Once Upon A Time Pre-School/after School Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at the pre-school. They have access to a broad and balanced curriculum, which meets the learning and development needs of all children. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and those who speak English as an additional language. The staff team are skilled and have a strong understanding of children's development. This helps them to implement an exciting curriculum that motivates children to learn.

Staff respond well to the emotional needs of children. They provide warmth and gentle interactions, which children positively respond to. Staff listen to what children have to say and acknowledge their feelings. They take time to build warm bonds and trusting relationships with children. This helps children to feel safe and secure. They settle well into the pre-school routine and quickly develop the confidence to explore.

Staff are strong and positive role models. They provide children with the utmost respect, which positively impacts on the way children treat both the resources and each other. Children are aware of the routines and boundaries and staff deal with any minor altercations swiftly and sensitively. The children are developing traits they will need as they move through their education, such as sharing and taking turns.

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

• Leaders have a clear and ambitious vision for the setting, with a strong focus on raising quality. They have responded well to feedback and the actions set at the last inspection, implementing significant changes that have had a positive impact on the provision. For example, all staff have completed training to improve their knowledge of how to respond to negative behaviours, enabling them to better support children in developing self-regulation skills. Leaders have also worked closely with outside agencies to further enhance the quality of the provision.
• Staff are well supported through a positive team culture and strong leadership. They appreciate the support that is provided by leaders to ensure that their workload is manageable. Regular training is provided to ensure that all staff are confident in their roles. This helps them to deliver a range of stimulating activities, which are based on children's interests and their existing knowledge. Leaders value and recognise staff in their roles through regular check ins.
• Staff provide a language-rich environment. They introduce vocabulary through stories, group times and discussions. Staff work closely with families who speak English as an additional language. They value and celebrate children's home language while also extending their English vocabulary. However, on occasions staff do not give enough time to encourage children to think for themselves or respond with their own ideas and opinions. This does not extend children's thinking or language skills.
• Children demonstrate a strong motivation to learn. They arrive at the pre-school knowing that they will have a day of fun and learning. Children have exposure to a large range of activities that they may not have experienced before. For example, children grow and harvest their own vegetables. They learn about animals through first-hand experiences when the 'zoo man' comes to visit. The outside environment strongly supports children's physical skills. Children have continuous access to climb, run and negotiate obstacles as they run around with their friends in the fresh air. They develop the muscles in their hands that are later used for writing as they use tools to scoop soil into containers and squash malleable dough into shapes.
• Staff provide a balance of child-led and adult-led activities that addresses all areas of the curriculum. They make use of opportunities to join in with children's play and engage in conversations, using these times to talk about what they are doing. For example, staff encourage children to describe a sensory activity or count scoops of soil needed to fill a bucket. However, staff sometimes lack a clear learning intent when delivering activities. This means that learning can sometimes be more incidental rather than purposeful, and children do not fully benefit from learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to enhance children's thinking skills by giving children more time to respond to questions with their own ideas and opinions
• strengthen staff teaching to focus more precisely on planned learning intentions to help children make progress in their learning.