St Clare's Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thoroughly enjoy their time at the nurturing and inclusive pre-school. They arrive in the morning with big smiles, leave their parents confidently outside the setting and greet their friends excitedly. Children explore the stimulating environment eagerly and demonstrate how safe and secure they feel. They develop very close bonds with the caring staff and show a strong sense of belonging.

Children particularly enjoy singing and confidently remember the words and actions they have learned. During the inspection, they excitedly practised their special songs for an upcoming graduation celebration, joining in enthusiastically. Children take pride in their achievements and enjoy warm praise from staff. For example, they clapped loudly after each song and cheered together.

Children engage busily in the wide range of planned activities and experiences provided. They respond well to staff's high expectations for their learning. Older children answer questions confidently and enjoy managing tasks, for example clearing away their snack and washing their hands independently. They develop good early literacy skills and begin to give meaning to the marks they make, ready for early writing. Younger children enjoy physical play and develop their understanding of colours, such as when lining up coloured rings. They are eager to play, explore and try new things.

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

• Managers and staff provide a fully inclusive setting and welcome children of all abilities and backgrounds. They offer strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who receive additional funding. For example, when needed, staff access support from local inclusion services quickly and follow the guidance of outside professionals closely. All children progress well in their learning, regardless of their individual circumstances.
• Managers are dedicated to treating each child as an individual and closing any gaps in learning. The curriculum currently has a high level of focus on children's language development, confidence and self-esteem. Staff work closely with speech and language therapists to share expertise and provide excellent support for children with speech delay. This is a particular strength of the pre-school.
• Staff are strong and positive role models for children and give clear, consistent messages about their expectations. Children behave well and listen carefully to what staff say. They are kind, thoughtful and make positive early friendships. For example, they happily include others in their role play, saying 'You can be daddy and I'll be mummy'. Younger children enjoy cuddles with staff for reassurance and learn to share with gentle encouragement.
• Staff assess children's development closely and plan well for their learning. They successfully pair children's next steps in learning with their interests to help children engage. For example, children enjoy exploring musical instruments and learn to copy and tap out simple rhythms, tapping faster and slower. However, staff do not always adapt their teaching to fully support children's different ages and abilities. For instance, when older and younger children play together, staff sometimes do not give younger children the individual support they need. On these rare occasions, younger children are not supported to engage fully in their learning.
• Children benefit from plenty of outdoor play in the stimulating and challenging garden. They are very physically active and show strong balance and coordination as they climb and ride bicycles. Staff read to children well and children enjoy joining in with stories. Children excitedly discuss what might happen next and remember key events. They share their ideas, knowledge and views confidently and feel completely free to express themselves.
• Managers lead their enthusiastic and well-qualified staff team well. There are plenty of opportunities to discuss the children's development, well-being and staff roles during individual and team meetings. Together they access training and make improvements to their knowledge. For example, the whole team recently completed training to help identify and support children with autism spectrum disorder.
• Managers have identified some key areas for further development, such as strengthening support for the youngest children. Although there are good systems in place to support staff, improvements have not been fully embedded in this area to achieve a consistently higher level of practice.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue to embed the support in place for staff to help raise the good quality of their practice even higher
• adapt teaching when supporting children of mixed ages to support their different abilities more effectively.