St. Martin's Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are extremely eager to come into the pre-school. They quickly settle into the routine of the day and investigate the exciting range of activities on offer. Staff provide a calm, nurturing environment. The children confidently explore and feel safe and secure at the pre-school. Children's behaviour is good and appropriate for their age. They are kind to their friends. For example, they pour drinks of water for their friends who are busy building in the construction area. Staff encourage children to talk about emotions and how they are feeling. For instance, they make good use of colours and stories to teach children about recognising and dealing with their emotions.

Supporting children to develop the skills needed for the next stage in their development is important to staff. For example, children choose what they would like to eat at snack time before sitting down to eat with friends. Staff teach them about how to care for the planet. For instance, children learn about how to recycle. They are especially eager to place the food waste into the wormery to feed the worms.

Physical exercise is a keen focus at the pre-school. Staff provide children with a multitude of experiences to build their gross motor skills, such as riding bikes in the garden and climbing on the large play equipment. Staff teach children about how to take managed risks in their play as they practise new skills.

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

• The manager is exceptionally dedicated to her role. She is focused on continually developing and improving the pre-school. The manager has strong links with other professionals and is a member of a collaboration. She has a well-established team of staff, which works well together. The manager ensures that they receive regular training and that their well-being is supported. As a result, staff morale is high.
• The curriculum staff plan has a clear intent for learning. They focus on children's individual interests and stages of development. Staff plan a wide range of engaging and stimulating activities for children. For instance, children are keen to be ice-cream sellers. They use scoops to place pretend ice cream on cones and then decorate them with paper sprinkles and flakes. They interact with friends and practise their fine motor skills as they build their ice creams. However, at times, staff do not consistently provide a higher level of challenge to the most able children to further extend their learning.
• The manager and staff have effective plans in place to support children with the transition to formal education. The manager has close connections with the local primary schools. Teachers visit the setting to meet the children. Staff provide them with detailed information about each child. This helps to ensure that the next stage of early education for children is seamless.
• Staff have high expectations for all children's learning and development. They make strong use of picture cards to support inclusivity within the setting. The special educational needs coordinator works closely with parents and other professionals to help support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, all children, including children who speak English as an additional language, achieve their best possible outcomes.
• Partnerships with parents are a strength of the pre-school. Parents comment on how friendly and approachable the staff are. Staff communicate effectively with parents through daily face-to-face interactions. Staff also have regular formalised meetings with parents about children's development.
• Children have a wide range of sensory experiences with which to explore and interact. They engage in imaginative play as they make dinners and play 'shops' in the role-play area. However, on occasion, younger children are not as engaged in purposeful play activities as their older peers.
• Staff make good use of spontaneous events to engage children. For instance, staff talk to the children about the snail they find on a construction brick. They place the snail on a window and watch how it moves. Staff introduce new vocabulary as they look at the slime on the window as the snail moves along. Staff make strong use of repetition to support children to hear the correct pronunciation of words. They give children time to think and respond to questions. Staff provide children with a wealth of opportunities to develop their communication and language skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide a higher level of challenge to the most able children to help extend their learning even further
• ensure that younger children are engaged in purposeful learning throughout the day.