Skidby Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, settled and form strong attachments with staff. They enjoy the time they spend with staff. Children make decisions about their play, selecting from a good range of toys and resources. They achieve well in their early writing and reading skills. Children identify the letters in their names and recognise them in other words. Children's physical development is well supported. They enjoy playing in the outside area, running and balancing carefully on the equipment. Children use their small-muscle skills as they enjoy manipulating play dough and making models with their hands. Children who speak English as an additional language are supported well.

Children behave well. They are helpful and kind to one another. Staff provide plenty of praise for children's good efforts. This gives children a sense of pride in their achievements and enhances their eagerness to learn. Children follow effective health and hygiene procedures, such as washing their hands before snack. Staff and children have discussions about healthy options at lunchtime. Children understand that healthy eating and regular exercise impact positively on their overall good health. Children are respectful of people's differences. They enjoy regular opportunities to explore and learn about cultural festivals.

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

• Staff plan an exciting range of experiences in the outdoor area that help children to have a positive attitude to learning. For example, children develop their literacy skills as they use clipboards and pens. They use paintbrushes and water to make marks on the fences, and they enjoy baking cakes in the outdoor kitchen area.
• Children make good progress overall. They enjoy stimulating activities that support their development well. For example, older children learn about the alphabet and identify letters at the beginning of different words. Children write their own registers, identifying who is at the pre-school and who has not attended. These opportunities help to prepare children for their next stage in learning, including their move on to school.
• Staff regularly check children's progress and use this information to help ensure that they receive the right challenges. However, sometimes, staff do not identify children's individual interests and preferences to create an environment to better support their next steps in learning.
• Staff support young children's language and communication skills effectively. They use repetition, effective questioning skills and model words. Children listen attentively to staff and respond well to questions with considered answers.
• Staff support children's mathematical development effectively. For instance, they encourage children to count objects as they play and point out different shapes in the environment. Children count securely and have a good understanding of shape and size.
• Partnerships with parents are good and staff involve parents in their children's learning effectively. Parents say how happy they are and praise the communication. There is a strong focus on preparing children for school. Staff work collaboratively with other professionals, parents and schools to enable a smooth transition for children.
• Children generally follow the pre-school's routines well. For example, at the end of the session, they listen to stories with interest and excitedly join in with their favourite phrases. However, some parts of the daily routine are not organised as well as possible to fully support children's learning. For example, children are interrupted in their play to take part in snack time.
• The manager and staff work closely together. Although peer observations take place on the quality of staff's teaching practice, the manager's overview of this is not fully secure. She does not use the information to help set precise areas for further improvement for all staff, to help raise the quality of education to a high level.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide children with more opportunities to increase their skills through activities based on their specific interests and preferences
• review and enhance some parts of the daily routine to maximise all children's learning
• monitor staff's performance further to help identify precisely how staff can raise their good practice further.