Riverside Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show that they feel safe and secure in this friendly and welcoming pre-school. They have formed very close relationships with the staff and happily chat to them during their play. Children talk about the foods they enjoy as they play a game together. They take turns to choose a card and decide whether to keep it or change it. Children are confident speakers and are keen to talk in a group about what they see in the pictures.

Staff have high expectations of the children. They enjoy taking responsibility as they are the 'special helper' for the day. Children help hand out snack and collect the name cards and show that they feel proud as they wear their special badge. They demonstrate that they are motivated and interested in the activities. Children concentrate well as they make their models and play games. They persevere as they learn new skills, such as cutting the clay with a knife and rolling it into a ball in their hands. Children demonstrate a positive attitude towards their learning. The manager has a clear vision for what she wants the children to learn and how to help them progress through the areas of learning.

Parents report that they are pleased with the progress their children have made at the pre-school. They say that they receive regular updates about their children's progress in writing and can chat to staff daily. However, parents do not enter the pre-school or have much face-to-face communication with staff. This means that, at times, they are unsure of their children's individual next steps or how to support these at home.

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

• The manager and staff have made significant improvements to their safeguarding knowledge since the last inspection. Staff attend regular training and use what they have learned to make improvements to children's experiences. Following training, staff have learned hand signs to support children's communication.
• Children have regular opportunities to learn about the world they live in. Staff encourage children to remember and recall what they have learned. When completing a world puzzle, staff point to a country they have learned about, and children remember it is Australia. They confidently talk about the animals they learned about that live there.
• The manager monitors children's progress carefully and quickly puts in place support where there are gaps in learning to help children catch up. She liaises carefully with other professionals and the schools that children are due to attend, to promote a consistent approach to children's learning. All children make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff support children's speech and language very well. The environment is language rich and staff engage the children in lots of stories, rhymes, songs and conversations. Staff reinforce new words, such as 'equator' and 'sphere', as they talk about the different countries on the puzzle and the globe.
• Children's behaviour is very good. They learn to share and take turns, and play cooperatively with others. When five children play a game that is for four people, they are happy to share a card with their friend.
• Children are keen to go outside and participate in weekly physical education sessions. They listen to and follow instructions as they do their warmups. Children's ideas are welcomed as they introduce a new colour and activity into the 'traffic light' game. Children receive lots of praise as they walk around balancing bean bags on their heads, making them persevere until they succeed. However, children do not have regular opportunities to engage in more exuberant physical activity, to support their good health even further.
• Staff feel very well supported by the manager. They reflect on practice together and have clear ideas for improvements. Staff have recently introduced 'oral health' packs for children to take home. These contain a toothbrush, toothpaste, a tooth brushing chart and lots of information for parents. When children bring back their chart and it is filled in, they receive a 'tooth brushing superstar' certificate. This supports children's good oral health.
• Children have regular opportunities to develop their literacy skills in readiness for school. They manipulate clay with their hands to make models and use various tools, and this helps them strengthen their hand muscles. Older children recognise their names and recognise the sounds that letters make.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve communication with parents so they know what their children's individual next steps in learning are and how they can support these at home
• increase opportunities for children to be physically exuberant, to support their good health even further.