The Centre Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide children with warm and nurturing interactions. Staff have a good understanding of children's interests and how to support their learning and development. The activities and resources on offer are adapted to follow children's interests. For example, children have recently been interested in insects. Therefore, staff provided an activity where the children could hunt for bugs under the leaves and learn the names of the insects. Staff have good communication with parents, informing them about what their children have been learning. Parents speak highly of the setting and comment on how they have a good relationship with their child's key person.

Staff value and respect children. Children are provided with lots of opportunities to make their own choices and to be independent. Children use knives to butter their crackers for snack, and pour their own water and milk. Children are encouraged to make up their own stories, developing their imagination. Staff write down these stories and read these back to the children. Staff and children are often seen singing songs and using phrases from stories during their play. Staff have high expectations of the children. They introduce new vocabulary, such as 'spectacle'.

Children are happy at nursery. They access a range of resources both inside and outside. They play well with each other and share resources. Children's behaviour is good and they follow rules and routines well.

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

• The manager and staff have a good understanding of what they want children to learn and how to get them ready for the next stage of learning. For example, a ramp was introduced in the garden to support children's core strength and shoulder muscles. Children are encouraged to use tweezers to develop their pincer grip ready for writing. The staff prepare children for school. They encourage children to dress themselves independently and support parents with toilet training.
• The children are encouraged to be independent and make their own choices. Opportunities for learning are available both inside and outside, following children's interests. Staff know their key children well and provide warm interactions that support and develop children's learning. They have high expectations of the children and introduce a range of vocabulary, extending children's communication and language skills.
• The manager is reflective of the learning environment. She reviews how children access areas of the environment and how to make resources more accessible. She ensures children have room and space to play and explore. Staff are also reflective and adapt activities to follow children's interests. They introduce a range of songs and rhymes to children's play.
• Children make good progress. Staff are provided with a range of training opportunities to support children's learning. For example, staff have completed communication and language training to support interactions with children and how to support children with speech delay. Most children are very confident in the setting. There are a few children in the setting that are quieter. The manager has a plan in place for how to support these children. However, this is not yet implemented consistently.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Parents are kept updated with what their child has been doing and learning throughout the day. The key persons are on hand to provide feedback to parents and parents value this interaction. Additional funding, such as early years pupil premium, is used effectively to support children's development and experiences.
• Children are taught how to care for their environment. They grow their own vegetables and are able to take these home. They taste and smell the herbs they are growing. Children learn about the life cycles of the plants and care for them by watering them regularly. They learn about recycling and are encouraged to recycle after snack time.
• Children learn about different cultures. They have a word of the week from another language that the children learn to say. This supports children with English as and additional language that attend the setting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to engage more effectively with less confident and quieter children to maximise their learning.