Stock Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children attend this setting with great joy and enthusiasm. They have a positive and excellent approach to learning. The children have fantastic social-communication skills, expressed with ease and confidence. Staff offer children an exciting and inspiring environment, to build on their skills, knowledge, and emotional resilience. For example, as soon as children arrive at the setting, they proudly find their wooden name tag and post it in a box placed by the entrance, showing fantastic reading skills.

Children form warm and strong attachments with their key person. Staff continuously challenge children's learning and support collaborative play. They encourage the children to choose between exploring a stimulating indoors provision, which is filled with interesting books and exciting activities, or accessing the garden set up with real-life resources and activities. For example, while out in the garden, children are fascinated to look for bugs, using tools with great control to dig in mud. They work very well together as a team, engage in meaningful conversations with their peers and learn new words, such as 'millipede'. Children's sense of discovery and exploration is highly supported. Furthermore, they acquire problem-solving skills, which in turn contributes to building their confidence and self-esteem.

Children learn so much about the world around them, particularly about different herbs. They have access to a herb allotment, where they get actively involved in picking the herbs. They touch and smell them, and use them in pretend play, extended to sensory exploration activities. In addition, they get to look after guinea pigs from time to time, and this learning is extended so that children know how to look after pets and show care and affection towards all living things.

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

• The setting offers a rich environment with exciting and meaningful learning opportunities. Staff focus on developing children's independence. For example, while in the garden, children are encouraged to work in teams to build large structures. This further develops their hand-eye coordination, balance, and control. They engage exceptionally well with their peers, showing great levels of enthusiasm and giggling with joy. which supports children's emotional resilience and strengthens their social interactions.
• Children have access to an impressive array of books and reading materials. Staff continuously read to children, modelling language well and involving them in discussions around the text or pictures. This is to enable the children to develop a passion for reading and further their communication and language skills.
• Staff have strong relationships with their key children. They have robust knowledge and understanding of children's learning. They use their assessment of what children can do to plan for next steps in their learning, then contribute successfully towards achieving them. Children's communication and language is supported and continuously extended, including at lunch time. Staff engage in meaningful conversations with the children, modelling language well and enriching their vocabulary. For example, while exploring an activity about space, they learn new ambitious words, such as 'mini spaceship', 'astronaut' and 'planet'.
• Staff focus on providing stimulating and exciting activities for all children. The activities are differentiated, and children supported accordingly. For example, at the mark-making table, staff focus on pencil control with a younger child, while engaging in a conversation and ascribing meaning to drawings with an older child. As a result, staff are able to identify if early intervention is required to further support positive outcomes for children.
• Staff support children's understanding of the world. Children engage in an imaginative play activity when pretending to be seeds of corn. They discuss the life cycle of corn with confidence, naming everything it needs to grow big and strong. Children use their prior knowledge and experiences to contribute positively to this activity. In turn, they further develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Furthermore, children learn new words and concepts, such as 'swaying in the wind' and 'yeast'.
• Partnerships with parents are strong and effective. They comment how robust the communication is and how well the staff support children's progress in all areas of learning. In addition, parents are included in children's learning and development to assure the continuity of care.
• Leadership and management are strong and inclusive. As a result, staff turnover is limited. Leaders value the staff, their well-being and professional development. Leaders continuously reflect on their practices and aspire for better and greater. The ethos and vision for the setting is ambitious and focused on positive outcomes for children. This is shared among the team, who embrace it with passion and enthusiasm.