The Playroom Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff are warm and nurturing towards children. They are tuned in to children's emotional needs and quickly offer comfort if children become upset. This helps build strong relationships between staff and children, which fosters children's wellbeing. Staff encourage children to choose which of the three rooms to play in and children move freely between them. They organise the environment so that children can access quieter spaces when needed. This helps children regulate themselves, which builds their emotional resilience.

Staff support children to build on their imaginary experiences through planning exciting activities to help them create characters from stories and films. For instance, they role-play and pretend to be shopkeepers and customers pretending to buy sell items. Children use large pieces of material to make their own costumes and make believe that they are characters in the stories and film. This helps them develop their imaginations. Staff encourage children to explore various textures, which supports them to develop positive attitudes to learning. For example, children they enjoy mixing sand and water and exploring what happens to the texture. They become engrossed in filling containers with this mixture and share buckets and spades happily with each other. Staff are good role models and remind children to use their manners. Children are polite and behave well.

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

• The manager has a good overview of the nursery. There are robust induction processes in place which help staff understand what is expected of them. The manager regularly checks the quality of the practice through peer observations and supervisions. Staff say they feel well supported and their work load is well managed. They comment that there is a collaborative culture at the setting and that this supports their wellbeing as well as professional development.
• Staff know children well and plan activities based on what children are interested in. There are periods of the day where children can choose what to play with, which helps them become engaged. However, the daily routine is structured in a way that means that their play is frequently stopped. This means their learning is interrupted.
• Children enjoy developing their fine motor skills. They practice writing their names with pride. Staff encourage children to hold the pencils with a pincer grip by demonstrating how to do this. Children concentrate as they work on connecting puzzle pieces together. This helps them develop their dexterity. Outdoors, children ride on bikes and balance across stepping stones. This supports their large physical movements. However, leaders have not planned to consistently provide as many opportunities for children to practice coordination and balance indoors.
• Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and set these out clearly. They gently remind children to take turns when speaking so everybody can be heard. Children learn to tidy up when the tidy up song is sung. Staff use timers to help children move between activities. They give children specific praise when they make good choices. This helps children how to behave in different situations. As a result, children are kind to each other and show consideration to those around them.
• Leaders and staff have a clear understanding of what they want children to be able to do by the time they leave the setting. They prioritise children becoming confident to do things for themselves and provide them opportunities to have a go. For example, children pour their own drinks from a jug and serve themselves food at mealtimes. They hang up their belongings when they enter the setting and swap their shoes by themselves. This gives them a sense of responsibility and helps them learn skills they need for the next stage of learning.
• The setting helps children feel included. Staff learn key phrases in children's home languages. The menu incorporates food from different cultures. Children enjoy listening to a story about similarities and differences in people. They learn about where all of their families come from. Staff promote learning about diversity by celebrating festivals and rituals that the children's families celebrate at home. This helps prepare children for a life in modern Britain.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• offer children consistent opportunities to develop and practice their balance and coordination to enhance their physical development
• review daily routines to ensure children can continue playing and learning for longer periods without interruptions.