Potton Woodentops

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create a vibrant, friendly and inviting indoor and outdoor environment for children. Children arrive confidently, settle quickly and know where to place their personal belongings when they arrive, such as their coats, water bottle, packed lunches and book bag. This promotes a 'ready to learn' attitude from the moment they arrive at pre-school.

Staff have designed a clear curriculum that is based on the knowledge and skills they want children to acquire before they leave pre-school to go to school. Activities reflect children's current interests. For example, children put on hard hats and high visibility jackets and use cardboard boxes to 'mend a hole in a pipe', which has caused the 'road to flood'. They enlist the help of friends, explaining what the problem is. Children give detailed and creative explanations to staff when they are asked how it is going to be fixed.

Staff have clear expectations of children's behaviour and communicate these effectively and positively to them. Children understand the pre-school rules and the reason each is important. Staff use consistent strategies to remind children of what is expected and why actions such as standing on seating are not safe.

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

• Since the last inspection, the provider and the staff have worked hard with the support of the local authority to make improvements. This has had a positive impact on outcomes for children and improved children's safety.
• Staff have designed a curriculum to give children key skills and knowledge to provide a secure foundation for their future learning at school. For example, one way they encourage children to share and take turns is to provide a limited number of ride-on toys and sand timers. Children watch the timers and regulate turn-taking between themselves
• Staff know their key children well. They understand children's level of development, progress and next steps in learning, especially those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or who require additional support. The special educational needs coordinator provides effective support to staff so that children with SEND make good progress from their starting points.
• Children's communication and language development is a key focus. All children participate in specific language programmes, as well as sing-and-sign sessions. Children take home a book bag each day where they can share stories with parents to further promote the importance of early literacy.
• Staff's interactions with children are good overall. They interact at children's level as they extend their learning and vocabulary. For example, when a child says that a marble is 'super big', a member of staff introduces the word
• 'ginormous' as an alternative. Children show perseverance and a determination to succeed, even if it takes them several attempts. For example, staff encourage children to try a 'twist' or 'pull' action to see which works when putting lids back on pens.
• Staff know when to step back and let children lead their own learning. For example, children use planks, crates and tyres to create and adjust an obstacle course. They show resilience as they fall and get up, as one child states, 'I'm alright, I am four.' Children balance well and show good physical control of their bodies as they walk along a see-saw they have made from a plank and a crate.
• Partnerships with parents are successful and effective. Parents are very pleased with the provision for their children. They specifically comment on the progress their children have made in their communication and language development since starting.
• Staff are deployed effectively throughout each session so that children are well supervised and safe, for example, when using the outdoor area and bathroom. However, group times are not planned or organised in the most successful way to promote high levels of engagement for all children.
• Children understand the routines of the pre-school, for example, that the ringing of the bell indicates a group time or tidy-up time. However, this interrupts some children's chosen play that they are engrossed in. They are given no warning but expected to stop what they are doing and follow the next instruction. This does not help children to finish activities to their own satisfaction or make a smooth transition to the next part of their day.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the way that children are helped to make the transition to activities that are part of the daily pre-school routine so that they have time to finish self-chosen activities to their own satisfaction
• develop the way group times are organised and delivered so that they better promote high levels of engagement for all children.