layout, use of the environment and the resources provide a range of learning experiences and opportunities for children to develop their independence. Children show delight as they play outdoors. They demonstrate physical dexterity when they access a complex obstacle course. Staff provide appropriate support for the younger or less confident children. Staff help children to understand the pre-school's expectations. For example, they give clear and consistent messages to children by modelling good manners and behaviour.

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

• Staff are skilled at identifying children who may need extra support. They use targeted interventions provided by external professionals to help close any gaps in children's learning.
• Children benefit from the knowledge of well-qualified staff, who support the planning and implementation of the curriculum. Staff meet before each session to discuss all children. This helps provide children with consistent care and education from all staff.
• The committee and staff team are very reflective. For instance, they continuously look at ways to improve the provision and have plans for future development that will benefit all children.
• The management team carefully plan the use of additional funding. For example, professionals attend the pre-school to share different ways to support children's communication and language development.
• Staff professional development and well-being are supported by the management team. For instance, staff have many opportunities to get together outside work and they are encouraged to identify any courses they would like to attend.
• Staff say that after recent local authority training, they have changed some teaching practices. For example, they have introduced a cutting tray filled with a range of materials adjacent to a range of self-select tools to help children develop their cutting skills.
• Children are supported to develop healthy practices. For example, they are encouraged to wash their hands after playing outside, after using the toilet and before lunch and snack times.
• The management team monitor staff practice through various methods, such as one-to-one meetings and annual appraisals. However, processes are not precise enough to ensure that all staff receive the necessary support and coaching to raise the quality of their teaching to the highest level.
• The pre-school works very closely with teaching staff at local schools. Staff attend joint training with the school focused on supporting language and communication skills, including visits to the school. This helps children to receive consistent messages as they enter the next stage of their education.
• Parents value the care and attention that staff provide. The provider uses an online platform to provide a wealth of information to help them understand what their children are learning while in the pre-school. However, robust processes are not in place to ensure this information is shared with parents who do not access this type of communication.
• Children's awareness and understanding of the wider world is promoted in a range of ways. For example, parents attend pre-school to share their cultural identity and the library service visits weekly.
• A large range of books are available for children to self-select. Staff respond to children's emerging interests well. For example, when children have selected a book, they sit and read the story with them. This helps children to develop a love of books.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the ongoing coaching and support for staff to further develop their teaching skills
• develop ways to share information with all parents about children's next steps and ideas of how they can extend children's learning at home.