The Fledgelings Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy playing outside in the fresh air, where they take part in lots of active play. They have access to resources that are thoughtfully arranged to support their learning. Children confidently take safe risks in their play. They climb a wooden frame and use an assortment of crates and planks to make a ramp and try balancing while walking across it. Children take turns in rolling a tyre to each other, in a backward and forward motion.

Children are developing their independence. They select toys and manage their personal care needs well. Children show a can-do attitude and are keen to do things for themselves. Toddlers show understanding of how to use a knife to spread butter or marmalade on their toast and cut their toast into smaller sizes. Older children put on their coats competently.

Staff sensitively support children's emotional development and encourage them to talk about how they feel. Together, they discuss whether they feel happy or sad. For children who say they feel sad, staff offer them a teddy to cuddle. This contributes to children's sense of security.

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

• Children settle quickly in the pre-school and respond well to routines and expectations. They enjoy lots of challenging and stimulating activities that allow them to think and work through the process to achieve a result while learning and playing together. For example, while learning about animals that live in the sea, the arctic and on land, children explore the changes of ice melting into water. They then use the water as a muddy puddle, jumping in it.
• Staff teach children about healthy eating options, how this contributes to their good health and how some foods are not good for their teeth. They discuss the benefit of eating good food, during circle time and at snack time, with children to help them understand the importance.
• The management team provides regular time through team and individual supervision meetings for staff to discuss their work and the children they care for. Staff receive support for their ongoing professional development, including through an online training provider. This helps support their practice and children's learning needs. Staff are confident in approaching the management team and they feel that their well-being is valued.
• Staff support children who speak English as an additional language through a range of activities, such as visits to the local library and celebrating children's cultures, working closely with parents. However, staff do not consistently ensure children have rich opportunities to hear and use their home language while at the pre-school.
• Staff promote children's communication and language skills well. They provide many opportunities for children to develop their vocabulary. Children readily engage in circle time, where they enjoy stories and rhymes. Staff use a range of resources to capture children's attention, such as puppets and children's pictures as they read 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'.
• Staff plan for the next stage in each child's learning. They use what they know about the children and children's interest to plan learning opportunities that are challenging and engaging. However, group activities are not always organised well enough to ensure that each child's learning needs are met as well as possible.
• Partnership with parents is strong. Staff inform parents of what their child does during the day, using the online system. They engage parents in their children's learning in various ways. Staff have regular meetings with parents to discuss their children's latest achievements and the next steps in learning. Parents consistently describe good channels of communication between the pre-school and themselves. Parents express high levels of gratitude and appreciation for the work that staff do.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the planning of group activities to ensure that they consistently support the learning needs of all children as well as possible
• help children hear and use their home language during play and activities, to further support their development of speech.