St. Andrew's Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff ensure that the curriculum they plan is differentiated to meet the needs of all children. They provide exciting opportunities to support all children, including those who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff know the children very well and support them to make secure friendships. Children are confident and secure as explore the learning environment independently and have free-flow access to the garden through the day.

Children's mathematical development is a priority. Staff seize every opportunity to reinforce children's early mathematical skills. With staff's encouragement, children count everyday objects, compare construction pieces by shape, size and colour, and sing number rhymes regularly. They build constructions with a range of cardboard boxes, shouting out the various 2D and 3D shapes they see.

Secure daily routines help children to settle well. Children listen to staff and follow instructions appropriately. Children are encouraged to sign themselves into the setting at the beginning of the day. This helps them to feel a sense of inclusion and belonging. Staff encourage children to gain a wide understanding of the world around them. For instance, children visit the Air Force Museum and learn about plants as they grow cress and use it in their sandwiches.

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

• The passionate manager and her staff have a clear vision for providing good-quality care and education for children. Staff know all children well. They use ongoing observation and assessment to identify gaps in children's knowledge and skills, planning targeted activities to address them. All children make good progress in their development.
• Children enjoy exciting activities. Staff prepare them for an upcoming farm trip. For instance, children make farm animals from play dough and talk about the different foods that animals provide. They solve problems as they attempt to fix different objects together to create a milking area, a pigsty and a growing area, using construction blocks. This helps children to learn about farm animals and how to look after and harvest crops.
• Communication and language development is a priority for all children, including those who speak English as an additional language. Staff use a range of effective small-group intervention and quality interactions to support progress. Children who require further support have enough time to listen carefully and respond as staff interact and chat with them.
• Children's independence, confidence and good behaviour are strengths in this setting. For example, the youngest children decide when they would like a snack. They cut slices of cheese to put on their crackers and peel their own fruit. Children pour their own drink and afterwards put away their plate and cup.
• Overall, children behave well. Staff are kind and good role models. Children share their toys and play cooperatively. However, on occasion, staff do not encourage children to pick up toys that are dropped on the floor, resulting in some children not being able to find resources when they want to play with them.
• Staff are very well supported by the dedicated manager. They discuss how helpful she is and appreciate the fact that they can go to her for personal and professional advice. Staff feel very happy at work. The manager provides staff with a lot of mandatory training and they have regular meetings. However, the supervision meetings do not always have a precise enough focus on further developing staff teaching skills and knowledge to an even higher level.
• Partnership with parents is strong. Staff work closely with parents to help to provide a consistent approach to support children's learning and development. They encourage parents to attend several workshops, for example on well-being and healthy eating. Staff encourage parents to help set up food and clothes banks to support the local community. Parents have high praise for the pre-school and its manager and staff. They say that they feel well informed about what their children do and are very pleased with the progress children make.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to provide consistent messages, so that children learn to care for the resources and environment to help keep it tidy and promote an inviting play space
• continue to develop the supervision and support for the staff to ensure a more precise focus on their professional development.