The Beacon Church Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff know the children well. They love them, care for them, and give children their wholehearted attention. Leaders and staff take time to know each individual child's developmental needs. They gather views from parents and use a range of assessment tools to pinpoint children's next steps. They provide children with a curriculum that is bespoke to their needs, particularly children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children learn to sustain their concentration for longer periods of time, as staff carefully build on children's previous learning. They also benefit from engaging in physical activity, such as balancing, crawling and climbing in the sports hall.

Children feel safe. Leaders and staff are vigilant in making sure that the premises is a secure and inviting environment for children. Staff are affectionately known as 'Aunties' by children, contributing to the family feel that children experience. They promote children's positive behaviour by teaching them to take turns, say what they would like and learn to wait. Staff actively spot good behaviour and let children know when they have done a good job. Children are polite, gentle and kind. They take pleasure in their achievements and know how to be a good friend to others.

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

• Leaders are ambitious and passionate about the achievements of every child that attends the pre-school. They accurately evaluate the quality of the provision. Leaders work closely with staff to make continual improvement to their curriculum so all children make good progress from their starting points. They have detailed plans that they implement to support staff development through training, feedback and professional discussions. Leaders value their staff and carefully monitor their workload, making sure that they have the time to try new ideas and reflect on how they can improve.
• Leaders and staff prioritise the development of children's social and emotional development. Staff teach children the vocabulary to talk about their emotions. Children are beginning to use words that express how they feel in their conversations with staff. Staff provide children with warm responses that cultivate friendly, respectful relationships. Children feel safe and cared for.
• Staff model language well to children. They verbally label and name everyday objects during daily routines. Staff design activities that offer children the opportunity to learn new words through hands-on experiences. For instance, young children learn the meaning of words such as 'hot' and 'cold' by playing with ice cubes and warm water.
• Staff consider what children need to learn and plan activities that will help them make good progress. When they identify children's specific individual needs, staff are confident in teaching the skills that children need to make progress, particularly for those with SEND. However, some staff occasionally do not clearly understand what children should be learning during some planned activities. When this happens, staff model less vocabulary and knowledge and fewer skills, and children do not learn as effectively.
• Children behave well. Staff provide clear expectations, and children know how to follow the rules of the setting. Children listen and follow instructions. Staff praise and celebrate children who demonstrate kindness towards others. They build good attachments with children. Children know their key person well and feel safe and secure. All children settle quickly, including the youngest ones, who become engrossed in play.
• Children love stories. Staff skilfully read exciting books and stories to children throughout the day. They captivate children's attention using puppets and encourage them to join in with characters from traditional tales, enthusiastically shouting, 'Not by the hairs of my chinny, chin, chin!' Leaders provide children with books to share at home. They provide incentives that foster children's positive attitudes toward books and value their participation in shared reading, both in the setting and at home.
• The setting has developed good partnerships with parents. Staff communicate children's developmental needs through day-to-day feedback and termly reports and discussions. They share children's progress with parents and support them with ideas to help with children's next steps.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• make sure that staff know the learning intention for all planned activities to help improve the consistency of teaching and learning that children experience in all areas of the pre-school play spaces.