Noor Ul Islam Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff greet children and parents warmly on arrival. This supports children to feel safe and secure. Children enter the nursery happily with big smiles on their faces. They demonstrate that they thoroughly enjoy their time at the pre-school. Children settle immediately, eager to start playing. They show the highest levels of confidence and self-esteem. Children are highly independent and enthusiastically choose activities as soon as they arrive.

Children demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning and eagerly join in with planned activities. For example, older children use a range of different resources to create their own boats at the creative table. They confidently explain to the inspector what they are creating, and share interesting facts about all the different sea creatures you may see when on a boat.

Children behave well. Staff use effective ways to help them manage their feelings. They make use of puppets, books and comfortable quiet areas, inside and outside, to support children and reassure them. Children work collaboratively. For example, a small group of children created pizza with play dough together, taking turns and sharing the resources. Staff plan a broad and varied curriculum to help children to develop the skills and knowledge needed for later learning, including school.

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

• Leaders and senior practitioners have designed an ambitious curriculum that ensures that every child has the best possible start to their education. Staff have a detailed knowledge of their key children and use information from their observations to guide their planning. They closely monitor children's progress to identify any gaps in their learning, so that these can be swiftly addressed.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well. Leaders and managers have a good knowledge of children and their needs. They work closely with parents and other professionals. Key persons work in one-to-one or small-group sessions to focus on children's individual learning targets. This helps children to catch up in their learning and have early input to help their specific needs.
• Staff place a large emphasis on supporting children's emotional well-being and resilience. They have recently adapted the environment to create more opportunities for children to choose activities and lead their own play. Children are incredibly self-sufficient. For example, during snack time, children effortlessly choose and prepare their own food and drink. Staff are excellent at developing children's understanding of different communities beyond their own and teaching them what makes them unique. For example, staff use different languages and discuss different cultures during group activities. This means children are highly respectful towards their peers, staff and visitors.
• Staff support children's emerging language skills well. They use books and songs along with talking to them about what they are doing. Staff provide an environment where children hear spoken language clearly and fluently. This helps to promote children's correct pronunciation of words and helps them to understand how to put words together to form sentences.
• Partnership with parents is a key strength of the nursery. Strong, trusting and informative relationships are built with parents, who speak positively about the nursery. They state that they feel extremely well informed and included in their child's learning.
• Staff use a wide variety of activities to encourage children to recall what they have previously learned. For example, during carpet time, children confidently note what day of the week and year it is. Staff use humour, such as pretending to write the incorrect numbers on the board and children enthusiastically call out the correct answer. However, at times, less-confident staff do not always deliver group activities as well as they could, which leads to some children losing interest.
• The nursery provides healthy meals and snacks for the children. Children understand the importance of washing their hands before snack time and do this without prompting. Children have constant opportunities to be outside in the fresh air, developing their physical development.
• The manager is an outstanding leader. She is highly skilled and passionate, with high expectations for all staff, ensuring that they continually develop their skills and knowledge. She ensures that there are regular and meaningful supervision meetings with all staff. This helps her to build strong relationships with her team, and staff feel well supported and respected. This contributes to the warm and friendly atmosphere felt throughout the setting. The manager recognises where some staff may need additional support and has plans in place to strengthen the quality of education even further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review how some group activities are organised to ensure that all children are fully engaged.