Peterpan Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are warmly welcomed into this nurturing and engaging pre-school, where they quickly settle and feel at ease. They form trusting relationships with kind, attentive staff who support their emotional well-being and confidence. The environment is calm, purposeful and filled with opportunities for exploration, especially outdoors. Children take pride in tending to the vegetable patch, learning how to care for plants and observing them grow. They eagerly share their knowledge, such as knowing when tomatoes are ripe and when plants need watering.

Staff extend children's curiosity through imaginative conversations and meaningful interactions. Children behave well and are kind to each other, often reminding friends to wear sun hats to play safely outside. They play cooperatively, listen attentively and enjoy a strong sense of belonging. The pre-school fosters a strong sense of community. For example, staff encourage children to help sell surplus crops, supporting them to develop an early understanding of enterprise and responsibility. Parents value the setting's positive ethos and the caring staff who know their children well.

Children demonstrate that they enjoy their time at the pre-school, expressing that they have fun and enjoy playing with their friends. This reflects the positive, welcoming environment where children feel happy, secure and engaged.

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

• Children arrive eager to engage in their day. They demonstrate strong senses of security and confidence, moving freely between activities and interacting positively with peers and staff. Staff know each child well and respond with warmth and sensitivity. This creates a calm and reassuring environment where children feel valued, heard and safe. The key-person system is embedded.
• Children understand staff's clear behavioural expectations and show high levels of self-regulation. They demonstrate kindness towards one another, often offering gentle reminders, such as encouraging friends to wear sun hats on warm days. Staff enable this through reflective questions to promote children's understanding of self-care.
• Staff are passionate about the outdoor provision, which is a standout feature of the setting. Children work collaboratively to maintain the vegetable patch, confidently discussing how plants grow and what they need to thrive. This gives children experience of nurturing their environment and builds their understanding of the world.
• Children lead their learning and staff support them skilfully to extend learning. For example, when children discover a bean, staff prompt imaginative thinking by asking what it might grow into, encouraging storytelling and creative exploration.
• Staff plan a range of activities and experiences for children that they enjoy. However, sometimes, staff do not fully understand what they want children to learn from activities or how they can support children's next steps. This means that, at times, children are not fully supported to build on what they already know and can do. This does not promote a consistent learning experience for children across the pre-school.
• Staff work closely with families and external professionals to identify and meet the individual needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They provide thoughtful, tailored support to ensure all children can access the curriculum and participate fully in the life of the setting. As a result, children with additional needs make steady progress and feel secure and included.
• Parents say that they enjoy the welcoming atmosphere and the strong relationships staff build with their children. Parents appreciate the open communication, regular updates and the positive impact the setting has on their child's confidence, well-being and development.
• The pre-school promotes healthy eating. For example, children have a selection of fruit and vegetables to choose from at snack time. Staff support children to develop their independence, such as by pouring their own drinks and selecting the fruit of their choice. They also promote healthy lunch boxes, for instance by sharing information with parents about what to put in them.
• The pre-school has strong links with the local primary schools, which helps to ensure that children are well prepared for the next stage in their learning. The pre-school supports children well for their transition to school, such as by providing uniforms for the children to practise their self-care skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to gain more knowledge of how to consistently provide activities for children that have a clear intention and build on their next steps for learning.