Small Wonders Pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children have a wonderful time at pre-school. They make friends and engage in many well-planned and interesting activities. They enjoy reading books and joining in with action songs and rhymes. Children show excitement and joy as they clap and jump along to the songs. Staff encourage and praise their enthusiasm, join in, and model the language and actions for the children.

Staff help children to develop their communication and language through meaningful interactions, where they provide dialogue about what the children are doing. They help children to retell their favourite stories. Children use resources to make props for different parts of the story. They talk about healthy lifestyles and food that helps them to grow. For example, they discuss the book 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' and what he ate each day.

Children develop an understanding of how to manage their own risks while climbing, balancing, and running in the garden. They enjoy exploring a range of textures and natural resources. Staff use these interests to engage children in exploring mathematics. Children learn about shape and number. They enjoy playing with flowers and leaves. They count them, make shapes, and match the number of petals to the numbers on painted pebbles.

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

• The manager has a clear ambition for what she wants children to learn during their time at the pre-school. They focus on gathering children's starting points and planning activities to support them in building on what they know and can do. Children make good progress, and staff adapt their approach to meet their individual needs. Staff plan targeted support to help children to make the progress that they are capable of through engaging activities that are based on their interests.
• The manager has the same high ambition for all children. Staff use assessment well to identify gaps in learning and create opportunities to help children to develop their skills and abilities. The manager and staff work well with partner agencies and families to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They secure additional funding to help children to access early education to support their learning and development.
• Staff know and understand how children learn. They provide a range of interesting and challenging activities. For example, children learn to follow instructions to make dough. Staff talk the children through each step and tell them what will happen next. However, children do not always get the time to explore their own ideas and extend their learning through sharing their thoughts on what happens next.
• Staff set clear expectations of children's behaviour. They support children to explore and begin to manage their own feelings and emotions. Children are beginning to understand how these can have an impact on others. They celebrate children's differences. For example, they help their friends to reach for toys or balance when playing outside.
• Staff are engaging and encourage children's positive attitudes towards learning through curiosity and concentration. They listen to and respond to adults and each other. For example, children focus intently on exploring pasta with fruits and vegetables. They talk about caterpillars and the process they go through to become a butterfly. Staff help children to learn new words, such as 'chrysalis' to describe when a caterpillar wraps itself in cocoon to become a butterfly.
• A well-established key-person system helps children to form secure attachments. This promotes their well-being and independence. Staff teach children the language of feelings, which helps their emotional development. However, staff do not consistently enhance opportunities for children to develop their independence skills further, in preparation for the next stage of learning. For example, staff do not consistently include children in daily routine tasks to help them to secure their independence skills.
• Staff build positive relationships with parents. They share information about children's progress and help parents to support their child's learning at home. There is open two-way communication between the pre-school and home. Parents receive support and guidance for any concerns they may have. Additionally, staff signpost parents to other services that are available to help them to meet the needs of their children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen opportunities for children to further develop their independence skills
• enhance staff interactions to help children to develop their own ideas further.