Puddleducks Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive confidently and greet their friends with a smile. They enjoy learning in the warm and welcoming environment created by staff. Children learn a variety of skills and good manners through everyday routines. For example, they help staff set the table for lunch. They place knives and forks the right way round, carefully putting out China plates and sweeping the floor when they have finished. Children listen closely to staff as they read familiar stories to them. They wait for the appropriate moment to join in with phrases they know. Children follow staff's instructions and are able to change their clothes and wash their own hands after digging in the mud. They have close relationships with staff which positively impact on their emotional development and help them to feel safe and secure.

Children enjoy imaginative play and show their inquisitive nature as they explore real food items. They pretend to cook for each other and ask staff what is inside a pepper. Staff encourage children to investigate for themselves by suggesting they cut open the pepper and other fruit to see what is inside. Staff praise children for willingly sharing cutting equipment and trying hard to cut fruits that are more difficult. Children take turns to confidently share their ideas. They talk to staff about similarities in the fruits, for example that 'they all have seeds'. Children pull funny faces while taste testing the food, including lemons and limes. Staff motivate children to try new things and teach them new words, explaining the taste of the lemon is called 'sour'.

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

• Staff know all the children's personalities and talk in depth about their interests. They play alongside children to develop their skills and knowledge through things they are interested in. Staff consider children's cultures and the local community when planning learning experiences. For example, they support all children to learn about Independence Day and why that is important to some children who attend the setting.
• Staff find out about what children know and can do at home and what parents and carers want them to learn next. However, staff do not always use their own observations and what they know about children's development. This means learning experiences sometimes lack clarity on what staff want children to learn next. Therefore, children do not always make the progress they are capable of.
• Staff plan activities and opportunities that engage children in their learning. Children learn about the world around them as they talk about volcanos and create their own lava. They develop their hand muscles as they mix, tip and pour water, adding different coloured glitter. Staff encourage children to independently turn the outside tap on and collect more water. They teach children new vocabulary, such as 'eruption', and help them describe what is happening. Children laugh hysterically as they pour water down a slope in the garden and shout 'lava run!'
• Staff interact with children well and help them develop their communication skills. They encourage children to ask polite questions, including 'please may I have a go?' when sharing resources. Staff ask children appropriate questions that encourage them to talk about what they are doing and what they have learned previously.
• Children are respectful and follow what staff ask them to do, such as using quiet voices when their friends are going to sleep. Staff remind children to demonstrate good listening and use kind hands. Occasionally, staff are not clear and consistent with their expectations of children's behaviour. For example, staff explain to children that walking inside is a rule of the setting but do not always correct children when they run.
• Leaders observe staff practice and encourage them to observe each other. They feed back on what they have seen to directly improve teaching. Leaders provide opportunities for all staff to undertake training that positively impacts the children. For example, staff discuss how recent training helped to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders work closely as a team and ensure they have a consistent approach to developing the setting.
• Parents are complimentary about the staff at the setting. They comment that it is an 'excellent foundation for starting school' and they can see the progress their children make.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen how staff use observations of children's learning to identify what children need to learn next
• provide staff with further support to set clear and consistent behaviour boundaries for children.