Poplar Pre-School (CIO)

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff support children's learning and development well. They have implemented highly effective settling-in procedures. This helps staff to get to know children and build strong relationships and bonds with them. As a result, children are happy and excited to come into the pre-school and feel safe as they explore the interesting and engaging environment.

Children develop a good range of independence skills during their time at the pre-school. For example, staff encourage the children to have a go as they learn how to put on their coats ready to go outside to play. Children demonstrate positive behaviour and are learning how to interact and engage with their friends. For instance, they ask a friend to sit next to them at lunchtime. Staff provide children with a wide range of activities to support them in sharing. For example, children particularly enjoy turn-taking games. They practise their hand-eye coordination as they insert toy swords into the barrel. There is great anticipation as the children wait to see if their sword makes the pirate pop out of the top of the barrel.

Staff offer children a wealth of experiences to develop their fine motor skills. For instance, children explore the dough as they kneed and roll it into different shapes. Staff encourage the children to think about the size and shape of the wiggly worms they have made. Staff incorporate mathematical language effectively into children's play.

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

• The manager and staff team are passionate about their role in supporting children and their families. They work extremely well together and have high expectations for all children. The manager provides support for staff through regular supervision and training to help them improve their practice. The manager and staff constantly evaluate the pre-school to ensure they meet the needs of the children. Staff state that they feel extremely supported by the manager.
• The special educational needs coordinators (SENCos) work in partnership with parents and other agencies. This helps to ensure all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and children who speak English as an additional language achieve their best possible outcomes. The SENCos support staff to put in place detailed plans and focused groups to address any developmental concerns. For example, the qualified teachers run groups to boost children speech, language and communication. These help children to develop their social interactions and confidence.
• Staff ask children skilful questions and introduce new vocabulary during conversations. For instance, they encourage children to look at the faces of the characters in the book to see if they are happy or sad. The staff encourage children to copy the faces and talk about how the characters might be feeling. Staff make good use of activities to help children learn about their emotions and support them to develop their communication and language skills.
• Children enjoy reading books independently as well as engaging in interactive stories with the staff. For example, children retell the story of the gingerbread man using picture cards. The children are very familiar with the story. They quickly find the pictures of the characters in the story that staff have hidden around the outside area. The younger children excitedly join in and follow the older children in the search. However, the older children are quick to find the pictures. As a result, the younger children do not gain the same sense of achievement.
• The staff know the children very well. They make sure that the curriculum has a clear intent for learning. Staff focus on children's interests and stages of development. For instance, they encourage children to explore real-life events through imaginative play. Children make lists and talk about what they are going to buy at the shops. Staff engage effectively in role play with the children. However, at times, staff do not consistently provide a higher level of challenge for the most able children to help further extend their learning.
• The staff and manager have established very secure partnerships with parents. Staff regularly share information with parents about their children's learning and development to keep them informed. They speak with them at drop-off and collection times and encourage them to view and add to their children's online learning records. Parents state that they are very pleased with the help and support they receive from the manager and staff at the pre-school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend the support for younger children so that they are as fully engaged in activities as their older peers
• build on the curriculum to help extend the most able children's learning further.