Smiles Hinckley Parks

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle exceptionally well and it is evident they have made close friendships with their peers. They happily wave goodbye to their parents at the door and run to find their friends and favourite toys. New children seek out their key person and receive cuddles and reassurance that help them to feel happy, content and safe. Children become confident at expressing their ideas and opinions. Staff listen carefully to their views and use these to extend their play activities. For example, by adding the dinosaurs to a mud activity.

Children relish the opportunity to choose where they would like to play, either inside or outside, and engage well with their chosen activities. Consequently, children behave very well and show positive attitudes towards their learning. Children spend a lot of time outdoors, exploring and digging in the mud kitchen, playing in the water tray and rolling cars down a ramp. Children laugh and show off their problem-solving skills as they skilfully work together to make the tandem bicycle move along. This and other activities help them to develop good physical skills in the carefully planned and well-resourced outdoor space.

Children become immersed deeply in their own imagination as they enact roles of being a chef as they manipulate play dough. They become truck drivers and pretend to be 'Mummy' and 'Daddy' as they wash the babies and cook tea in the role-play area.

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

• Staff know children well and are good at following on from children's interests and using spontaneous opportunities to support learning. For instance, when children become immersed while playing with the play dough they pretend to make pizza. Staff provide other ingredients and the opportunity for children to bring this activity to life. They support children to make their own real pizza to eat for tea.
• The management team is fairly new to post. Despite this, they have a good understanding of the pre-school's values and ethos. They understand how children learn and what skills are needed to support future learning, such as at school. However, the curriculum is not yet firmly embedded and occasionally staff provide activities without having a clear purpose for what they want the children to learn. This means that at times children are not challenged enough to extend or build on what they already know and can do.
• Partnership working is good. Links with external professionals and the local authority are built on trust and respect. Parents say staff and leaders are welcoming, thoughtful and provide 'an inclusive setting where all children can learn and play where they want.' Parents continue their children's learning at home and speak to staff on a daily basis about their children's day at the setting.
• Children develop an understanding of the world around them. They go for walks in the local community and visit the local shops. Children confidently talk about the vegetables they have planted and start to gain an understanding of healthy eating, as they benefit from eating produce they harvest. They enjoy sociable mealtimes where they are encouraged to talk with staff and their friends about what they are eating. Children develop increasing self-help skills as they master the use of their cutlery and wash their own plates after snack times.
• The manager is extremely knowledgeable about child development. Her passion is evident and she displays a strong commitment to providing good quality experiences for the children. The manager is enthusiastic about adult learning and professional development for herself and the staff team. She is currently completing a qualification alongside the deputy manager regarding leadership in early years. However, training and coaching for staff is not yet being implemented to help raise the quality of staff's teaching practice to a higher level.
• Respect for children and their individuality are golden threads that run throughout this pre-school. Staff are kind and caring towards children. They listen attentively to children's words, provide them with time to understand what is expected of them, and ask children if they can join in with their play. This helps children to feel valued and learn about mutual respect and how to be kind and caring to others.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the curriculum intent and implement this effectively to help maximise children's learning, development and progress they make
• implement arrangements for coaching and training to help staff raise the quality of their teaching to a consistently high level.