The Salvation Army Rainbow Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children separate from parents easily and happily enter the pre-school. Staff warmly welcome and greet children. Children engage in play well and feel safe and secure. They behave beautifully and respect their peers and staff alike. Staff celebrate children's achievements. For example, they ask parents to send in 'wow moments' their children have completed at home. Children are content and interact well together. They make friends, share and take turns with resources. Children are confident learners and develop good social skills. This helps to support children's personal, social and emotional development.

Staff focus on preparing children for moving on to school. They support children's development of independence skills well. For instance, staff encourage children to put their lunch box on a trolley and self-register by placing their photo and name on a board. Staff evaluate the provision and highlight areas for improvement within the pre-school effectively. They have identified mathematics as an area of focus. Staff offer many opportunities for children to practise counting and recognise numbers. All children make good progress, including children who speak English as an additional language (EAL) and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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

• Staff have identified the development of physical skills as a focus for children in the pre-school following the COVID-19 pandemic. Children have access to an array of resources to support this. For example, they can climb and balance on equipment outside and scoop and pour sand in the sand tray. This helps to build up their stamina, strength and coordination.
• Children's development of communication and language skills is fully supported. Staff talk to children all the time. During circle staff, they ask them questions about stories they read, and they read together. Staff regularly introduce topics for discussion. For example, they name the days of the week together. However, on occasion, children sit for long periods of time, as they take part in several planned sessions in quick succession. This causes some to become restless and lose interest.
• Staff plan what they want children to develop and learn. They know their key children well and have an effective key-person system. Children know who their key person is and happily approach them. Staff offer activities to support children who speak EAL. For instance, they identify the countries children are from and celebrate cultures and festivals. This supports all children to understand the world around them and feel included.
• Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They are quick to calmly remind children of the pre-school rules, such as to sit nicely at the lunch table.
• Children respect staff and listen and act on instruction. This encourages children to develop a secure understanding of expectations and boundaries.
• The manager fully supports staff. Their well-being and mental health are a priority. Staff are comfortable approaching the manager at any time. They attend regular team meetings and discuss topics of interest, such as the provision for children with SEND.
• Staff discuss training needs as a team and have access to regular courses, both online and face to face. They identify extra training that may be needed. This includes the role of the key person and manual handling. This helps to ensure they use every opportunity to extend their knowledge and personal development further.
• Parents are eager to compliment the staff at the pre-school. They comment that staff offer an effective settling-in process and children are quick to respond. Parents say their children are happy and enjoy pre-school. They benefit from regular feedback from staff about children's progress and areas for development. Parents praise staff's support for children with speech delay. They state that children develop well in their communication and language skills. Parents compliment staff for going 'above and beyond' their normal duties.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review and refine the routine of the day to ensure children do not sit for too long in planned activities and are able to fully engage in the learning opportunities on offer.