St Newlyn East Pre School and After School Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at this friendly and nurturing pre-school and the caring staff greet them warmly. Staff know the children well and give them plenty of praise and cuddles. This supports children's emotional well-being effectively. Children are happy and feel safe. Staff provide a wide range of exciting activities which ignite children's thirst for learning. For example, children show great curiosity as they make play dough. They thoroughly enjoy scooping the ingredients into a bowl and mixing them well with their hands. Children say 'it smells like pizza' as they add mixed herbs to the dough. Staff introduce new words, such as 'knead' and 'soggy' which support the children's growing vocabulary. Children are confident to lead their own learning as they decide to make snakes and cakes with their play dough.

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and conduct. They teach children the importance of being respectful to each other. As a result, children behave well. Children know the rules apply to everyone, and they all help to put the toys away when the tidy up song is played. When children very occasionally struggle with regulating their behaviour, staff take appropriate action to support them. For example, they gently remind children to take turns.

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

• The manager has developed an ambitious curriculum and considers carefully how to spend extra funding to benefit children. Overall, staff support children's learning effectively. For example, children have tremendous fun as they choose to mix flowers and water to make 'stinky perfume'. Staff provide pipettes for children to transfer their concoctions between containers. This helps children to strengthen their finger muscles successfully in preparation for writing. However, staff do not consistently support quieter children to help them extend their learning further.
• Children get plenty of fresh air and exercise. They delight in riding scooters and throwing balls into a basketball hoop. They learn to move their bodies in different ways as they enjoy weekly dance sessions from a dance teacher. This develops their physical skills successfully.
• Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pre-school is providing children with even greater support in their literacy and mathematics development. Staff sing counting songs with children, talk about shapes and provide opportunities for children to make marks and write their names. This is having a positive impact as children confidently count to ten and say the sounds of some individual letters. Staff have very strong links with the local school. This helps children to settle in well when it is time for them to start school.
• Staff feel valued and supported by the manager. The manager helps staff to manage their workload effectively and maintain their well-being through, for example, supervision meetings. Staff have regular professional development opportunities to build on their skills and improve outcomes for children. For example, following on from training, staff implement yoga sessions for the children. This helps children to relax and be calm, as well as helps to strengthen their growing bodies.
• Children learn the importance of good hygiene and how to manage their self-care needs. Staff teach children well about oral health. For example, staff invited the local dentist to come and talk to the children about why brushing their teeth is important. Staff actively encourage children to be independent. Children peel their own oranges and pour their drinks independently.
• Parents comment positively about the pre-school and how their children are progressing. For example, they describe the nursery as 'amazing'. Staff have daily discussions with parents and write termly reports detailing children's progress. They guide parents in how they can further support their child's learning at home. Staff have begun to share good information with parents to support healthy eating practices. However, this is not fully embedded yet.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to work with the quieter children more effectively to make sure that these children have the same learning experiences as the more confident children
• strengthen partnerships with parents even further to help support children in developing healthy eating practices.