Preston Pre-School Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, sociable and confident. Friendly and welcoming staff greet children at the door, and children settle quickly. Children form good relationships with staff who have a good knowledge of each child's interests and stage of development. Staff use this knowledge to provide motivating learning experiences for all children. This helps all children make good progress from their starting points.

The curriculum is carefully planned and resourced to support children's learning and development. For example, children enjoy pretending to 'walk the plank' as they develop their balancing skills on pieces of wood and tyres outside. Inside, children independently squeeze paint into pots, paint their hands, and then make prints on pieces of paper. This supports children's creativity.

Staff enthusiastically engage with children in their play. They extend children's learning and support their language and communication skills. For example, staff help children find the names of different dinosaurs by comparing the toy dinosaurs to photos they find on the internet. Children listen well and have fun trying to pronounce the names.

Children's behaviour is good. They follow routines and boundaries and show high levels of involvement in their play and learning. This helps children develop a range of key skills and knowledge. For example, children spend a long time focused on making different-coloured potions. They mix various flowers, water and herbs, using pipettes to squeeze the liquid into jars. This demonstrates children's ability to concentrate and helps prepare them for future learning.

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

• Children show they feel emotionally safe and secure. Staff are positive and supportive, giving children lots of reassurance and praise. This gives children a sense of pride in their achievements. For example, they find bugs in the garden and learn the names of these different insects. They say, 'I want to show all the grown ups' and excitedly run to staff to show them what they have found. Children use newly acquired vocabulary to tell staff what the bugs are called, what they like to eat, and where they live.
• The manager has designed a balanced curriculum based on children's interests and needs, providing valuable experiences children missed during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a strong focus on the prime areas of learning. Staff deliver the curriculum well through the meaningful conversations they have with children and the motivating activities they provide. However, the planned adult-led activities do not always have a clear focus on what staff want children to learn so that children can make the best possible progress in their learning.
• Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. The daily routines encourage children to be independent and social. Children chat together and confidently use tongs and cutlery to serve their own meals at lunchtimes. Children independently use a 'nose-wiping station' with mirrors to help them manage their own personal hygiene.
• Staff provide a positive and inclusive environment where all children are valued. Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is strong. Staff work closely with parents and professionals to ensure all children get the high-quality experiences and teaching they need to build a strong foundation in their learning ready for school.
• Children make timely progress with their language and communication. Staff use a range of teaching strategies to introduce new vocabulary, including stories, songs and rhymes. They teach children how to listen and provide regular group activities to support older children with their early letter sounds. Nonetheless, staff do not consistently engage all children in discussions to help them use their language more effectively to express themselves and share their ideas.
• Parents speak very positively about the support and communication they receive from staff. They comment on the pre-school having a 'family feel'. Staff provide excellent support for families to help children's learning at home. For example, staff provide a range of books for children to borrow to develop their early literacy skills. Additionally, a recipe book with healthy meals is available for parents to use to encourage healthy eating.
• Children enjoy exploring the resources and toys staff provide for them. They gain from the opportunities staff give them to investigate freely. This enables children to extend their own learning across all areas of the curriculum. However, staff do not further develop children's understanding of simple mathematical concepts, such as counting and number to extend this area of learning even more.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop planned adult-led activities more effectively to help all children make even more progress in their learning
• consistently support all children to express themselves and their ideas during discussions to fully extend their communication and language
• provide more opportunities to develop children's learning and understanding of mathematical concepts, such as counting and number during their play and daily routines.