St Clares Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children attending this pre-school arrive with smiles on their faces. They quickly settle to the range of resources and opportunities available to them within the indoor and outdoor environment. Staff know children well. They talk to children about their families and engage in thoughtful conversations with them. This helps children to feel happy and secure.

Children are curious and, on the whole, they demonstrate high levels of engagement. Staff interactions during play are of consistently high quality. This supports the implementation of the well-planned curriculum. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress in their learning. Staff place a strong focus on supporting children's behaviour and attitudes. They take the time to explain to children how to manage their feelings and use visual prompts to support children to develop their understanding of rules and boundaries. This supports children's good behaviour.

Children have lots of freedom to explore the outdoor environment. They are taught about, and practise how to manage, appropriate risks in their play. For example, they balance on beams and play on the see-saw in pairs, delighting as they move up and down. This helps children to increase their understanding of how to keep themselves safe.

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

• Leadership and management of the pre-school are effective. Staff are qualified and experienced. They say that they feel well supported. Regular supervision sessions are held to review staff performance and to identify further training. This effectively supports staff to build upon their professional knowledge and teaching skills over time.
• The individual needs of children with SEND are effectively met. Staff work closely with other professionals, when required, to help to ensure that children with SEND make good progress from their individual starting points. Furthermore, additional funding is used to provide specific resources and additional adult support for individual children. This helps to ensure that a tailored approach to children's learning and development is effective.
• Staff develop children's communication and language skills well. They use both spoken words and visual prompts to support children in developing their understanding of language. Staff frequently join in children's imaginative play, such as playing in the role play area. They use these opportunities to develop children's language skills. For example, staff use effective questioning techniques. This approach encourages children to talk and to share their ideas. Children become confident communicators.
• Children are happy and confident learners. Staff skilfully support children to develop in their next learning steps as they play independently. For example, staff encourage older children to have a go at independent writing while they play in the role play area. That said, during group times, staff do not always consider how activities are organised so that all children's learning needs are met precisely. This sometimes means that some children become distracted and they lose interest in the activity.
• Children understand the clear routines and behaviour expectations of the setting. The atmosphere is calm and settled. Staff support children to learn good social skills and behaviour. They encourage children to use their manners and support children to work through any potential conflicts with their friends successfully. Children learn to express their feelings and regulate their behaviour effectively.
• Staff support children to develop independence skills. For example, staff encourage children to persevere as they try to put on dressing-up clothes while engaging in role play. They patiently support children by showing them where to hold the costume and how to pull it over their head rather than doing it for them. Staff praise and encourage children until they are successful. This supports children's developing independence and sense of well-being.
• Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. They show curiosity and enjoy taking part in the different learning experiences available to them. For instance, children excitedly take part in a bug hunt in the outdoor area. They delight when they find bugs and are eager to talk about them. Staff support children to develop a love of learning.
• Parents are extremely positive about the pre-school and the support they receive for their child. Parents comment that their child 'loves coming to pre-school' and remark upon the progress their child has made, especially in their social and communication skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the organisation of group times so that all children's learning needs are met precisely.