Ridgewood Preschool CIO

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the pre-school happy, eager to play and ready to learn. They form secure relationships with caring staff, which helps them feel safe and settled. Staff deliver a broad curriculum that encourages children to become confident, independent and curious learners. They plan enjoyable and challenging activities in line with children's interests and stages of development.

Staff support children to learn about the world around them. They encourage children to observe and talk about changes in the environment, such as noticing how the wind moves the flags. During conversations about sunny weather, children demonstrate an understanding of how to keep themselves safe. They know that they need hats and sun cream to protect them from the sun. Staff provide children with hands-on experiences that support their creativity and language development. When mixing powder paints to create new colours, children respond to staff's questions and predict the colour they will make. Children build their physical skills as they play outdoors and learn how to take safe risks. They carefully climb, balance and move across a wooden plank balanced on a tyre. Staff extend children's awareness of safety and problem-solving. They encourage them to reflect on their actions, such as thinking about whether it is safe to carry resources while balancing.

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

• Settling-in procedures are good. Staff gather information from parents about children's routines, interests and stage of development and use this information to plan meaningful learning experiences from the start. They know children's home languages and work closely with parents to learn key words, to help children feel understood and supported as they settle. Parents are encouraged to write their children's name on their coat peg in their home language, to promote recognition in both languages. Children display a strong sense of belonging.
• Staff thoughtfully plan the indoor and outdoor environment to support children's development across all areas of learning. Children engage in meaningful, self-chosen play that nurtures their curiosity, independence and decision-making skills. However, the use of technology is not consistently embedded within the curriculum. As a result, children have fewer opportunities to develop the digital skills and confidence they need for future learning.
• Staff make regular observations and assessments to monitor children's progress and identify what they need to learn next. However, some children's planned next steps are not always sufficiently precise. This means that staff do not consistently focus their teaching to build on what children know and can do, to help them make the best possible progress.
• Staff promote children's communication and language development effectively, for example, through daily discussions and singing sessions. Children are engaged and demonstrate good decision-making skills. They select props from a song bag to choose songs they would like to sing. Children take turns and make connections between the props and familiar songs. They practise vocabulary and expressive language while singing with their peers. Staff provide extra support to help younger children stay focused and involved.
• Staff use everyday experiences to develop children's understanding of number, shape and quantity. Recent training in mathematics has strengthened staff's confidence and subject knowledge, which they now apply well in their interactions with children. Through purposeful engagement and carefully selected resources, staff successfully extend children's mathematical thinking. For example, children match numbers to parking spaces during car play and explore addition and subtraction when serving fruit at snack time.
• Staff support children's good health. Children regularly wash their hands, serve snacks and pour drinks, building their fine motor skills and independence. Staff use these routines to support children's learning. They talk to children about why handwashing matters and discuss the shape of toast. This helps children to make meaningful connections between their learning and real life.
• Children behave well and play cooperatively with their peers. Staff give children a few minutes warning before transitions to help manage their expectations of what comes next. They assign manageable tidy-up tasks involving all children to help them be responsible, regulate their emotions and build independence.
• Leaders reflect on the pre-school's strengths and identify areas for further development. They work closely with parents, using questionnaire feedback to drive continuous improvements. Leaders support staff personally and professionally, prioritising their well-being and helping them develop their knowledge and skills. Staff feel well supported and enjoy their roles.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• encourage staff to integrate technology more consistently into the curriculum to develop children's digital skills and confidence for future learning
• support staff to make next steps more specific and use them more consistently when teaching, to help all children make the best possible progress.