The Barn Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children benefit from warm welcomes from staff. They confidently leave their parents and go straight to wash their hands before settling quickly into their play. Children enjoy a wide range of stimulating activities and resources. They spend as much time as possible outside in the fresh air. Children begin to build an understanding of the world around them as they fill up bird feeders with seeds. They talk about the different birds they can see and how to look after them.

Children develop secure and trusting relationships with staff. They seek staff out for reassurance and to join in with their play. Children role play having a tea party. Staff join in and build on children's ideas as they discuss the food and drinks the children are pretending to make. Staff have high expectations for children. They are warm and nurturing and praise children for their efforts and achievements. Children are confident. They behave well in relation to their age and stage of development. Children enjoy playing together, sharing ideas, and show consideration for each other. They work collaboratively, collecting real bricks in wheelbarrows from around the garden. Children use the bricks to build a tower. They discuss being careful to ensure that it does not topple over. Staff support children in a sensitive and consistent way as they learn to share. They allow lots of opportunities for children to practise turn taking.

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

• The manager and staff provide a curriculum that follows children's interests. They make observations of children's achievements. Staff have a clear view of what they want children to learn by the time they leave in order to be ready for their next stage of learning. Overall, staff monitor children's learning and development well. However, some children's next steps in learning are not precisely identified to support them to make more rapid progress.
• Staff understand the importance of children developing good communication and language skills. They make use of opportunities to join in with children's play, building on their conversations. Staff ask appropriate questions and talk to the children about what they are doing. For example, they discuss the colour and texture of the sand that children are using to create a picture.
• Children develop good levels of physical skills. They benefit from a range of inviting opportunities for fresh air and exercise. Children run, jump and climb with ease, while learning how to manage their own risks. They confidently use bicycles and race each other as they ride them around the garden. Children concentrate well and avoid obstacles.
• Staff embed mathematical development well. Children count freely in their play as they discuss how many pieces of fruit they eat at snack time. They confidently talk about how many candles are needed for a cake. Children show curiosity as they use mathematical language such as 'more' and 'less' when filling and pouring in the water tray.
• The manager shows a clear commitment to providing high-quality care and education. The manager and staff regularly reflect on their practice and the pre-school. Staff benefit from regular supervision sessions. They have opportunities to extend their professional development through online training and they feel well supported by the manager.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well. They work with other professionals effectively. For instance, staff seek and share information to support children's learning. Staff use additional funding effectively to enrich children's learning experiences. For example, they have redeveloped the outdoor area and provided resources to enhance the outcomes for individual children.
• Children learn about the importance of healthy lifestyles. They plant, take care of and pick a range of fruits and vegetables. Mealtimes and snack times are social occasions. Staff sit with children and engage in discussions about what they are eating. Staff focus on developing children's independence. For example, children pour their own drinks and practise cutting their fruit. Children learn how to wash their hands and blow their own nose.
• Staff develop positive partnerships with parents, who speak very highly of the staff. Parents are positive about how the pre-school supports children individually from settling in to preparing them to be ready for school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to identify each child's next steps in learning more precisely, to help children to make more rapid progress in their development.