Padbury Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and at ease within this nurturing pre-school. They are warmly greeted by staff, who know the children and their families well. Children enter the setting with confidence. They behave well and demonstrate that they feel safe. On the day of inspection, children and staff arrive dressed up to join in with their planned Halloween celebrations.

Overall, children settle well to choose activities that support their learning. Children's mathematical development is supported well by staff. For instance, they encourage children to count objects as they play and point out different sizes and shapes in the environment. Outside, children enjoy the range of activities on offer, including exploring water to investigate if items sink or float. Children count securely and have a good understanding of shape and size. Children enjoy listening to stories. They develop a love of books as they recall rhyming sentences from well-known stories and short poems. Staff and children benefit from recent training that has focused on the importance of rich language opportunities.

Staff actively seek support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They have detailed knowledge of the very specific needs of each child. Staff work closely with parents and outside agencies to agree and constantly update individual care plans. They use any additional funding that children receive successfully to support each child's individual needs. In addition, good arrangements are in place to support children who are learning English as an additional language.

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

• The new manager has developed a clear and ambitious curriculum that is shared with her staff. The manager, staff and committee work together to ensure that children benefit from high-quality care and learning.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents leave glowing comments and testimonials about the staff team, and many of them comment on the positive impact the new manager brings to the pre-school. Parents have regular opportunities to discuss their child's progress with staff. Parents enthuse on the regular feedback that is received through daily handovers and the online application.
• Staff benefit from regular supervisions with the manager to support them in their roles. Staff say that they feel valued, respected and their views are listened to. However, the manager is not monitoring staff's practice closely enough to offer clear guidance on how to help them develop their teaching skills further.
• Children behave well in the pre-school. They are polite and well mannered. Staff praise children for their efforts . They are effective role models and have high expectations of children.
• Partnerships with other settings are strong. For example, staff work well with the neighbouring school and meet regularly with the teachers. Children attend transition visits to the school with the pre-school staff, and teachers are regular visitors into the pre-school. This helps prepare children in readiness to start school.
• Children are motivated to explore and investigate and, overall, show good levels of curiosity. However, there are times during the day when high noise levels impact on children's ability to listen and concentrate, and some children with SEND become unsettled. For example, on the day of inspection, all children undertook the pumpkin carving activity at the same time in the same room. This impacted on the noise levels in the room, where the SEND children lost interest and reverted to other activities in the same room. Older children struggle to concentrate and listen as peers undertake activities in the same room that distracts them from the planned learning.
• Staff use additional funding well to address gaps in children's learning, for example, by providing one-to-one support, tailored staff training and further resources.
• Children are provided with snacks and are learning to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Mealtimes are social occasions and children's independence is supported well by staff. For example, children pour their own milk or water at snack time and are learning to safely chop and cut their fruit.
• An effective key-person system is in place. Staff have a good knowledge and understanding of the children in their care. They are warm and caring to all children and they work with parents to adopt a gradual and smooth transition into pre-school.
• Children have many opportunities to learn about the world around them and to enjoy fresh air and exercise outdoors. For instance, staff take children out into the community for regular walks and adventures, visiting places of interest. Children have recently visited the local allotments to learn about pumpkins, ahead of their Halloween celebrations.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the monitoring of staff's practice so that all staff receive support to continually raise teaching skills
• review and improve the noise levels in the main room to help children with SEND to feel settled and to support older children's abilities to enhance their listening and concentration skills.