Priorslee Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are warmly greeted by the staff team as they arrive at this nurturing pre-school. They walk in with their parents and place their coats and bags on their individual pegs. Children learn to recognise their names as they self-register and match their photograph to their name. They engage in planned activities and communicate with the friendly staff as they arrive. They talk about their holidays as they complete mark-making activities. Children learn to hold a pencil as they make marks on paper.

Children behave well and feel safe in the care of the attentive staff. Children follow the routines of the setting and develop good levels of independence. When the music plays, children begin to tidy up the resources. They develop a sense of responsibility and help each other to tidy up. They know when to ask for help, and request assistance from staff when they cannot reach something. Children line up sensibly to wash their hands before mealtimes and independently use the sink. They have good social skills and take turns to use tongs to select their fruit at snack time. They practise their mathematical skills as they count two pieces of strawberry and two grapes, then encourage their friends to do the same. Children pour their own drinks and drink independently from a cup. They talk to each other about where milk comes from as they enjoy their snacks.

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

• Staff and managers get to know families very well and take time to find out their individual needs. They create tailored settling-in sessions for children and work with parents to plan appropriate transitions. The well-established key-person system supports children to build positive attachments. Staff identify who children form close attachments to. Where practical, they allocate children to their key person of choice. This helps to support children's emotional security and sense of belonging.
• Staff plan exciting activities for children that support their identified next steps. For example, they make binoculars with children and take them outdoors on a 'bear hunt'. Children are excited when they find a bear and show it to their friends. They repeat phrases from the familiar story as they look for bears with their friends and staff. Children listen to instructions and follow the routines set by adults. They take part in letter and sound activities, where they explore objects that begin with the same initial sound. However, staff overly direct children's play and slightly limit the opportunities for children to make decisions about what they will do. This means that children sometimes miss out on opportunities to practise their new skills and rely on adults to direct their play.
• Staff recognise the importance of physical play. They provide activities that strengthen children's muscles and teach them about living healthy lifestyles.
• Children climb and jump outdoors. They enjoy riding on balance bikes. They notice numbers and match the number of the bike to the correct number on the fence. Children also strengthen their fingers as they use tongs to pick up small objects and count them, matching them to the correct number.
• This pre-school offers a communication-rich environment. Staff recognise when children struggle to communicate in larger groups and create opportunities for small-group activities. Children play turn taking games with two friends and extend their vocabulary as they name food items in a matching game. This also supports children who speak English as an additional language as they learn and remember new words.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress. Staff work with parents and other agencies to share information about children and create individual plans to support their development. Staff access training to enhance their communication with children. Children enjoy learning new signs and practise these when they sing songs. This supports all children to feel included.
• Staff are supported well and access additional training to strengthen their knowledge and skills. Staff and managers routinely reflect on their practice. They appreciate the importance of partnerships with parents. To enhance their communication with parents, managers set up an online tool to share observations and assessments. Parents use this to let staff know what their children have been doing at home, so that staff can talk about this and extend their interests in the setting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• increase opportunities for children to lead their own learning and make decisions in their play to help them to use their knowledge and practise their skills.