Squirrels Pre-School CIO

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and their families are warmly welcomed at this friendly setting. Children settle quickly to explore the activities set up for them. They delight in purchasing items from the role-play café with pretend money, chatting with their friends in the queue. This develops their communication and mathematical skills effectively. Staff encourage children's independence well. Children choose their own snacks and pour their own drinks. After snack time, they help to put the things away. This supports their confidence. Staff plan interesting activities for children based on their interests. Children enjoy exploring the 'winter wonderland' that staff have set up, and they talk about snow and different animals they find outside. This encourages their understanding of the world around them.

Staff have high expectations of children. They encourage and support them, praising their good behaviour. This helps children to develop positive self-esteem. Staff are vigilant about children's safety. They gently remind children how to use the climbing equipment safely outside. Children take care to manage their personal space when energetically dancing to Christmas songs with their friends. This helps them to develop their social skills. Staff promote children's creative skills. Children spend time mixing ingredients together to make 'reindeer food'. They proudly share what they have made with staff, who celebrate their achievements. This supports their emotional well-being.

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

• Leaders and managers reflect on and evaluate their provision. They have worked hard to make improvements to ensure that requirements are met and raise the quality of the provision. They proactively seek advice and support from the local authority. For example, they have enhanced their planning systems to ensure that activities target children's next steps well.
• Children benefit from being cared for by staff, who are well qualified. Staff keenly take on additional training to enhance their knowledge and skills. However, there are times when staff are less confident in knowing how to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This means that, on occasion, the support children with SEND receive is not targeted as precisely as possible.
• Children benefit from the support of caring staff, who help them to make progress. Staff use funding well to enhance the environment to support children's individual needs. They ensure that information is shared effectively with external agencies and schools so that children and families receive support where needed. This ensures that children are well prepared for their next stage of education.
• Staff promote children's learning well. They reflect on the needs of the children.
• For example, staff provide a sensory space where children can relax with comfortable cushions and lights. Children enjoy exploring the light projectors together, talking about the different shapes they make. This supports their language and thinking skills.
• Communication with parents is effective. Staff help parents to support their children's learning at home. For example, staff have developed 'busy bags' for children to take home and share. They encourage families to take books from the lending library to encourage reading at home. This helps to promote a love of books.
• Staff plan a motivating curriculum. They have successfully prioritised communication, as well as social and physical skills, which they identified as gaps in learning following the COVID-19 pandemic. Children enjoy exploring a range of activities linked to their interest in cleaning their teeth. They work together to brush play dough out of blocks, talking about how to make sure they really clean them. This supports their knowledge of self-care.
• Children benefit from the support of staff, who are genuinely interested in them. They keenly join in with children, playing and talking with them. Staff are good role models. They encourage children to be kind and caring towards each other. At lunchtime, children help their friends to open their lunches and talk about what they all have. This promotes children's positive behaviour well.
• Leaders and managers are well supported by the trustees. They work together well. Staff appreciate the regular opportunities they have to talk about children and share ideas. Leaders and managers have ambitious future plans to further enhance the setting. For example, staff want to create a growing and planting area to support children's understanding of the natural world.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance the guidance for staff to develop their confidence in supporting children's individual needs effectively, particularly for children with SEND.