Richmond Pre-school CIC

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive under the care of the inspiring staff team. They are deeply engaged in their play with the abundance of stimulating activities. Children learn about music and discover different sounds as they fill pots with pasta to make shakers. They make predictions as they fill the pots and tell staff it will sound different when it is filled to the top. Children enjoy shaping activities to meet their own interests. For example, children explore the exciting outside areas with wonder. They work together to fill watering cans up to water the plants as they learn how to care for plants.

Children feel safe and secure at the pre-school. From the start, children develop exceptionally strong bonds with staff. Children's characters are developed as they build an understanding of what makes them unique. Staff treat children with respect and are responsive to their needs. This allows them to provide learning opportunities that are reactive to the children's needs and support them to make the best possible progress. This nurturing environment allows children to be confident learners and, as a result, make excellent growth.

Children have high levels of concentration as they play and engage well with their peers. Staff expertly support children to play together cooperatively. Children listen to rules and boundaries that staff tell them and adhere to them well. Children demonstrate determined levels of self-control; they consistently keep trying as they encounter difficulties when building towers.

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

• The curriculum is ambitious and fully embedded into the setting. Activities are child focused and sequenced. Children's experiences are consistently built on and tailored to their specific needs. Teaching is of a high standard and staff expertly know what the children can do and what they need to do next. As a result, children develop swiftly and have a very positive attitude to learning.
• The drive and motivation to improve children's development and learning, in particular areas that have been affected because of the pandemic, are outstanding. Management has extensive training in promoting children's communication and language skills, which is effectively cascaded down to staff. They skilfully weave this focus throughout the provision. Children are given a wealth of opportunities to develop their language and practise their speaking. Staff read stories to children with animation and introduce new words. They use nursery rhymes to inspire children to use their voices as they make animal sounds. Children learn to listen to instruction as the song tells them to tiptoe and march. This enables children to be confident with their language and communication skills.
• Indoor and outdoor areas are thoroughly designed to meet the needs of the children. Children can independently access resources as they follow their own interests. They swiftly develop excellent independence skills as they learn how to complete tasks by themselves. They use tools for a purpose as they confidently prepare their own fruit for snack and wash their plates when finished.
• Staff are highly skilled at identifying children who may need additional intervention. The designated special educational needs coordinator has an excellent overview of those children in the pre-school with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Support plans, regular assessment and exceptionally well-developed relationships with outside agencies ensure there is a collaborative approach to children's learning. Children have the best opportunity to achieve and make rapid progress from their starting points.
• Partnerships with parents are exceptionally strong. They say the pre-school has gone 'above and beyond' to help their children flourish. Communication is excellent, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents were invited to attend online activities with their children and staff kept in regular contact with the families. Staff help parents to understand what their children are learning and how to support their future learning. For example, they provide extra support for parents to help prepare their children for school. Parents say they would wholeheartedly recommend the pre-school to other parents.
• Management has high regard for their staff. They ensure that they receive highly focused and effective professional development. They share extensive knowledge with staff to understand how children learn. Regular supervision is provided to guide and encourage staff. As a result, staff's knowledge is consistently built over time, which translates to improved teaching for the children. Staff feel valued and have high levels of well-being.