St Andrews with St Peters Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are greeted warmly by the friendly and caring staff. They quickly settle into the well-established routines of the pre-school and happily greet their friends. Children's behaviour is very good. They share, take turns and are respectful towards each other and staff. Children form secure emotional bonds with their key person and the other staff who look after them. They benefit from positive interactions from the attentive staff and thoroughly enjoy their company. Children receive plenty of praise and encouragement that supports their confidence and self-esteem.

All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress from their starting points. They thoroughly enjoy taking part in adult-led activities and a wide range of child-initiated play experiences. All children are confident in their independence and in managing their self-care needs. For example, they take off their own coats and hang them up when they arrive and wash their hands before eating. They persevere with challenges, show a can-do attitude and are enthusiastic to learn.

Children have daily access to the outdoor area, where they develop good physical skills. They ride on wheeled toys with balance and coordination and have fun as they kick and throw balls. Children learn about changes in the environment and become fascinated as they observe how ice melts over time. Children learn to value and respect similarities and differences between themselves and others. They learn about a variety of festivals and celebrations throughout the year, which helps to raise their awareness of the diverse world they live in.

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

• The manager has designed a curriculum that follows children's interests and provides them with the knowledge and skills for their future learning. The manager is aware of the impact COVID-19 has had on children's communication and language. She has effectively implemented screening tools to help identify where children may need extra support.
• The manager and staff work closely as a team. They have regular discussions to help identify their strengths and areas for improvement. Staff say they are happy in their roles and feel supported by the manager, which is reflected in the very low staff turnover.
• The manager and staff create a nurturing environment with a family ethos. Snack and mealtimes are a happy and social occasion. Children and staff sit together and become immersed in conversation. Staff ensure children have sufficient time to think and respond to questions to build on their thinking and communication and language skills.
• Staff provide children with opportunities to use their imagination. Children pretend to bake cakes in the role-play kitchen. They place toy food onto the weighing scales and use the pretend food mixer to mix the ingredients together. Staff join in with their play and provide a narrative. However, on occasion, staff miss opportunities to build on children's understanding of mathematical concepts, such as counting, capacity and weight.
• Children have lots of fun as they take part in activities that help to develop their fine motor skills in preparation for early writing. For example, children join in 'dough disco' sessions, which help to strengthen their small muscles as they squeeze and roll play dough in their hands to the music. Staff role model and enthusiastically join in with the activity. However, staff do not always allow children time to fully explore planned activities independently to enhance their learning and enjoyment even further.
• Children demonstrate a love of books. They recall events and characters from their favourite stories and use this to make links to real life. Staff provide children with opportunities to mark make and be creative. Children proudly show their drawings to staff and use good vocabulary to describe what they have drawn. For example, children say they have drawn Santa's 'feet and toes' and say, 'he is happy because he has a smiley face.' Older children learn to recognise and write the letters in their names.
• Parent partnerships are strong. The manager and staff keep parents informed of where children are in their learning and the care they have received during the session. Teachers from the local schools are invited into the pre-school to meet the children ahead of their move to nursery and Reception. The manager shares information to help support continuity in children's learning and development and aid smooth transitions.
• Leaders are aware of their responsibility to notify Ofsted of changes. However, on this occasion they have failed to inform Ofsted about new committee members. These committee members have completed suitability checks and do not work directly with the children. Therefore, although this is a breach to the statutory requirements of the early years foundation stage, it does not impact on the quality of the provision.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to recognise opportunities to extend on children's awareness and understanding of mathematical concepts, such as counting, weight and capacity
• allow children more time to explore activities independently to enhance their learning and enjoyment even further.