Somerville Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children demonstrate they are happy at this welcoming pre-school. They confidently leave their parents at the door and quickly settle down to their play. Children benefit from warm and nurturing relationships with staff. They receive lots of individual attention, which helps them to feel safe and secure. Children's behaviour is good. They learn about the boundaries of the pre-school and what is expected of them. Children are kind and friendly towards each other. Older children willingly assist with activities, such as tidying up. They check carefully to ensure things are put in the right places.

Overall, staff have high expectations for children. They help them acquire important skills for their future success. For example, children develop good communication skills and confidently articulate what they know. Children show a positive attitude to their learning. They develop their imaginations and show great enthusiasm as they play. For instance, children use large building blocks to construct a house where bears can hibernate. When they need more blocks, they are confident to get these out of the shed independently. Children like playing outdoors. They enjoy using large equipment, such as tricycles to develop their large-muscle movements. Children show good physical skills as they negotiate the wobbly tyres. They balance carefully until they reach the end and then challenge themselves to jump as far as they can.

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

• The manager and staff work together as an enthusiastic and dedicated team. They are committed to providing an inclusive environment where all children and their families are welcome. Staff take time to get to know children and their parents and build strong and trusting relationships with them. Parents comment how much their children enjoy attending the setting. They state that staff communicate well with them and provide suggestions to support children's learning at home.
• Staff monitor children's development closely from the start. They quickly identify if children need extra help to achieve all that they can. The deputy manager has a wealth of training and experience, to help her understand children's individual needs. She works closely with parents, staff and other professionals. They draw up individualised plans for children and provide a good overall range of activities, which help to close any gaps in their learning. All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, children who receive additional funding and those who speak English as an additional language, make good progress from their starting points.
• Overall, children benefit from an interesting and well-balanced curriculum. The manager and staff know what they want children to learn during their time at the pre-school. They plan activities that allow children to take the lead in their own learning and opportunities for children to learn from adults. The quality of education is good, overall. However, on occasion, activities for large groups of children are not well planned. Staff are unable to focus on children's individual learning needs and children do not learn all that they could from the experiences.
• Children clearly enjoy their learning. They concentrate well and keep trying as they discover how to make sandcastles and complete jigsaw puzzles. Children show energy and enthusiasm in their imaginative role play. They make links with their own lives as they pretend to fill their cars with petrol and then drive off to get some shopping. Children enjoy challenges and solving problems. For instance, they work hard to construct a house for the toy animals. When the elephant will not fit, they say, 'it's too big'. They consider what to do next and work out that they can extend their building so that all the animals fit in.
• Staff place a good focus on teaching children the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. Children regularly play outdoors, follow good hygiene routines and enjoy vigorous exercise. Staff help children understand risks and learn how to keep themselves safe. For instance, children learn to use knives safely as they butter toast at snack time. In the garden, staff set up a pretend road. They teach children to recognise safe places to cross the road, such as where there is a zebra crossing. Children remember that they must hold an adult's hand and look out for cars coming.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• plan and implement group activities more effectively, to ensure they meet the individual learning needs of all children taking part.