Rising Stars Preschool Romford

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff have high expectations of children's learning. Children benefit from a wide range of interesting play opportunities. Very young babies thrive as staff show an interest in them. They join in and respond warmly. Staff provide children with rich opportunities to understand words to help develop their understanding of language and communication. Children enjoy singing action rhymes and sharing books with staff. Toddlers experiment and have fun with messy play activities, and work with their hands to explore. Toddlers carefully pour sand into water and develop concepts of mathematics and movement. They are motivated to explore their feelings and imaginations.

Older children act out real-life experiences that are familiar to them. For instance, they pretend to make tea to drink. Children follow simple instructions as they collaborate with others and experiment. Older children are well behaved. They follow rules and understand why they are important. Children learn new concepts and are excited as they share their discoveries of which insects they have found during the outdoor bug hunt activity. They use cards, clipboards and pencils as they work hard to match the bugs. Children develop self-awareness and awareness of others. For instance, children talk about what they look like and what their friends look like as they look in the mirror. Children are well supported to take safe risks in their play, such as climbing in the garden.

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

• Overall, children's behaviour is good. Staff support older children well who struggle with their emotions. For instance, staff are calm and offer alternatives to manage their behaviour. However, on occasion, in the younger age group, some staff are not always alert to children's frustrations and miss opportunities to remind them of behaviour boundaries.
• Parents and staff have strong and respectful partnerships. Parents speak positively of staff and the progress their children have made since starting. Parents comment on how the setting has helped their child during the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff receive and exchange important information with parents using an online parent application. Staff prompt parents and encourage them with ideas of learning that they can carry out at home.
• Leaders are committed and focused on raising the standard at the setting. They ensure that staff are supported and carry out regular supervision meetings with them. There is a strong focus on staff's professional development and leaders match appropriate training to their needs.
• Staff effectively sequence and match learning activities to children's developmental stages and needs, overall. However, on occasion, staff plan activities for younger children that are too complicated and not well organised.
• Staff support children's developing language skills well. They comment on what children are doing and offer back-and-forth interactions. Staff chat with babies and toddlers. They use children's names when speaking to them and give them time to understand what has been said.
• Children's physical development is supported well. For example, children move around the garden looking for bugs. They dig deep into the soil and use shovels to dig into the ground. Children climb large apparatus and ride wheeled toys. Younger babies enjoy walking down the multi-level slope in the garden and sit on and move ride-on toys.
• Staff work closely with other professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to catch up and close any gaps in their development. They remove any educational barriers to children's learning.
• Children's health is supported well. Staff prepare and provide younger babies with milk and ensure that nappy changing routines are fun and enjoyable. For example, animal pictures are displayed and staff sing songs. Staff offer children nutritious food and children independently serve themselves.
• Children are encouraged to be independent in meeting their own care needs. For example, children use the toilet and wash their hands, put their coats on, and discuss oral health with staff.
• Staff support children to make their own choices and have a voice. Children are supported to understand the importance of diversity. For example, children self-select what they want to play with, ask questions and speak freely. Children are supported to learn about gender equality. For example, they look at photographs that reflect people carrying out different jobs that are not gender specific. Children take part in celebrations that are similar and different to their own.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure that all staff are alert to younger children's frustrations and support them to manage their emotions with appropriate boundaries
• keep activities for younger children developmentally appropriate so that they are achievable.