Seedlings Pre School Woking Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children demonstrate that they feel safe and secure. They are eager to come into the well-resourced pre-school and become quickly engaged in their play. The warm and welcoming staff greet them on arrival. They quickly recognise when some children may need additional support to separate from the main carer and provide cuddles and reassurance. This helps children settle quickly.

All children show a positive attitude to learning and behave well. They engage in activities for long periods and are enthusiastic to learn and find out new things. The manager has built an ambitious curriculum to ensure that all children, including those with special educational needs and\or disability make good progress from their starting points. Staff interact with children well and become actively engaged in their play. They use these opportunities, to promote children's communication and language skills. For example, they provide a dialogue, introduce new words to develop children's vocabulary and listen with interest to what children have to say. Children successfully develop the skills they will need for their future learning. For example, they complete tasks independently, model good conversational skills, understand rules and boundaries and play harmoniously alongside others.

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

• Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the children in their care, including what makes them unique. They regularly assess children's progress to quickly identify any gaps in their learning and provide targeted support. Staff work well with other professionals involved in children's care, including speech and language therapists. They follow their lead so that children receive the best possible outcomes.
• Staff plan interesting activities. For example, children explore different textures and use a variety of words to describe these. However, they do not always use effective questioning techniques to find out what children already know and can do. For instance, they sometimes ask children too many questions at once and do not allow them sufficient time to think and respond.
• Staff successfully weave mathematics into children's everyday play. For example, they encourage children to count how many cups of water they need to fill a jug, and how many spoons of soil into cake cases. Children confidently count to eleven and recognise when the jug is full.
• Staff place a strong focus on supporting children's literacy skills, such as through books and stories. Children enjoy looking at books with staff, who read with enthusiasm. They remain focused and engaged, talking about what might happen next. For instance, they predict that the 'gingerbread man' will become real and escape from the oven.
• Overall, teaching is strong. For the most part, staff engage well with children.
• However, on occasion, they do not notice when some children need help to join in with the activities. This means that some children do not always become fully involved and engaged.
• Children have a good range of opportunities to learn about the importance of healthy lifestyles and good oral hygiene. Meal and snack times are a social occasion. Staff sit with children and engage in discussions as they enjoy healthy snacks. For example, they discuss the health benefits of different fruits. Regular exercise is incorporated into the daily routine and children enjoy the time they spend outdoors.
• Staff provide children with good opportunities to gain an understanding of their local community and meet the people within it. For instance, they take children on regular visits to feed the ducks and visit local shops. Staff use these opportunities to teach children how to keep themselves safe, such as when they are near water and crossing roads.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Staff consistently share information about children's progress and make suggestions about how parents can help support learning at home. Parents report that they appreciate the care and the time taken by the staff to provide feedback about their children's learning.
• The manager has a nurturing and supportive approach with staff and shares her commitment to provide good quality childcare well with them. There are clear systems in place to ensure staff have opportunities to improve their practice and learn from one another.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance staff's teaching strategies to allow children time to think and respond
• support staff to recognise when some children need extra emotional support to join in with activities.