Stocks Green Pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are confident and enthusiastic. They hang their coats and bags up when they arrive and quickly settle in to play. Children enjoy listening to staff read books and engage well as they ask questions about the story. Staff encourage children to recall parts of the story they have heard before. For example, they refer to a book they have been reading about emotions and ask children to think about the emotions of the characters in other storybooks. Staff encourage children to celebrate events throughout the year and involve their families. For example, children dress up as their favourite book character for World Book Day. Children's family members are invited to visit the pre-school. For example, a child's grandparent visits and reads a story to the children.

Children play well together. For example, they help each other to spin hoops around themselves as they play games outside, and staff remind children how to do this safely. Staff support children to build respectful relationships. For example, they ask children what group games they would like to play and count the number of votes each game receives. Staff support children to understand that they will play the game with the highest number of votes first. Children are learning the rules of group games, such as taking turns.

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

• The provider has implemented a number of changes since their last inspection. They have improved the recruitment processes, staff supervision and appraisal procedures. All committee members have updated their safeguarding training and understand their roles and responsibilities.
• The newly recruited manager is passionate about the pre-school. She works closely with the provider, and the committee, to ensure staff feel listened to and supported. The manager is beginning to implement ways to support staff to reflect on their own practice. For example, staff have started to observe each other, and provide feedback and suggestions on how they can improve their skills.
• Staff receive regular supervision sessions where they discuss any training needs they may have. For example, they recently agreed as a team to update their basic sign language skills. Staff are happy with the changes the new manager is implementing and report they are having a positive impact. Staff say they feel very supported in their role.
• Staff know their key children well and the skills they need to learn next. Overall, opportunities are planned to help support children's individual needs. However, the curriculum intent is not yet embedded securely and consistently. Staff are not always clear about how to sequence planned activities to focus and extend children's learning.
• Parents are happy with the care their children receive and they know who their child's key person is. The provider has recently introduced a new online system to help staff record the progress children make, to share with parents. Parents report they feel kept up to date and the communication is good. However, staff do not keep parents informed about the precise skills their children are learning, or how to support their children's learning at home.
• The manager is also the special educational needs coordinator and works with staff to identity gaps in children's learning. She liaises with other agencies to ensure they are supporting children to make progress. The manager and staff review children's development regularly to ensure they are not falling further behind.
• Children generally play well together. For example, they pretend they are characters from books and role play cooperatively. However, at times, children's play becomes loud and animated and children move around the whole environment. This distracts other children from their learning. In addition, some resources do not support children's focused learning. This has an impact on how well children engage in their learning.
• Staff promote children's independence well. For example, they encourage children to put their own coats on before going outside. Children lay their coats on the floor to help them work out the right way to put them on. Staff encourage children to put aprons on before painting, and children use the same technique they have learned. Children help their friends remember how to do it.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff practice to ensure planned activities are well sequenced and focused on supporting children's learning
• strengthen how information is shared with parents so that they understand precisely what skills their children are developing in order to support their learning at home
• review and improve the organisation of the environment and daily routines to better promote children's focused learning.