Ruskington Rascals Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive with a smile and are warmly greeted by the enthusiastic staff team. They follow the embedded routine as they hang up their coats and bags and independently wash their hands. Staff praise and encourage children when they do this, helping to build on their self-esteem. Children are eager to explore the environment. Staff provide children with a range of activities and experiences that focus on children's individual learning needs. Children have opportunities to develop their fine motor skills. For instance, they develop their cutting skills as they cut and stick different shapes to create blossom pictures.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour and are positive role models. They support children to recognise their emotions and resolve conflicts. For example, staff ask children how they feel when they have conflicts with others. Children tell their friends they are sad and use the 'feeling monsters' to develop their understanding of different feelings and emotions. Children help each other as they collect their bags ready to leave at the end of the day, showing kindness.

Children enjoy their time outdoors and develop their physical skills. Children show determination as they run, jump, throw and catch balls. Staff challenge children's accuracy when throwing when, for instance, they ask them to throw balls through higher hoops. Younger children chase and pop bubbles, navigating the space well.

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

• Staff have planned a curriculum to support children across all areas of learning. They gather information from parents about children's interests and what they know and can do. Staff use this information to plan for children's learning. Children share what they have learned, for example about volcanoes. They remember key words, such as lava and erupting, and say that the 'fire is boiling', showing their developing vocabulary.
• Children are keen to explore and investigate their surroundings. However, occasionally, staff do not support children to focus their learning during self-chosen activities. This results in children not concentrating or getting the most from the learning available.
• The staff team understands the importance of developing children's communication and language. Children enthusiastically gather on the carpet to listen to familiar songs and rhymes. Children sing along as they join staff, and they shake and bang on musical instruments. Furthermore, staff read children favourite stories. Children enjoy filling in the gaps and joining in with familiar phrases.
• Staff encourage and support children to be independent. For example, children show confidence as they pour their own drinks at snack time and wash their hands after using the toilet and before eating. Older children try hard as they put on their own coats and high-visibility jackets before going outdoors.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well. They work together with other professionals and make timely referrals to get the support that children need to make progress in their learning. Staff put in place targeted support plans. As a result, children make good progress. Furthermore, funding is used to provide children with resources and a trampette to meet their sensory needs.
• Staff have positive relationships with parents. Parents describe staff as being supportive and approachable. Parents appreciate the settling-in process, which supports their children to settle into the pre-school. As a result, children show that they love to attend. Parents share that staff help them to feel part of the pre-school family. Staff share information with parents about their children's learning. However, they do not provide parents with ideas about how they can continue to support their children's learning at home.
• The small established team of staff works well together. Staff receive regular appraisals, where they discuss their own professional development. Regular team meetings allow the staff team to discuss any concerns and improvements for the setting. For example, after evaluating snack time, changes were made and children now access a variety of snacks when they wish during the session. This supports children's continual play and learning.
• Staff skilfully weave mathematical language and concepts as they play alongside children. For example, when children scoop and pour pasta shells into containers, staff use language such as more and less. As a result, children gain an understanding of language to describe quantity.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's interactions with children during self-chosen play to encourage them to benefit fully from the learning experiences
• enhance the support given to parents to extend children's learning at home.