Sure Start Children's Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The pre-school provides a welcoming environment in which children make good progress in all aspects of their learning. Children arrive happy and are well supported by friendly staff to separate from their parents and carers. They form close attachments with staff, who provide warm and nurturing care. This helps children to settle quickly and feel safe and secure. Children confidently welcome new visitors, ask thoughtful questions and show a genuine interest in finding out more about them.

Staff are good role models and have high expectations for children. They set good standards regarding children's behaviour. Staff support children to form friendships and gently encourage them to engage in positive behaviours, such as sharing and being kind to their friends. Children behave well and demonstrate a sense of belonging at this pre-school.

Leaders plan a balanced curriculum that is tailored to children's individual needs and helps children to build on their learning. Staff have good knowledge of what children already know and what they want them to learn next. Overall, the curriculum is implemented well. This helps all children to make good progress from their starting points in development.

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

• Staff promote children's independence very well. They provide many opportunities for children to practise skills they will need for their next stage of learning. For example, children collect their own lunch boxes, and clear their area themselves once they have finished eating. Furthermore, staff encourage children to carry out their self-care skills, such as toileting and wiping their noses. This supports children to develop their confidence and a positive sense of responsibility.
• Staff promote healthy lifestyles well. For instance, they support children to develop an understanding of staying safe in the sun. Children know to wear their sun hats and take regular drinks of water while playing outside. In addition, staff help children to learn about good oral health and the importance of brushing their teeth. This helps children to develop healthy lifestyle habits.
• There is strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Passionate staff work well with specialist professionals to develop strategies, such as 'now and next' boards, that develop the communication and language skills of children with SEND. This has helped these children to make good progress. Families of children with SEND feel extremely well supported by staff.
• Leaders work closely with the dedicated staff team to provide good-quality provision for children and their families. Regular supervision meetings take place, and staff are encouraged to engage with ongoing professional development opportunities to improve their practice. Staff report that their well-being is given a high priority. This contributes to a positive and happy environment for children.
• Overall, the curriculum for communication and language is well supported. Children enjoy listening to familiar stories. Furthermore, staff encourage them to join in with songs and rhymes. However, on occasions, some staff do not recognise when to increase children's vocabulary even further. At these times, children do not receive encouragement to broaden their language skills fully.
• There is an effective key-person system in place. Overall, staff use assessments and observations well to monitor children's progress. This helps to identify secure next steps in learning for children. However, staff do not consistently use this information to extend children's learning, particularly for children that are secure in their stage of development. At these times, children are not fully engaged in purposeful activities to build on their existing knowledge and skills.
• In the main, children behave well and demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning. For example, older children share resources, such as spades, with younger children as they explore the sand and search for small-world creatures. However, at times, not all staff deploy themselves effectively to support all children's learning. This means that children sometimes lack the interactions they need from staff to engage fully in meaningful learning and play.
• Leaders and staff work hard to develop positive relationships with parents. Parent partnership is very strong. Parents comment that the strategies staff suggest using at home to help children progress really help them. This supports continuation of children's learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure that staff use all opportunities to introduce new vocabulary to fully extend children's language skills
• monitor teaching even more closely to identify further areas where staff can develop their practice and extend their teaching
• review the deployment of staff to consistently provide purposeful interactions for children to build on their existing skills and knowledge.