Playtime Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff greet children warmly when they arrive at the pre-school. New children are happy and bond closely with staff and their key person. Staff are caring and attentive. They address each child's needs and uniqueness. For instance, they learn vital words in children's home languages and find out about families' cultures and backgrounds. This helps to nurture children's personal and emotional well-being tremendously. Overall, staff plan a range of interesting adult-led activities that promote all areas of the early years curriculum.

Staff encourage children's communication and language development, such as by using visual props during storytelling and in small-group activities. They also support children's speech development by encouraging vocalisation, introducing new words and use of longer sentences. Staff closely monitor children's speech development and provide extra support for children who speak English as an additional language. They also provide children with age-appropriate and consistent behavioural expectations. Older children are familiar with the setting's established daily routines and expectations.

Children are well behaved and listen to staff's instructions. In addition, leaders and staff promote and value diversity, catering to all children and families. This supportings children to learn to respect different cultures and faiths. For example, children hear stories from different parts of the world and learn about various religious events throughout the year. Staff provide an environment that helps children to develop a positive and caring community spirit.

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

• Leaders, staff and regular volunteers are dedicated and experienced. They have a good understanding of how young children learn and develop. Staff carefully observe and assess children's achievements and plan a range of interesting activities. However, they do not consistently use their observations to plan activities that link with children's next steps in learning.
• Staff actively encourage children's imaginations through role play. For instance, they engage children in activities such as pretending to make cake and tea for each other. Staff also incorporate discussions about colour, numbers and counting into the children's play. However, staff do not always adapt activities well enough to ensure that older children are fully engaged and benefit from the learning opportunities.
• Children develop a love for books and reading. They enjoy staff reading them stories and using props creatively. Older children participate actively, answering questions and helping them to learn how a story unfolds. Younger children learn new words, eagerly repeating the names of sea creatures and the ocean environment, such as 'crabs', 'reefs', 'coral' and 'starfish'.
• Staff encourage children to be independent and make essential health choices. For example, children wash their hands before meals and help themselves with fruit snacks. They enjoy daily fresh air and exercise in the garden. Children delight in showing each other how to ride on wheeled toys and climb apparatus. Younger children also explore colourful and textured materials to develop their physical and exploratory skills.
• Staff support new children in the setting very well. They learn about the children's interests and often incorporate these into the planned activities. For instance, children, who enjoy making marks, begin to explore patterns as they practise drawing around them. Additionally, children learn about self-care, such as by taking care of dolls, dressing them, putting them to sleep and taking them for walks.
• Leaders have effective procedures to evaluate and improve the quality of education, such as by providing regular opportunities for staff to access professional development. Staff also work well with other settings, such as feeder schools and the local authority early years advisor, to support continuity in children's learning.
• Partnerships with parents are highly valued. This ensure that children's needs are successfully met. Staff keep parents informed about their children's achievements and how their learning could be further supported at home. Additionally, partnerships with specialist teachers help to ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities have consistent learning experiences.
• Children are motivated and actively develop the skills necessary for their future learning. For instance, they practise making marks with chalk and colour pens. Children are keen to investigate number, size and measure through their play. All children make good progress.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• make accurate use of what is known about children in order to plan activities that support their individual next steps more fully
• consider more closely how to adapt activities to ensure that all children, in particular older children, fully engage and benefit from the learning opportunities.