Springwood Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and are welcomed by the caring and friendly staff. They show that they feel safe and emotionally secure. For example, children confidently move around the environment and enjoy cuddles with staff when needed.

Staff have high expectations of children. They support them to form good friendships and develop a positive attitude to their learning. For instance, children enjoy pretend play in small groups, sharing real-life resources in the home corner. This helps them to build relationships with each other and act out their own ideas and experiences.

Staff ensure that children who speak English as an additional language are fully included within the provision. They work with families to support the development of children's language skills in their home language as well as English. Staff share children's home languages and cultures with all children. For example, parents come into the setting and read stories in their native tongue for all children to listen to. This helps to develop children's sense of belonging as well as their language skills.

Staff plan a wide range of activities to encourage children to be active and develop their physical skills. For instance, children have fun climbing on the climbing frame and enjoy taking part in music and movement activities. This helps children to make good progress in their physical development.

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

• The provider, manager, and special educational needs coordinator provide good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They are quick to make referrals and secure the timely support that individual children need. For instance, they have developed a small space to provide children with a calm area for focused activities. Staff work alongside parents and other professionals to ensure that they are working towards shared goals. Children with SEND make strong progress from their individual starting points.
• The provider and manager have a clear and ambitious curriculum in place. All staff understand the curriculum intent, and this is imbedded well in the pre-school room. However, the planning of the curriculum for the younger children is not yet as effective. For example, at times, activities do not support younger children's learning and development needs. This does not consistently support younger children to make good progress.
• Overall, children behave well. They use good manners and learn how to share. Some staff give clear direction to support children's understanding of expectations. However, occasionally, staff are not consistent in their approach with the older children. For example, when staff ask children to tidy up, they do not encourage them to do this. Furthermore, strategies for teaching children to wait and take turns are not always used effectively. For instance, the setting use sand timers to help children to know when it is their turn. However, these are not used consistently by all staff. This means that children do not fully understand what is expected of them.
• Staff know their key children well and can discuss their interests, progress, and next steps in learning with confidence. They regularly share this information with parents. For example, staff provide ideas for activities and places to visit to support children's learning at home. Parents comment that they are extremely happy with the care and learning that their children receive from the supportive staff.
• Staff support the development of children's communication and language skills well. They engage children in back-and-forth conversations throughout the day. For instance, staff ask children questions about the ingredients that they are using to make their dough and discuss how they have done it before. They speak clearly, introduce new words, and sensitively repeat any words that children mispronounce. Children enjoy looking at books, listening to stories, and joining in with familiar songs. They demonstrate their growing vocabulary as they confidently share their thoughts and ideas with each other and the staff.
• Staff have positive relationships with the children. They show care and nurture during care routines, such as handwashing and going to the toilet. Staff ensure that children's voices are heard. For example, they ask children if they can change their nappy, and sing songs to the them to comfort and soothe them.
• The provider and manager are passionate about what they do and work closely with the dedicated staff as a team. They are highly reflective of their practice. They discuss their strengths and are aware of areas that they want to improve. The provider and manager care about their staff and have strong systems of induction, training, and supervision meetings in place to ensure staff's continued professional development. Staff comment that they feel well supported and enjoy working at the setting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to strengthen the implementation of the curriculum for the younger children, to provide them with activities that are more-precisely matched to their learning needs
• support staff to be consistent in their behaviour management strategies, to build on children's understanding of behaviour expectations.