The Forest Pre-School at Copythorne and Embers

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and separate from their parents with ease. They settle into the secure assembly area, before they leave to walk to the woodland area for their forest school play. Staff introduce new vocabulary as they point out different flowers on the way. They sing songs as they walk. This helps to develop children's communication and language skills and understanding of the wildlife.

Children learn well, as staff understand how to provide a broad curriculum, planned well, incorporating the forest school ethos. Children explore independently and excitedly share how they are making 'macaroni cheese' in the mud kitchen. They talk about how they are using 'lots' of ingredients to make their creation, including mud, cornflour and water. When they are unable to find grass for their 'cheese', they talk confidently about how they will make pasta instead. This demonstrates their resilience to adapt their play and work with the resources they have.

Younger children take the soft, cuddly toy pigs down to meet the real pigs and hold them up so they can see each other. Children are at ease and confident in their surroundings and communicate well with staff, each other and visitors. They listen to the birds and then look in the reference books to see which birds they have heard.

Children behave well and develop positive attitudes to learning. The woodland environment promotes their natural curiosity and eagerness to learn. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress.

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

• Leaders have a clear vision for the setting. They want children to experience true forest school provision and have trained several staff to deliver this practice. The nominated individual and the experienced supervisor support the team well. Staff report their well-being is good and they receive support in their roles. Effective systems are in place for the supervision of all staff. This has recently been further developed to include an element of coaching. Leaders work alongside the staff to support practice. In addition, staff complete regular training. This helps to keep their knowledge and skills current.
• Overall, staff promote children's language development well. Staff provide a sociable environment where children practise their conversational skills. However, occasionally, staff do not challenge children's thinking. For example, sometimes, when children ask questions, staff quickly provide the answers, instead of allowing children to think for themselves. This does not encourage children to think more deeply and problem-solve.
• Staff check children's progress and use their assessments to plan for what children need to learn next. As a result, children enjoy a range of planned activities and experiences alongside the freedom to explore and learn for themselves. The natural environment gives children many opportunities to increase their physical development. They access a variety of different swings and skilfully climb on the tree trunks, balancing carefully and jumping down afterwards.
• Staff know the children well and respond to their individual needs. A well-established key-person system helps to ensure children's safety and well-being. Staff help to settle new children into the setting sensitively and support parents well. They send photos of children during their play. This helps to reassure parents their children are happy and enjoying their time at the setting. Hygiene practices are good. Staff remind children to wash their hands before mealtimes. They encourage children to blow their noses and dispose of tissues appropriately.
• Parents are very happy with the staff and how their children have progressed since starting. They comment that the setting is 'absolutely wonderful', the team are 'fantastic' and that the children 'would not have got to the stages that they are at without them'. They talk about how their children's communication skills have developed since they started. The relationship between the staff and the parents helps to support children's emotional security.
• Children follow the rules. For example, they walk in line to the woodland and listen to the staff as they remind them to 'wait at the gate' and 'look out for cars'. Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning as they persevere when faced with challenges. For example, when they cannot find feathers for their birds, they improvise, using needles from the pines instead.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to build on children's ability to think more deeply.