Old Stratford Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are extremely happy and flourish in this friendly pre-school. They are excited to arrive and discuss activities for the day with staff and their friends. The dedicated manager and staff work hard to create an exceptionally exciting environment that children become deeply engrossed in exploring. The outdoor area in particular provides children with wonderful learning opportunities to support their progress. For example, children develop an exceptional understanding of managing risks in their play. They skilfully navigate the bridges and slopes that they create out of logs and planks of wood.

Children behave exceptionally well in the pre-school. They consistently display impeccable manners and are kind and considerate towards one another. Children demonstrate high levels of empathy for others, offering reassurance to their friends. For example, children support and motivate one another when performing songs on their outdoor stage. They clap and cheer, encouraging their quieter friends to join in.

Children demonstrate an exceptionally positive attitude to their learning. They become deeply absorbed in all activities and show great determination in difficult situations. Staff support this incredibly well with continuous reassurance and advice. For example, when children struggle using equipment at the woodwork bench, staff are swift to intervene. They praise their efforts and discuss alternative ways children can complete their tasks.

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

• Managers and staff are passionate about their role in supporting children's development. Staff extend and adapt activities well to ensure they are suitably challenging for all children. For example, children of different ages are exploring a ice-cream shop role-play activity. Younger children count out the scoops of ice cream. They identify colours and explore the different flavours they could be. More able children develop mathematical skills by identifying the correct coins to pay with. Staff then encourage them to calculate how much change they will receive.
• Children show high levels of confidence in new situations. They welcome visitors warmly and are eager to show them around their pre-school. Children enthusiastically discuss their favourite activities, and delight at performing their graduation song along with their friends.
• Partnerships with parents is of a high standard. Parents engage fully in their children's development and play an active role in their learning. Staff encourage parents to share their skills and knowledge with children at the pre-school. For example, children recently enjoyed a visit from a beekeeper. They got to dress up in protective clothing and explore the hives and honeycomb that the bees create.
• Staff provide meaningful opportunities for children to understand cultures and ways of life beyond their own. When returning from holidays, children mark the countries they visited on a map of the world. They explore relevant books and write postcards about the sights they saw and the different foods they tried.
• Children develop strong communication skills. Staff interact well with children at every opportunity, supporting them to develop new vocabulary. They conduct group sessions throughout the day. These provide children with regular opportunities to engage in meaningful conversation with one another and adults.
• Staff sequence children's learning well. They use children's current interests to develop exciting activities that children become deeply engrossed in. For example, when children find a toad in their garden area, staff use this as an opportunity to explore life cycles. They acquire tadpoles and help children to research the correct environment to create for them. Children monitor their progress daily, reporting their development enthusiastically to staff and visitors.
• Staff morale is good and the team work well together to support one another's practice. They work closely with parents and the provider to evaluate the care they provide and make well-considered changes to the learning environment. However, the same robust methods of self-evaluation are not consistently applied when planning children's daily routines. Snack time in particular does not fully prepare children for their next stage of learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• evaluate the effectiveness of current daily routines to offer children consistently high-quality learning opportunities that fully support their progress and prepare them for school.