Rainbows End Pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and parents are greeted warmly by the kind, caring and attentive staff team. The well-established key-person system promotes children's emotional well-being and helps them to form secure attachments. Children are happy and confident as they enter the pre-school. They swiftly become engrossed in their choice of activity and thoroughly enjoy the sensitive interaction of staff. They say that 'it's fun here'. Children develop good control and coordination as they use a range of tools, such as spoons and ladles, to scoop up coloured rice. They concentrate and enjoy pouring the rice into different-sized containers. Staff provide children with an appropriate level of challenge. They demonstrate how to use large toy tweezers to pick up the rice, and children persevere to do this.

Children are physically active in the stimulating outdoor area. They learn to assess their own risks and develop control of a ball as they kick it back and forth to each other. Children show that they understand the expectations that staff set. For example, they know to help to tidy away the toys they have been playing with when it is time to tidy up. Children learn how to make their own play dough each day. They are highly imaginative as they use the dough to make Christmas presents and decorations.

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

• Since the last inspection, the ambitious new manager and enthusiastic staff team have worked well together to improve the quality of the provision offered. A sequenced curriculum is in place, with a clear intent for what they want children to learn. Staff know their key children well. They use their own observations and information provided by parents to plan for their next steps in learning, enabling them to make good progress.
• Overall, staff support children's communication and language skills well. They quickly identify any children that will benefit from additional support, and targeted interventions help close gaps. Staff sensitively support children with the correct pronunciation of words and model language in context. This enables children to link words to actions. However, children who speak English as an additional language (EAL) are not supported as effectively. Staff do not consistently promote children's home language to fully support their speaking skills.
• Parents speak positively about the pre-school. They are very pleased with the progress their children are making. Parents say that they find the app that staff use to share observations and photographs informative. Staff are yet to precisely share information that fully supports parents to extend and continue their child's learning at home.
• Staff provide children with experiences that help them to develop an understanding of the wider community. They enjoy a visit from a police officer, learn about their role and discover what it is like to turn the siren on and off while sitting in the police car.
• Staff complete regular training to build on their knowledge. They reflect on what they have learned and share this with the whole staff team. The manager regularly observes staff practice and conducts regular supervision meetings to help improve staff's practice.
• Group time is a positive experience for children. Staff immediately capture children's listening and attention skills as they bring familiar songs and nursery rhymes alive with the use of puppets. They introduce children to mathematical concepts, such as simple subtraction.
• Children are provided with a varied range of nutritious snacks. They make independent choices of what they would like to eat. Staff help them to learn about portion control and of the positive impact that the food they eat has on their bodies.
• Staff deploy themselves effectively to ensure that all children receive equal attention. Some staff manage minor disputes between children very well. For example, they provide clear explanations about the importance of sharing resources and how this will make others feel. However, this is not consistent. Therefore, not all children are fully prepared to regulate their own behaviour in the future.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide further opportunities for children who speak EAL to use their home language, to fully support their communication skills
• build on existing partnerships with parents to share precise information that will help to further support their children's learning and development at home
• develop staff practice to support children to gain a better understanding of the impact their behaviour may have on others.