Over New Road Preschool CIC

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive with enthusiasm and are keen to start their day. Staff spend time talking to parents to find out how their children are following their return from the holidays. The staff team shares this information among themselves to help meet the children's needs. As a result, children settle quickly and are ready to learn. Children are happy and show close relationships with staff and their friends. They rush over and cuddle them. The provider has created a curriculum that centres around the skills children need to learn to help them prepare for their next stage of learning. Staff encourage children to do things for themselves. Children collect their own lunch boxes, pour their own drinks and select the boxes of toys they wish to play with. Children are confident to try to do things for themselves, and they show good levels of self-care.

Staff are good role models, and they give children consistent guidance on how to manage behaviour. When children have minor disagreements, staff speak to children and explain the positive steps they need to take. Children respond positively when staff talk to them about sharing and taking turns. For example, they remember that they can use the sand timer and ask to have their turn when the sand has poured through. This shows children are learning to wait and take their turn.

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

• The provider plans activities based on themes and children's next stages of learning. They track children's progress and identify gaps in children's learning. All children make progress from their starting points.
• Children have opportunities to lead their own play. They are confident to make choices about what to play with. Children use their imagination to act out emergency scenes with pretend police figures. Overall, these play opportunities help children to learn and remember more. Occasionally, staff do not adapt their teaching during children's chosen play to help them remain focused and extend their learning further. This means some children lose concentration and do not fully benefit from the learning opportunities.
• Overall, staff promote communication and language well. They create opportunities for social interaction. Staff listen to children, repeat what they say, teach unfamiliar words and correct pronunciation. Children speak fluently, and conversations between the staff and children are meaningful. At times, the staff team does not manage the noise levels well enough. They have not considered how this may affect children's communication and language development, particularly for younger children and children who speak English as an additional language.
• Children enjoy group activities. They become excited playing a game of naming what is in the box. On occasion, the group sizes are too large for all children to be involved and they struggle to stay engaged.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. Systems to identify where children may need support are good, and staff access early help. Staff collaborate closely with parents and external professionals to develop clear targets. This helps children with SEND make progress during their time at the pre-school.
• Children enjoy fresh air and exercise in the garden. They pedal on tricycles, throw balls and run. They giggle as staff hold their hands, helping them to jump up and down on the spot. Children use their imagination as they pretend to make dinner, mixing leaves and mud together in the saucepan.
• Children's understanding of mathematics is developing well. Children count and recognise colours as they pick up the pom-poms and count them as they place them into the container.
• The provider considers how to spend any additional funding, ensuring that it meets the needs of the children. For instance, the provider uses funding to access training programmes that are aimed at supporting children's communication and language development.
• The provider works in close partnership with other settings the children attend. They visit the other settings and share information with key persons about children's preferred ways of learning. This ensures consistency in teaching.
• The provider keeps parents updated on their children's learning and development via an app and daily conversations. This helps to provide continuity in children's care and learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's skills to recognise when to adapt their teaching, to regain children's engagement when they become less focused during free play
• support staff to reduce the noise levels in the pre-school to fully enable children's communication and language development
• improve the organisation of adult-led activities to help children to remain engaged.