Rainbow Pre School Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children come into the pre-school full of enthusiasm. Staff greet the children and their families with genuine warmth. At the start of a session, children join in with singing a welcoming song, which helps them develop a strong sense of self as a valued member of the group. This means children feel safe and emotionally secure.

The pre-school offers a broad curriculum, and children excitedly engage with the prepared activities or choose from other available resources. They enjoy playing with vehicles on the large mat and use their imaginations as they fly aeroplanes around. They competently fill containers at the water table, using different techniques. For example, they learn how to fill squeezy toys with water and then squirt the water into small jugs. Children carefully pour out paint into small containers and use brushes or spatulas to cover pre-cut leaves for a wall display. They proudly write their names on their work. When children mix colours to make brown, staff extend learning by asking them to point out anything brown. Children look outside and say 'the trees!'

Children show independence skills as they get themselves ready to play outside. They run about happily in the large open space and look for coloured balls hidden in the bushes and between the flowers. They delight in counting the ones they have found. Children benefit from having access to a wildlife area where they can watch the birds and learn more about the natural world.

Leaders and staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. They are excellent role models and speak respectfully to every child. As a result, children behave very well. For example, when it is time to tidy up, they help each other to make sure that everything is back in the right place to keep their environment 'special'.

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

• The quality of education is good. Staff support children's language and communication skills extremely well. They speak clearly to children and use gesture, facial expression and signing to support children's understanding. They introduce new words to extend children's vocabulary. For example, when tasting carrot sticks, staff use the word 'tastebuds'.
• When reading stories or talking to children, staff allow time for them to respond. Staff are skilful in adapting questions or instructions, putting them in simpler terms and providing visual prompts. This is particularly helpful to those children who are learning to speak English as an additional language and for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• Staff support children to develop their own ideas when, for example, they build with interlocking bricks or in their imaginative play. However, when staff lead adult-planned activities, they sometimes miss spontaneous opportunities for additional learning. For example, when children pour paint or their mixtures onto the table, staff do not always encourage children to explore further, and they quickly tidy up.
• Staff encourage good hygiene habits, and children know when and how to wash their hands. At lunchtime, staff promote healthy eating options. For example, they show children how to peel carrots then offer them some to taste. Staff talk about how carrots grow from seeds. Children excitedly say 'they grow underground!'
• Staff promote physical development exceptionally well. Children eagerly follow a sequence of physical movements to music, jumping and stamping their feet. They carefully move from one tactile mat to another, feeling the different surfaces under their feet.
• Parents say staff are welcoming, kind and extremely supportive of their children and the whole family. They are pleased with the progress their children make and are happy with the preparations for a smooth transition to school. Parents say that their different cultures are respected. They are pleased that children have additional experiences that enrich their learning, such as visitors from the local supermarket, the dental service, the police, and other people from the community.
• Leaders and managers deploy staff effectively and act as role models for good practice. They monitor staff performance through regular observation and supervision. Leaders check that assessment processes quickly identify any gaps in children's learning so that all children, including those with SEND, make good progress. Leaders and staff work hard to provide an excellent learning environment, indoors and outdoors.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• encourage staff to be more flexible in the intent of some adult-planned activities so that they do not miss any spontaneous opportunities for children to explore the activity in different ways.