Sheepsetting Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are confident and self-assured. They explore their play environment with enthusiasm, both indoors and outdoors, experimenting with a wealth of resources. Children's self-esteem is ever increasing through the positive interaction and engagement from the whole staff team. Children develop positive relationships with their friends. They happily invite others into their play. They listen to rules and boundaries, especially when out of the setting, such as forest school and within the community. They show delight in their achievements, wanting to share their new skills with staff, parents and their friends. They show a great eagerness to learn and discover more.

Children's communication and language is enthusiastically encouraged. Staff act as positive role models in their language. They use open-ended questions and statements to help children to think, take time to absorb information and respond verbally with gestures and expressions. Staff continually introduce new complex vocabulary to support children's speech and language. For example, children explain that the watermelon at snack time is 'crunchy, juicy, slurpy, yummy, watery because it's a watermelon'.

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

• All parents spoken to make very positive comments about the reassuring support from all staff. They feel their children are making very good levels of development and are ready for school when they leave the setting.
• Staff have a keen eagerness to continue their development. They understand the importance of developing their skills and knowledge through training, research and observing other staff's skills. Management celebrate staff's expertise by sharing their skills, cascading knowledge and introducing new concepts and practices. This has an effective impact on children's ongoing development.
• Children's understanding of mathematical concept is emerging. Staff recently recognised the importance of developing their confidence in delivering this part of the curriculum more effectively. This has been successful in areas where some children play, such as construction, outside play and malleable play. However, staff have not recognised that this is not always extended to other areas of play that is regularly used other children, such as creativity, the home corner and role play.
• Staff develop close liaisons with other professionals to provide a consistent approach to children's learning. They share information with health visitors and speech and language specialists to enhance these areas of learning. However, staff do not always fully engage with other settings that children attend to fully support continuity in children's progress.
• Children have confident skills to meet their own needs. They use the bathroom independent, asking for help when it is needed. They make healthy choices at the snack table and enthusiastically tell visitors what they have in their lunch boxes. They talk about what is good for them and how to keep themselves healthy. For example, children demonstrate how to clean their teeth using a model of teeth.
• The management team show a caring attitude towards the well-being of all staff. Staff work cohesively, acting as a team, with designated roles to fully empower all staff's skills and knowledge. The committee take their roles seriously, continually supporting the staff team in their aim of meeting children's individual needs.
• Children make confident transitions to their next stage in their learning. They regularly visit the local school to gain confidence in their new environment. They use the library and are familiar with people in the school. They develop skills to meet their own needs, such as putting on coats, waterproof trousers and shoes. Children lead their own play. They constantly decide where to play and how to play. Staff use positive skills to engage children in challenging, stimulating experiences, especially in the garden. This helps children to think critically and to solve problems themselves.
• Children make marks for a purpose. They use the resources deployed around the setting to make lists of what they want to buy in the shops. They use precise movements to draw maps of their journey home, confidently expressing in complex words what they see on their journey. Children share their maps and their journey with their friends, enthusing them to have a go at making a map. They are very proud of their new skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff's confidence to encourage further mathematical concepts in all areas of play for all children
• enhance the communication with other settings children attend to fully support their continuous learning and development.