Our Ladys Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and thoroughly enjoy their time at this pre-school. Staff greet children warmly. This helps them to feel valued and creates a very positive start to their day. Children are independent in their own abilities. For example, they confidently select their coats when getting ready to play outdoors. They show great kindness towards their friends by helping each other to put coats and hats on.

Children behave extremely well. Staff are kind, considerate and consistently model good manners. Children follow their example and learn to take turns and cooperate with each other. For example, children offer each other cups of tea and cake when celebrating pretend afternoon tea. They eagerly show others decorative crowns they have made to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III.

Children enjoy being outdoors, where they have many opportunities to practise and develop good physical skills. They relish opportunities to explore the mud kitchen, giggle when balancing on play equipment and carefully manoeuvre bikes along a roadway. Children persevere when involved in play, showing high levels of concentration, developing confidence and self-esteem. They demonstrate that they feel safe and secure at the pre-school setting.

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

• Managers set high expectations for what they want children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to achieve. The manager and staff quickly identify where children may need additional support and seek prompt help from a range of professionals.
• The manager understands her responsibilities. She ensures the staff training programmes meet the needs of children. For example, some staff are undertaking more focused training on working with children with SEND. Staff receive regular supervision sessions to discuss their professional development and training opportunities.
• Staff build on children's learning step-by-step to support them to make the best possible progress. The curriculum is ambitious and staff adapt activities and resources to meet the individual needs of each child.
• Overall, staff understand the importance of developing children's language skills. They talk to children during play, repeating and introducing new words to build on their vocabulary. During a planting activity, children learn the need for soil and sunlight to help seeds grow. However, on occasions, some staff ask children questions in quick succession and do not give them time to respond. This does not fully support children's communication and language skills to the highest level.
• There is a strong emphasis on promoting inclusive practice. Staff speak a range of languages, which reflect the cultural diversity of the area. They use their skills extremely well to support children who speak English as an additional language. Staff use visual prompts to enhance children's communication and to help them understand the routines of the day. This helps children to feel safe and participate fully.
• Staff provide children with opportunities to develop their literacy skills. Children develop a genuine love of books as they listen to familiar stories, such as 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt'. Staff are engaging and encourage children to re-enact parts of the story. Older children show delight as they pretend to wade through thick oozy mud and learn new words, such as 'squish' and 'squelch'. However, at times, the group is large and some younger children are not able to participate fully.
• Staff set out the environment with a range of exciting activities that spark children's natural curiosity and interest. For example, children explore lots of sensory materials such as wood, bark and pasta. Staff provide children with opportunities to learn about the importance of recycling. They fill the garden with a range of different recyclable items, which children collect and correctly place into labelled bins.
• Parents speak highly of the pre-school. They are happy with their children's progress and feel involved in their learning. Parents value being able to access an online programme to look at their child's progress. They appreciate the ideas that are shared to support their child's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen teaching to improve children's learning further by making sure children are given sufficient time to think and respond to questions
• review the organisation of some planned adult-led activities to ensure all children can participate fully and gain the intended knowledge and skills.