Oaklings Pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy to enter the setting and find their key person. They separate from their parents with ease and settle quickly. Staff create a warm and nurturing environment. This helps children feel safe and secure. Children are confident to explore the setting and choose what to play with. They explore small-world figures frozen in ice and work together to free them. They have long periods of uninterrupted play that supports their investigations into the ice and how it melts. This gives children time to make links and develop their understanding of the world.

Staff deploy themselves well so that they can interact with all of the children. They encourage turn-taking and model how to use manners. Staff give children specific praise that highlights their good behaviour. Children are kind and friendly towards each other. Children are given tasks, such as cleaning tables before snack time. Staff celebrate and display children's achievements, such as being able to put a coat and boots on by themselves. This helps children to value independence.

Leaders respond to the needs of the children and adapt the environment to support them. For example, they have created a calm space for children to use to regulate their emotions. They use sensory toys to provide children with ways to calm down. This supports children's emotional development.

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

• The leaders and managers are passionate and dedicated. They are ambitious for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those in receipt of additional funding. Leaders are very proactive in accessing support for families who are disadvantaged. They make prompt referrals when needed. This helps children to make good progress.
• Parents speak highly of the setting. They state that staff work in collaboration with other professionals and create targeted plans. Parents say they receive regular feedback on what and how their children are learning. They are given specific strategies on how to help their children. They appreciate partnership working, such as the introduction of the book-lending scheme. This helps parents to support their children at home, which means children can narrow possible gaps in their learning.
• Leaders and managers use regular supervision sessions to monitor the quality of practice. They identify what support staff need and help to drive improvement through training, mentoring and observation. However, not all staff demonstrate confidence in valuing children's unique character and how they may differ as they play. For example, occasionally, they reinforce gender stereotypes, using vocabulary such as 'girls' activities' or 'boys' activities'. This does not fully support children to develop their own character and recognise differences in how others play and learn.
• Staff plan activities based on children's interests and what they need to learn next. For example, children make cakes out of play dough and place candles in them, confidently counting how many they have. Staff support children to use their fingers to count. They take part in the children's imaginative stories, for example pretending it is their birthday. Children spend a long time engrossed in their play. This helps them to extend their concentration and develop a positive attitude to learning.
• There is a clear focus on children's communication skills. Staff use all parts of the daily routine to engage children in back-and-forth interactions. They repeat phrases and expand on what the children say. Staff use visual prompts and signs to reinforce what they are saying. This helps all children, including those who speak English as an additional language, to make good progress with their communication skills and supports them to develop their vocabulary.
• Staff organise the outdoor area well. They identify what experiences children do not regularly have and prioritise these in the environment. For example, they have set up a growing area and risky play with branches. Staff encourage children to jump, move and take risks. Children enjoy time in the fresh air and practise coordination, balance and agility. This helps them to develop their body awareness.
• Leaders and managers value staff's well-being. They provide a range of services to support staff, both in and out of the setting. Staff say they feel very well supported and appreciated. They say there is a cooperative culture where their ideas are valued and respected.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue professional development to support staff's understanding and help children to develop positive attitudes towards diversity and inclusion.