Ruperts Under 5's Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children benefit from a welcoming and nurturing handover as they arrive at the pre-school. They enter happily, settle well and are keen to attend. Children feel safe and secure. Staff provide comfort to those who need additional support by sitting with them and helping them to engage in activities. Children develop positive behaviour and attitudes. They listen well, play kindly and enjoy playing together. Children spontaneously hug one another and adults and show high levels of enjoyment in their play.

Staff deliver a broad and interesting curriculum with a focus on physical development and outdoor play. Children enjoy lots of opportunities to play outside and direct their own learning. They freely explore all areas of the pre-school, and staff skilfully follow their lead, supporting them in their play to enhance their ideas and learning further. For example, staff commentate on what children are doing as they play, which exposes them to new vocabulary. The pre-school has installed new areas to the outside space so that children can engage in explorative play and develop their large-muscle skills. For example, children enjoy digging in soil and growing plants.

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

• Leaders and staff know the children well. They have a clear curriculum which focuses on following children's interests while closely monitoring their progress. They provide targeted support to help close any gaps in their development. For example, staff provide questions and challenges alongside activities to build on children's learning.
• Staff model language and new vocabulary very well. They skilfully target specific children who need more support with their language and provide engaging games for them to develop these skills. Staff also join children's play and help them to develop their understanding of new words. For example, as children experiment with magnets, staff teach them words such as 'attract', 'connect' and 'force'.
• Children are very well prepared for starting school. Staff at the pre-school have excellent relationships with staff at the local school, and children benefit from visits to the school become familiar with the grounds and their new teachers. Staff support the children to acquire the skills they need in readiness for this transition. For example, children develop their confidence to take care of their own basic needs, such as managing their personal hygiene and being able to ask for help.
• Partnerships with parents are excellent. The pre-school utilises many opportunities to promote parental engagement and to support children's learning at home. For example, children can borrow books and resources to complement their literacy skills. Parents express positive views of the pre-school, particularly the good communication from staff in person and via information slips when children first join.
• Staff use stories and songs effectively throughout the pre-school. Children delight in singing rhymes and enthusiastically join in with the actions. Staff generally converse well with children during stories and discussions and engage in meaningful back-and-forth interactions. For example, children join in with counting and are asked to predict the repeated phrase in the book. However, some children, particularly those who are of a quieter nature and are learning to speak English as an additional language, do not always get the prompt support they need to help them make as much progress as they could. This does not enable children to develop their communication and language as well as they could.
• Staff report high levels of well-being in their role and say that they are proud to be part of the pre-school. The manager has a clear vision for high-quality and inclusive care. Staff work closely together to evaluate and to make ongoing improvements to the quality of the provision. Through self-evaluation, they have identified that they would like to develop their involvement with the local community and would like to engage more with parents and people who work in the locality. This will help children to learn more about where they live and the world around them.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide prompt support for less-confident children and those who speak English as an additional language to enhance their communication and language skills even further
• develop further links with the community to enable children to learn more about their locality and the world around them.