Storrs Road Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff warmly welcome children into the pre-school at the start of their session. Children are very familiar with the pre-school routines and quickly settle on where they want to play. Staff are on hand to give them support and encouragement. Staff help children to learn how to share and take turns during play and circle time. For example, during circle time, children delight in sharing their news and wait patiently for their turn to choose an item from the song bag. Children who need extra support or who struggle to join in group activities are helped by staff to play alongside other children and to begin to include other children when they play.

Children show that they understand socially acceptable behaviour. When they are reminded by staff that unkind actions upset other people, they change their behaviour accordingly. Children receive praise from staff when they follow pre-school rules, such as remembering to wash their hands before they sit down for a snack. Older children are beginning to form friendships and join in role play with each other. They use their social skills to negotiate roles and to develop the story they are acting out. Staff show children how to use equipment, such as climbing frames, safely. They gently remind children to be careful on slippery floors.

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

• Staff find out all about children from their parents. They also observe the children in the pre-school environment to find out what skills and knowledge children have. They then use a wide range of experiences to build on what they know about children. Staff use their strong understanding of child development to break down what they want children to learn into manageable steps that are suitable for each individual child so that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make progress. Occasionally, too many staff are involved in one activity. At these times, some children do not have the support they need to play.
• Staff expertise is used to good effect to support their key children. The staff member who is key person for two-year-olds, for example, has had training specifically about understanding that age group and how to support their learning and development needs. Children with SEND have a key person who is very experienced in working with children with SEND. Children's achievements, no matter how small, are celebrated and shared with their parents. For example, children who struggle to communicate are praised when they make physical contact to attract an adult's attention.
• Staff have strengthened their focus on children's social and emotional development since the COVID-19 pandemic. They recognised that children struggled to play with other children when they returned to pre-school. Staff carefully reintroduced children to the setting, giving them one-to-one attention and building up to eventually playing in larger groups. Children still have some gaps in their social skills and some do not yet understand how to look after the pre-school environment. They leave toys where they have been playing with them. Other children then do not benefit fully from the resources because they are in different parts of the room.
• Children hear a wide vocabulary at pre-school. Staff introduce words into conversations and during activities. They plan opportunities to reinforce new vocabulary through activities that build on children's curiosity. For example, children showed an interest in ice, following a discussion about a favourite film. Staff captured this interest and talked to children about water and ice, and children put water in the freezer. Staff developed this activity by using the children's ice cubes and large block of ice with a small figurine in it. Children remembered the process they had gone through and used words such as freezing and slippery with understanding. Staff introduced new words such as melting and dissolving, and children shared their ideas about how they could melt the ice.
• Leaders and managers think carefully about how they spend any additional funding that children receive. To support children with SEND, for example, they bought resources for a breakout room where children can spend time away from the larger group when they need it. A sensory tent in the main room also gives the children space to spend time away, while still being able to see the other children playing.
• Staff provide children with a varied programme of activities to develop their physical strength and control. Children use paintbrushes and glue spreaders with precision. They learn to control their arms when they throw balls at a target and balance well as they play games, such as hopscotch.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• deploy staff effectively throughout the pre-school room so that children have access to adults to support their play during the whole session
• develop children's understanding of how to look after the pre-school so that all children benefit from complete resources when they choose to play with them.