St Marychurch Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the pre-school happy and ready to learn. They form good relationships with staff and greet them and their peers with a smile. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, parents no longer come inside to settle their children. However, children have adapted well to this and demonstrate independence as they put their belongings away. They follow good hygiene routines and remember to wash their hands when they arrive to prevent the spread of germs.

Children benefit from a carefully planned curriculum. They develop their hand-to-eye coordination as they play in the sand tray. Children focus as they scoop sand into a teapot and carefully pour it into a teacup. They use their imagination as they pretend to drink from the cup. Staff support children to make links to previous learning and discuss familiar storybooks with them. Children talk about the characters in the book and proudly announce 'the tiger has stripes'.

Children have daily opportunities to play outdoors in the pre-school garden. They develop good physical skills as they climb, balance and jump from different obstacles. Children explore natural materials, such as grass and bark, as they pretend to cook in the outdoor kitchen.

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

• Children are developing some language to describe their feelings. Each morning, children self-register and identify if they are feeling happy or sad. Staff support children to become aware of their feelings, as well as those of others. Children learn to be considerate of their friends. They share ideas of how to make someone who is feeling sad to feel better. This supports children's social skills and helps them to become more resilient in preparation for the move to school.
• Staff quickly identify when children might need additional support and put plans in place to support them. They closely monitor children's progress and make timely referrals to other professionals, such as speech and language therapists to make sure that children get the help they need.
• Staff are positive role models. They teach children about the world around them and support their understanding of what makes them unique. Staff challenge stereotypes to help broaden children's awareness of others. For example, when children ask about the gender of a human figure, staff sensitively explain it could be a boy or a girl because both genders can have short hair.
• Children explore a range of sensory activities. They manipulate dough in their hands and develop strength in their fingers as they pinch and mould smaller pieces. Staff sit alongside and support children's communication and language skills. They engage children in meaningful conversations about their creation and support them to count the number of squares on the play dough mat. Children proudly count from one to 10.
• Staff use their assessments of children to plan group learning activities that help to broaden children's knowledge and skills. However, staff do not always consider the size of the group or the capabilities of children taking part to fully promote their engagement and enhance their learning to the highest level.
• Parents speak highly of the pre-school. They comment on the kind and caring staff team and appreciate the regular information they share about their children's learning and development. Staff share valuable information with parents in a range of ways. For example, parents are encouraged to view online observations and photographs of children's play. They receive verbal feedback and guidance to promote children's learning at home.
• Staff promote children's positive behaviour and have plans in place to prepare children for what is coming next. For example, staff remind children that they have a few minutes before it is time to tidy away for snack. They celebrate children's achievements and praise their listening skills. However, on occasions, some children do not know exactly what is expected from them as staff do not always make their behavioural expectations clear enough.
• The manager and deputy offer valuable support and training for staff's professional development. However, there are times when less-experienced staff could benefit from more direction from the management team to help strengthen their good practice further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the organisation of activities to promote children's engagement and enhance their learning to the highest level
• provide even more consistent guidance to support children's understanding of what is expected of them to help them to better manage their own behaviour
• strengthen support for less-experienced staff to build confidence in their role and raise the quality of their practice to the highest level.