Super Stars Pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle quickly at the setting as they hang up their belongings and self-register. Staff focus on building strong relationships with children when they start. They offer children cuddles and soothing words, and parents are invited into the setting to provide extra reassurance. This helps children to feel safe and secure. Staff interactions with children are positive and encouraging. They play alongside children and model play, such as through counting games. They use good questioning skills and encourage the children to recall memorable parts of their learning. This helps staff to discover what children know and can do, and what it is they need to learn next.

Spaces are set up in the nursery to encourage children's communication and social interactions. Children enjoy snuggling together in the den or on the sofa with staff. Staff share books with children, which helps them to learn new words and develop a love for reading. Children gain the confidence and skills to express themselves. For example, they stand up in front of the group and sing songs with a great degree of confidence.

Children are motivated to have a go and persevere in practising their physical skills. Outdoors, they build pathways with wooden blocks and learn to balance as they walk along these. They develop fine motor skills as they create with art and craft materials.

Children understand and follow the routines of the day. They independently wash their hands before and after meals, tidy away their toys and put their plates away after snack. Staff have embedded routines well. They use different ways to alert children to transition times, such as turning off lights or using actions to capture children's attention. Children enjoy taking care of the nursery's pet tortoises. Staff show children how to be kind to them, such as how to feed and bathe the tortoises.

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

• The curriculum builds on what children already know, which helps them to make good progress over time. Staff get to know children well and understand their unique needs. They carefully plan what children need to learn next, based on their interests, to support their learning and development. For example, children learn about the role of builders as they role play in the new construction site, both indoors and outdoors.
• Leaders and the staff team recognise the importance of early intervention to help support children and swiftly attend to their needs. For example, they have completed training to offer targeted speech and language programmes to support children to make good progress in their communication and language development.
• Staff provide support for those children who are moving to school. For example, teachers visit the setting to meet the children and learn about their progress. Children learn skills for school, such as to be independent. This helps children to have a strong start when they move to school.
• Children behave well. They display good manners and play cooperatively with their peers. Staff set clear expectations for children's behaviour. They remind children of how to be respectful towards others and praise children's positive behaviours. However, they do not always help children to understand the reasons why some behaviour is not appropriate towards others. This does not support children to develop their understanding or regulate their own behaviour.
• Parent partnerships are a real strength of the setting. Parents receive a variety of communication about their children's progress and what their children have learned. This helps to ensure that learning is consistent between the setting and home. Parents comment that staff are caring and that their children love attending the setting. They feel that their children are valued for their individuality, and that their concerns are respected and listened to.
• Staff morale is high and teamwork is effective. The well-being of staff is a key focus at the setting, as staff report good support from leaders. This helps the setting to retain a high-quality team of staff, which leads to long-standing relationships with children and families.
• Leaders and staff reflect on practice and always strive to further develop the already good-quality care and education that children receive. They complete daily safety checks to ensure that the resources and environment that children access are clean, safe and secure. Leaders work closely with local authority advisers to improve the nursery even further. For example, they have decorated the room to create a neutral environment to help children to feel calm and settled when they arrive. This creates a more calming environment, and children's concentration levels have increased.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to help children gain a better understanding of the impact their behaviour may have on others.