Piccadilly Pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the pre-school happy and eager to begin their day. They are greeted by warm and friendly staff, who immediately engage them in activities. Children move around the pre-school room freely and choose what they would like to play with, as they develop their independence. They engage in a range of experiences on offer and show positive attitudes towards their learning. For instance, children spend a long period of time exploring magnetic blocks. They use them to create different structures and enclosures. Children are eager to share what they have made with staff and their peers.

Staff have high expectations for children's learning. They are good role models and promote good social and communication skills through positive interactions. Staff chat to children as they play. They engage them in a range of conversations about their home lives and experiences. Overall, children are well behaved and polite. They listen to staff and enjoy the responsibility of carrying out age-appropriate tasks. For example, children help to tidy away toys they have been playing with and help to clear the table after snack.

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

• Staff focus the pre-school's curriculum on helping children to develop the skills that they will need for the future. They help children to develop their social and communication skills. Staff want children to leave the pre-school as confident, independent and happy individuals.
• Children's emotional well-being is supported well. Staff get to know children and their families. They take great care in ensuring that children's transitions into the setting are seamless. Staff step in when they see unwanted behaviour and ask children to stop. However, they do not consistently help children to understand the reasons why some behaviour is not appropriate towards others.
• Children who may need additional support are identified quickly and help is put in place early. Staff work closely with parents and outside professionals to help children to make progress. However, some strategies to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are not always effective. This is due to staff's knowledge and training about how to fully meet children's needs.
• Children listen to a range of stories and engage in group activities that help them to develop their communication, language and literacy skills. For instance, staff are animated during an activity about different sounds. Staff make the activity interesting for children. As a result, children are engaged and can identify the sounds that they can hear, such as laughing, snoring and singing. Staff effectively link the sounds to children's experiences from home and draw them into conversations.
• Children develop their small muscles and engage in opportunities to support their early writing skills. They enjoy using different tools in play dough and make marks on paper to represent themselves and their families.
• Children have access to a spacious outdoor area, where they can run, climb and balance as they develop their physical skills. They enjoy planting and growing their own fruit and vegetables when they learn about nature.
• Parents are happy with the care and education their children receive in the pre-school. They praise staff and say that they are kind, caring and know their children very well. Parents comment that their children enjoy attending the pre-school and make progress in their learning.
• Managers reflect on the setting and the opportunities staff provide for children. They work with staff to make improvements. For example, managers have identified that mathematics is an area where children need more support. The manager plans to develop the resources available and to support staff to enhance their teaching skills.
• The manager monitors staff's performance using a range of strategies and staff complete mandatory training, such as safeguarding. However, the manager does not consistently target staff's professional development opportunities to raise the quality of education to a higher level.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support children to gain a better understanding of the impact that their behaviour may have on others
• develop the understanding of some staff, to enable them to better support children with SEND more effectively
• target professional development opportunities more precisely to raise the quality of education to a higher level.