Oswestry Methodist Church Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Happy, caring staff welcome children and their families to this small, friendly setting. Children separate happily from their parents. Children are keen to come in to the setting to play with their friends. Staff interact warmly with children and quickly build strong, mutually trusting relationships with them and their families. Staff are quick to offer cuddles and soothing words when children need extra comfort or reassurance. This supports children's emotional well-being effectively and helps them to feel happy and secure. Children are well settled and ready to learn.

Staff provide a range of activities and resources for children to play with. These are linked to children's interests and seasonal events. For example, younger children enjoy using conkers, pine cones and autumn leaves as they manipulate play dough. Older children create firework pictures using different techniques and materials. This helps to support children's physical development and extend their understanding of the world.

Staff know that behaviour is linked to children's developmental stages. They have discussions with children about how they are feeling. For example, they display faces that show feelings, such as 'happy'. This supports children to develop an understanding of their own feelings and emotions.

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

• Staff understand how young children develop and learn. Since the last inspection, they have made changes to the way they track children's progress. These enable staff to spend more time interacting with children. Therefore, they know more about what children already know and can do, and any gaps are identified more quickly. Staff use this information to make decisions about next steps for learning. They ensure that parents receive regular updates and information about their children's learning and development.
• Staff have effective systems in place for identifying and supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They know children well and monitor their progress closely. This means that any concerns about development are noticed quickly. Staff work closely with parents and, where appropriate, other agencies to ensure that children with SEND get the help and support they need to move forward in their learning.
• Staff engage in constant dialogue with children. They encourage younger children to 'use their words' to communicate. Staff reinforce correct pronunciation in response to children's attempts at new or tricky words, such as 'octopus'. There are effective systems in place to support children who find communicating difficult. For instance, staff consistently use visual cues and signs. This further supports children's early communication and language development. Consequently, all children are supported to communicate effectively.
• The curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced to enable all children to make progress from their individual starting points. It is suitably designed to give all children the knowledge and skills they will need for later learning. Staff interact beautifully with children as they play. However, staff do not always identify opportunities to extend learning further. This means that, sometimes, teaching does not have the maximum impact on children's development.
• Staff promote children's wider personal development effectively. Visitors from the church are regularly welcomed into the setting. They interact warmly with children and share their knowledge with them. For example, they introduce children to a globe as 'a big map', and help them to find the United Kingdom and other countries important to the children. Staff also teach children about other faiths and celebrations, such as Chinese New Year and Diwali. As a result, children's knowledge and understanding of the world is increased.
• Staff are positive role models and children generally behave well during child-led play. However, staff do not always set out clear expectations for children's behaviour or insist on consistently high standards of behaviour. This means that, on occasion, children do not follow instructions or behave appropriately during group activities.
• Leaders have a clear vision for further strengthening the setting's offer to children and families. Staff are knowledgeable and benefit from the support of leaders and a close-knit team. They have attended training to further develop their professional knowledge. As a result, they are well equipped to meet the needs of the children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• further support staff to identify and respond to opportunities to extend children's learning as they arise so that they continue to develop their understanding and make the best possible progress in their learning
• develop and consistently apply clear expectations for children's behaviour so that they understand the rules and boundaries of the setting and are supported to behave consistently well.