Parson Drove Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff build strong relationships with children and their families. The manager and staff provide home visits for new children and gather vital information to help them settle, prior to starting. Consequently, children demonstrate they are happy, safe, and secure as they separate from their parents with ease.

Outdoors, staff initiate a game of hide and seek to encourage children to play cooperatively and develop friendships. They talk about the rules and decide who is going to count to 10. Children thoroughly enjoy the anticipation and squeal with delight when they find each other. Furthermore, staff play alongside children and engage them in conversations. They commentate on children's actions and expose them to a variety of descriptive language.

Staff generally have high expectations for children and, for the most part, children behave and interact well together. Staff support children to develop a good level of independence. For example, they encourage children to put on their shoes and coats to go outside. Similarly, they serve themselves at snack time and pour their own drinks. Staff provide hand-over-hand assistance for those that require a bit more confidence.

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

• Parents speak highly of the pre-school and say they receive daily communication about their child's well-being and activities. The manager actively obtains the views of parents through questionnaires. She is very reflective and responds well to feedback. For example, some parents requested more information about their children's learning and development. As a result, they now offer regular updates on children's progress throughout the year.
• Children develop a love of literacy through core books and texts. They freely join in with repeated refrains and learn about rhythm, and rhyme. Staff foster this enthusiasm. They encourage children to take home story sacks, enabling them to practise and revisit prior learning. Consequently, children's vocabulary grows rapidly.
• Staff deepen children's mathematical awareness. For example, children confidently count and make comparisons as they sort, categorise and match quantities to written numbers.
• Children have free-flow access to the outdoors, where they harness their physical skills. Staff and children use the school grounds for more space when throwing and catching balls or running and riding bicycles.
• Key staff know children well and track their development closely. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are provided with targeted support, to help them move forward in their education. The manager and staff speak regularly with other professionals to review children's development and share information.
• Staff teach children about good oral health and have undertaken training in 'supervised toothbrushing'. Children are provided with a toothbrush and staff encourage them to regularly clean their teeth at pre-school.
• Children develop an understanding of how to care for plants, as they grow strawberries and potatoes in the greenhouse. This helps children to know where food comes from and what they need to make them grow.
• Overall, the manager and staff understand the curriculum and know what they want children to learn. Staff use supplementary funding to provide extra resources for children who require additional support, to help close any gaps in learning. However, sometimes staff focus more on activities they want to provide and less on the skills children need to achieve next. Nevertheless, children make good progress in their education.
• Staff regularly remind children of the pre-school rules and use sand timers to help children take turns. They swiftly intervene when negative behaviour unfolds. However, staff do not always give children a clear explanation of why some behaviours are unwanted, to further their understanding of right and wrong. Therefore, children do not understand how their behaviour has an impact on others.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• focus planning more on the skills children need to develop next to fully extend and support their learning
• help staff to recognise the importance of explaining unwanted behaviour to children so that they are able to develop an awareness of the consequences of their actions.