Rough Common Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The managers at the pre-school have put in place exceptionally supportive settling-in procedures that are tailored to meet the children's individual needs. For instance, they offer home visits to help staff build relationships with families. Staff continue this attention to detail and implement highly supportive transitions for children moving through the pre-school and on to school. Children and babies form close bonds with the nurturing and attentive staff. The children feel safe and confidently explore the extensive range of activities staff have provided for them. For example, they explore the textures of real fruit and vegetables as they play in the role-play area. Staff enable children to develop their social skills as they engage in imaginative play.

Staff plan an ambitious, sequenced curriculum that helps children to make strong progress in their learning and development. This planning ensures that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and those with English as an additional language, receive the support they need.

Children have access to a wide range of experiences that help them develop and practise their physical skills. For example, older children use tyres and crates to build an obstacle course. They are kind and take turns with friends as they confidently climb and balance along the crates. Staff make strong use of praise as they assist younger children to navigate the gaps in the tyres. They help babies to climb the slide and negotiate the space around them as they develop their coordination and muscle strength.

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

• Staff offer children a wealth of experiences to investigate textures through sensory exploration. For example, the older children measure flour and other ingredients into a bowl as they use trial and error to make play dough. Babies explore different materials, such as rice and sand. They scoop and use their hands to pour the materials into pots to develop their fine motor skills. Staff reinforce actions with corresponding words as the babies fill and empty the containers. They give children plenty of time to respond to questions and think about what they want to say. Staff encourage the children to talk about past events to reinforce learning and support children's communication and language skills.
• The provider and staff meticulously track and monitor each child's progress. The staff have an in-depth knowledge of children's interests and stage of development. They use this information to plan high-quality learning experiences for all children, including those with SEND and those with English as an additional language. The provider works closely with other agencies to support children and their families. They have made good use of additional funding to buy extra resources. For instance, they have purchased outdoor equipment to further enhance children's engagement with outdoor learning.
• Learning about the local community is a high priority at the pre-school. Staff take children on regular outings to learn about where they live. The children particularly enjoy outings to the forest school to play and explore in the woods. Staff provide children with opportunities to take managed risks in their play as they investigate and explore their environment. For instance, the children work as a team as they embark on a worm hunt. The children take turns lifting the tree stumps and use their magnifying glass to look for any worms and insects hiding underneath. The staff teach the children about how to care for the environment and make sure they return the stumps to their original positions after their search is complete.
• The provider ensures that staff receive a diverse range of training opportunities. They carry out regular supervision meetings to support staff in their roles and monitor their well-being. Staff work well as a team and have a clear understanding of children's next steps. They skilfully use this information to plan a range of experiences.
• During some adult-led activities, staff do not consistently support the most able children to help extend their knowledge and skills. At these times, some children do not benefit as fully as possible from the activity.
• The staff have established excellent partnerships with parents. Staff make focused use of handover times to exchange information with parents about their children's day. They recognise the importance of a good two-way exchange of information. For instance, they use the children's online assessment records to send messages and photos and encourage parents to add photos from home. Parents speak highly about the nurturing staff and state that they receive regular information about activities and their child's progress.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend further good teaching practices and children's learning by providing higher levels of challenge to the most able children.