Rainbow Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children delight in being in this welcoming, safe and well-resourced environment. They are greeted by enthusiastic and caring staff as they arrive at the setting. The strong key-person system helps children to feel settled and secure. All children build and form meaningful relationships with their peers and staff. They have a good sense of belonging and understand daily routines. Children know what is expected of them. Staff praise children for their efforts, achievements and positive behaviours. As a result, children are confident and behave well.

Children enjoy access to the outside area, where they gain good physical skills and learn what their bodies can do. For instance, they enjoy climbing and running in the large outdoor area and children persevere as they learn to balance and walk on stilts. Children are starting to recognise their names and those of their friends. This is helping to support early literacy skills. Communication and language are a focus in pre-school. Children become immersed in books and stories, along with songs and rhymes. Children develop their literacy skills and love of books as they listen to stories being read aloud and learn new words. They enjoy moving their bodies and singing along to action songs and nursery rhymes.

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

• The dedicated manager shows a good commitment to the professional development of her team. Staff meet regularly with the manager for supervision meetings. The manager places a high priority on the well-being of staff. As a result, staff feel valued and enjoy working at the pre-school.
• Staff have worked incredibly hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents comment on the dedicated staff team, at particularly challenging times. Staff made many changes to the setting to offer children a homely, yet stable, learning environment. For example, out-of-hours 'show arounds' were offered to new children and parents. In addition, staff worked hard to communicate well with parents and children throughout the pandemic. For example, they delivered activity packs and books to the children and their families. In addition, favourite books were read and recorded for children to hear and see.
• There are good partnerships with a wide range of other professionals, such as the local authority and speech and language professionals. These relationships help to close any gaps in learning for children who require additional support. The manager uses the money from additional funding well to provide experiences for children that support their learning.
• Children enjoy activities based on what they know and can do because staff fully understand how to follow children's interests. For example, young children explore the grains with a range of vehicles and refine their physical skills as they scoop the grains using vehicles or their hands. However, staff are not yet able to confidently explain how children's learning is sequenced as part of a coherent approach to planning.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well. They identify specific needs early on and provide targeted support. They work closely with other agencies, ensuring that children receive specialist support when needed. They adapt activities and pre-school routines, taking account of individual needs, to make sure that every child has equal access to the curriculum.
• Overall, staff provide good interactions with children to support their learning. However, at times, although quieter children are happy, staff do not fully engage them during some activities, such as small-group discussions.
• Relationships with parents are strong. Parents praise the staff team of the care that their children receive. They speak highly of the online application to keep them updated of their children's learning.
• Children are provided with healthy snacks. Mealtimes are social occasions and children's independence is supported well by staff. For example, children pour their own milk or water and butter their own toast at snack time.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to plan the sequencing of children's learning, to keep children fully engaged and offer the highest levels of challenge
• develop further staff's awareness of their responses to children, such as engaging with children who may be quieter, to help further extend early conversation skills.