Stars Day Nurseries Ltd t/a Stars Pre-School Welland

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The leadership and staff team put children at the centre of everything they do. Staff build strong bonds with the children. They tailor the care they provide to help children achieve high levels of well-being. As children arrive, staff greet them in caring and supportive ways that comfort them. This helps them to settle quickly into the pre-school. Staff adjust their approaches in response to children's moods. When children have had a break in attendance, staff allow them to act on their curiosities and explore the pre-school to familiarise themselves with the opportunities on offer. This helps children to be ready to learn.

Children enjoy a range of opportunities to develop their physical skills. They run around outside to exercise their whole bodies. They spin, do star jumps and stop safely. Staff encourage children to feel how fast their hearts beat afterwards. This helps children to understand how their bodies work. Children use a range of tools to develop their hand-eye coordination. They use wooden spoons to scoop mud and sand in and out of pots. Children squish, roll and manipulate dough. Staff use accompanying words that help children to understand the actions in a meaningful way. This helps to embed new vocabulary. Staff help children understand mathematical concepts accurately. For instance, they encourage children to use their fingers to count forwards and backwards.

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

• The leadership team is deeply committed to the care and education they provide to children and their families. They work tirelessly to help children have the best start in life. The curriculum clearly focuses on children's journey of education, as well as experiences that enrich children's lives.
• Staff report high levels of well-being and satisfaction in their roles. They demonstrate a determined drive to continuously develop their practice. Leaders help them to reflect on their practice through regular observations of staff's teaching and supervision meetings. They support staff to acquire qualifications and attend training that will help support the children in the pre-school. For example, qualifications that enhance the provision for children with additional needs.
• Leaders and staff support children who receive early years pupil premium effectively. Additional funding has been used to train staff and provide enhanced experiences for children and families. The staff provide activity workshops to help parents gain practical ideas of how to support their children's learning at home.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive high levels of support. Staff work very closely with the child's family and other professionals. For example, they identify children's emerging needs and begin the education, health and care plan assessment process as early as possible. Staff adapt targets for children to meet their needs. This enables every child to take part and become engaged during their time at the nursery. As a result, children with SEND make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff promote children's communication and language skills well. They use small-group times to encourage children's listening skills. Staff explain the activity and children listen and follow the instructions. They listen to their friends as they name different colours and shapes. This helps to build confidence to speak in groups.
• Parents are extremely happy with the services provided by the pre-school. They speak very highly of the relationships that staff build with their children. They value the input staff have about their child's needs and can see the impact of learning at home. Staff and parents frequently share information about children. This helps to complement the care and learning at home and in pre-school.
• Staff have clear plans to support children's learning. All activities have been carefully thought about for the children in attendance. At times, not all staff implement the activities to a consistently high level. For example, times where staff and children are getting ready for the next part of the day are not always well organised. Staff do not recognise when children lose interest and wander from the activity, reducing their learning time.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on the already good practice and seek further ways to help all staff provide high-quality teaching to consistently support the play and learning experiences for children.