Sudbrooke Pre-School Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are greeted warmly into this welcoming pre-school. Most children are very keen to arrive and confidently leave parents at the door. If children are unsettled, staff support their emotional well-being and help them to feel secure. For example, they encourage them to wave to their parents through the window and then engage them in play. Children behave well. They learn how to share and to understand rules of the games they play. Children take it in turns to match pictures when they play a game of picture dominoes with their friends.

Staff know the children well and provide opportunities for them to extend their learning. For example, when children show an interest in weighing scales, staff show them how to use them, explaining it is used to weigh objects. Outside children are physically active. They develop strength in their legs and coordination when they pedal tricycles with excitement. Children are supported to develop a love of books and stories. They are asked to follow instructions in books, such as to pretend to blow a monster away. This helps children to take an active part in the story telling and to concentrate and listen.

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

• Children's personal, social and emotional development is given priority by staff, especially when children first start attending. For example, staff invite parents to stay with their children for as long as necessary, to encourage their children to feel safe and secure before their parents leave.
• The small staff team work closely together. The positive relationships they have with each other show children how to be respectful to others. Staff are encouraged to reflect on their practice through supervision meetings and daily discussions. They are supported to complete childcare qualifications to extend their knowledge of how they can continue to support children's learning.
• Staff encourage children to develop their communication and language skills. For example, they sing nursery rhymes and talk to children when they play alongside them. When the routine of the day changes, staff encourage children to listen. For instance, they switch off the lights and clap their hands which initiates children to stop what they are doing. Staff ask children, 'Are you listening?' Children shout in response, 'Yes we are.'
• Before children move on to school, the manager invites school teachers to visit the children in the pre-school. This helps children to get to know the person who will be caring for them, promoting their emotional well-being well. However, the procedures to share and gather information about children's learning with other early years settings is not fully effective. This means that there is some inconsistency in the learning and development for children who attend more than one setting.
• Staff provide children with opportunities to broaden their knowledge, such as to learn about similarities and differences in people. For example, they invite teachers to bring children with additional needs from local schools to play and interact with the children. Children are inquisitive and ask questions, such as what wheelchairs are used for.
• Parents say that their children are happy and safe when they are at the pre-school. However, when children first start at the setting, staff do not consistently gather information about children's interests and abilities from all parents. This means that they are not able to give all children the same level of support with their learning from the start.
• The manager and staff reflect on the experiences they offer children. They make changes to the daily routine. This includes giving children a sticker to reward their achievements after they have helped to tidy away toys. This encourages children to have a positive attitude to helping.
• Staff provide opportunities for children to complete tasks by themselves, to support their future learning. For example, they encourage children to put their arms in coats and to pull up zips. Staff support children to understand how to use a knife safely to spread butter on their toast during snacktime.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop a more consistent approach to sharing information about children's development with other early years settings children also attend
• help staff to gather information from all parents about their children's interests and what they already know on entry.