Southgate pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a warm, welcoming and inclusive environment for children that values each child individually and provides them with a sense of belonging. Children arrive at the pre-school excited. They are quick to leave their parents and eager and keen to begin their day. Staff use their ongoing professional development and work closely with the local authority to broaden their own knowledge. As a result, they create a high-quality learning environment that is carefully tailored to meet the needs of all children. Resources, both indoors and outdoors, are thoughtfully selected, which enables all children to become fully engaged in their learning from the moment they arrive.

Staff have high expectations for children's independence, resilience and confidence. Children pour their own drinks and cut up their own fruit at snack time. Staff provide opportunities for children to take safe risks, such as climbing and balancing on tyres and jumping from them. Children show pride in their achievements, expressing delight and confidence in their abilities as they comment, 'I'm going to jump so far' and 'I did it.'

Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is good. Staff seek out their own training and work in partnership other professionals and parents to meet individual children's needs to ensure that they have the knowledge to help children make the best progress they can.

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

• Children's behaviour is good. They play well together, share and take turns appropriately. When disagreements occur, staff intervene effectively, helping children to understand how their actions affect others. Staff support children to resolve conflicts positively. As a result, children develop the skills needed to build friendships.
• Children benefit from a stimulating outdoor environment that offers a wide range of learning experiences and the opportunity for children to develop their gross motor skills. Children demonstrate high levels of enthusiasm as they explore the garden, experimenting with cooking in the mud kitchen with fresh herbs that staff supply. They confidently engage in activities, such as swinging, rolling vehicles down guttering, running and joining staff in imaginative play, for example 'hunting for bears'. The pond allows a safe area for children to explore wildlife. They count how many tadpoles they can see, how many legs they have and comment on how big they have grown, as staff cleverly bring mathematical learning into the natural world.
• Routines are well established at the pre-school. Staff use a bell to signal transitions throughout the day, supporting children to move smoothly between activities. Children demonstrate an understanding of expectations. They wash their hands before lunch, help to tidy away resources when required, and line up when it is time to come indoors. This supports all children to know what will happen next.
• Staff are deployed effectively to ensure that children are supervised safely at all times, both indoors and outdoors. Regular communication between staff ensures that staffing arrangements consistently meet the needs of all children at all times.
• Overall, staff support children's communication and language development effectively. They read stories, sing songs, model language and pose questions for children to answer. However, staff do not consistently make the best use of opportunities to extend children's vocabulary, and there are occasions when children are not given sufficient time to respond to questions before staff move on. As a result, some children do not always have the opportunity to develop their thinking skills or broaden their vocabulary.
• The key-person system is robust. As a result, children form strong attachments to staff, which makes them feel safe and secure within the setting. Staff demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the children in their care, which enables them to meet children's individual needs effectively.
• Parent partnership working is a strength. Parents speak positively about the pre-school. They feel well supported and know who their child's key person is. Parents comment that staff are lovely and very helpful. Staff provide parents' evenings, newsletters and make time to talk to parents to ensure they are well informed about their children's learning and development. Parents say that they feel fortunate their children attend the setting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff's knowledge of how to extend children's communication and language skills to enable all children to broaden their vocabulary and promote their thinking skills.