Sywell and Overstone Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive eager and happy to play at this safe and welcoming committee led pre-school. Staff build warm relationships with the children and know them well. Children separate from their parents confidently. Children greet each other and settle straight in to find new and exciting activities. Staff encourage children to hang their coats belongings on named pegs. This contributes to children becoming independent.

Children explore ice and insects in the garden. They are encouraged by enthusiastic staff to use hammers to break the ice and set the insects free. The children develop their control and speak to others, reminding them to be careful. Children celebrate their friends' achievements and behave well towards each other. Younger children are supported during a craft activity to use glue spreaders independently. They build up their pictures using sequins and pom-poms. Children are introduced to new vocabulary within sentences by staff, such as 'sparkly' and 'squidgy' to help to develop their communication.

All children have access to a good quality curriculum designed by the entire staff team. This leads to a wide variety of activities and experiences for the children. For example, children engage in the newly developed growing area of the garden and independently fill watering cans from water butts to take care of the flowers. Children learn about growth and nature, and remember what they have learned from past experiences.

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

• Staff narrate children's actions and ask open-ended questions and by repeating new words to children they extend their vocabulary. For example, while making lemonade, staff model words, such as 'pips' and 'sour'.
• Children's independence is highly promoted. Staff actively support children to develop their skills. For example, children pour their own drinks at snack time and wash up their own bowls and utensils at the 'wash station'.
• The manager and staff provide children with a well-thought-out curriculum that supports all areas of their development. Staff effectively plan for the children's next stages of learning and further extend their interests.
• Parents speak highly of the relationships they have with staff. They receive updates and observations through the online learning journey and state that staff 'go above and beyond' in their care. Another parent stated that staff not only care for the children but 'love them too'.
• Staff are positive role models and use clear and consistent rules and boundaries. Staff offer gentle reminders about expectations and teach children they need to share and take turns. This supports children's behaviour which is good. They share resources and support each other in their achievements. For example, during an ice activity a child states, 'Keep going you are doing it.' This supports self-esteem and highlights embedded behavioural expectations within the pre-school.
• Staff know the children they care for extremely well. They plan for children's interests and confidently expand upon them. For example, some children have a strong interest in space rockets. The staff researched videos of rocket launches to further support their learning through their interests.
• Staff receive support from both the manager and committee. Regular supervisions are in place to support and develop staff's practice and teaching. However, supervisions are not targeted enough to measure staff development and the impact on their teaching fully.
• The manager is skilled and dedicated to providing high-quality experiences for children. She reflects on provision and seeks professional development opportunities for the staff team. For example, staff have recently attended training and visited other local provisions to develop their practice. The training has benefitted the children within the pre-school, as staff further support them to regulate their behaviour.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on systems for staff supervision and support, to further develop their skills to enrich teaching and learning experiences even further.