St Clements Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and confidently leave their parents and carers at the door. The manager has good procedures in place to support new starters at the pre-school. Parents complete forms and share care information during settling-in visits. Staff are kind and nurturing in their interactions. This helps children feel safe and secure.

Staff develop a curriculum that is inviting and engaging. For instance, they plan activities to focus on children's speech and social skills. They introduce toy farm animals and repeat the words 'horse' and 'cow', replicating the sounds they make. Staff develop children's love of their favourite stories to continue to broaden their growing vocabulary. Children who speak English as an additional language are well supported. Staff use simple sentences and gestures to support children's understanding. This helps all children to achieve a good understanding of English and develops their speech over time.

Children are joined by staff as they play imaginatively. They are deeply engrossed as they walk over bubble wrap, listening to the 'popping'. Staff allow children to lead their play. They gently guide and support children at appropriate moments. For instance, as children make 'magic potions', staff skilfully support younger children in sharing and taking turns. As such, children's behaviour is good.

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

• Staff encourage children to become independent in their self-care, ready for the move to school. Children hang their belongings up when they arrive at pre-school. Staff encourage children to wash their hands and use the toilet independently. This helps children develop healthy habits for the future.
• Staff provide children with opportunities to develop their fine motor skills in preparation for early writing. For example, older children use tweezers to find plastic bugs and weigh them in scales. Staff teach children to safely use scissors as they cut templates of their bodies they have drawn around. They seamlessly weave opportunities for children to learn about their body parts.
• Staff promote oral hygiene well. Children enjoy brushing toy teeth. They demonstrate their understanding as they talk about 'brushing the germs off'. Staff offer advice and support to parents on how to promote good habits with food. This helps children and parents to make well-informed decisions about the foods that they bring in their packed lunches.
• Staff support children's development of communication and language well. They ensure that children hear the correct pronunciation of words and extend their vocabulary through a varied range of experiences. However, when asking questions, staff sometimes lose focus and ask about numbers and colours, rather than following children's play. This can somewhat interrupt children's thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. They consistently teach the children the pre-school routine well. This means children know from the outset what is expected of them.
• All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress from their starting points. The manager and staff work closely with other professionals to ensure that children with SEND receive tailored support for their individual needs.
• Staff encourage children to become independent in their self-care, ready for the move to school. Children hang their belongings up when they arrive at the pre-school. Staff encourage children to wash their hands and use the toilet independently. This helps children develop healthy habits for the future.
• Staff plan an array of stimulating activities for the children based on their next steps and interests. However, at times, the organisation of activities and group times is not well thought out. For example, staff split children into small groups, but they are distracted by different resources. Consequently, this leads to occasions where children become distracted.
• Partnership with parents is strong. An effective key-person system ensures that the staff know the children well. They invest time in getting to know the children and their family well before they attend. Parents speak highly about the friendly, welcoming staff and the excellent progress.
• Leadership is strong. Staff's well-being is a high priority. Leaders ensure that managers who are new to their role receive continuous support and guidance, including professional training. For example, the new manager has recently attended training on creating an environment that fosters children's exploration. She has shared this with her team who have adjusted some areas in the pre-school to create an even more stimulating environment for children to explore.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the organisation of activities and some group times with an aim to ensure that all children's learning is maximised
• support staff to recognise when to introduce new ideas to extend children's learning even further.