Pepperpot Bathford Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Friendly staff welcome the children into this nurturing pre-school. They show they have formed close bonds with the children as they hug them and ask about their morning. The children become excited as they walk through a child-sized door into the playroom. They seek out their friends before exploring the activities on offer.

The children explore Arctic animals frozen in ice. Staff encourage the children to use their critical thinking skills to come up with ideas on how to rescue the animals. They decide to use warm water to melt the ice slowly. Staff ask the children if the ice is a solid or a liquid. The children decide it was a solid and that once it melts it turns into a liquid. They cheer as they rescue the different animals. This creates a sense of achievement and develops a positive attitude to learning.

Children understand how to keep their bodies healthy. They discuss the importance of regular handwashing and other hygiene routines. The children show they can do things for themselves as they put on their shoes and coats to go outside. At snack time, children choose from a range of healthy fruit and vegetables. They use butter knives to put their chosen spread onto their cracker. This supports children's independence and strengthens the muscles needed for later writing skills.

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

• The manager and her team have a clear understanding of what they want children to learn. They understand the value of children being prepared for school and developing their independence. The staff use their knowledge of the children to skilfully interact with them during their play, extending their learning past what they already know. This means children make progress from their starting points.
• Staff plan a range of whole-group activities, which further supports children's communication, listening and social skills. However, the routine of the pre-school means these activities are often close together. This means children are sat focusing for long periods of time and some become fidgety or distracted.
• Children show they can confidently communicate with each other. They make links to past experiences and learning. For example, the children talk about what they must do if there is an emergency at the pre-school. They take turns to share the instructions and to build on what they remember. Staff support their language through reading stories and singing songs. They repeat words and phrases back to the children correctly. This boosts children's language and literacy skills.
• The staff support children's early mathematical skills. For example, during circle time children count the number of children attending the pre-school. They ask the children if it is more, less or the same as the day before. The children then find the number to put on the board. When children leave at lunch, staff ask the children 'what's 14 take away 2'. This strengthens children's understanding of mathematical language and concepts.
• Parents praise the setting for keeping them up to date with their children's development and next stages of learning. They receive detailed handovers and regular photos of their children enjoying a range of activities. Parents receive support and guidance from the staff on things, such as potty training, fussy eating, and challenging behaviour. Staff provide parents with ideas and activities to help extend children's learning at home, such as getting the children to reflect and discuss what they have done each day to reinforce their learning.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities effectively. They work closely with children's families and other professionals to create development plans and targets to aid children's learning. Staff use relevant funding to attend training and gain specialised resources to further support these children to make the best possible progress. Children who speak English as an additional language are supported by the staff, who put on display a range of everyday words and provide books in the child's home language. This supports these children to make the best possible progress.
• The manager and her team continuously reflect on the care and provisions they provide. They make changes to the playroom to suit the interests and needs of their current children. Staff receive regular appraisals where they receive feedback on their practice. However, the manager recognises that staff's professional development opportunities are not yet focused or targeted enough, to raise the already good standard of education to an even higher level.
• Staff take the children out in the local community. They visit the local farms, parks and woodlands. The children explore the world around them and learn about nature as they pick blackberries and collect leaves. The children visit a local school, where they play alongside a reception class. At the school, the children participate in reading activities and ride their bikes in the play ground. This helps prepare those children transitioning to school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the organisation and frequency of whole-group activities to help younger children listen and attend consistently
• support staff's ongoing professional development further, to raise the quality of teaching to the highest level.