Tiny Talents Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children receive the best possible start to their education at the pre-school. The highly knowledgeable leaders and staff team provide children with valuable learning experiences that ensure that each child achieves their full potential. Children thoroughly enjoy the time they spend with staff and have formed trusting and respectful bonds with them.

Children's behaviour is exemplary. Staff provide children with consistent messages to help them to understand what is expected and the reasons for the rules. Children immediately respond to staff's gentle reminders, such as 'That's not safe,' and they quickly modify their behaviour. Staff expertly help younger children to transition from feelings of excitement to being calm. For example, children energetically wave streamers then lie down on the floor to relax as they look at fairy lights on the ceiling and practise their deep breathing.

Children develop enquiring minds and a positive attitude to learning. Older children concentrate deeply as they explore a collection of medical equipment, such as an oximeter, blood pressure monitor and stethoscope. Children make links with their own experiences and times when they have visited the doctor and the hospital. Staff skilfully respond to children's questions to further their knowledge and expand their vocabulary. Children learn technical words, including 'neurons'.

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

• The leadership and management of the pre-school are inspirational. They aspire for the very best for each child and for their staff. They are forward thinking, reflective and prioritise continuous improvement. Leaders have recently consulted with staff and parents to make changes to the daily routines for older children, to ensure seamless transitions for them throughout the day.
• Leaders carry out comprehensive monitoring of teaching and learning. Staff benefit from an extensive range of professional development opportunities to further extend their excellent knowledge and skills. For example, recent training helped them to enhance their teaching approaches linked to cultural diversity. This includes carefully considering the language used to help children to explore similarities and differences, and challenging stereotypes. For example, children learn about equality of opportunities in professions, such as how a scientist can be male or female.
• Leaders have used their excellent understanding of child development and their comprehensive knowledge of the needs of the children to design a bespoke and fully ambitious curriculum. All staff, including those who are less experienced or new to the team, understand the rationale behind the experiences that they provide for children. For example, staff clearly identify that the snack-time arrangements help children to develop their personal, social and emotional needs. Children learn to recognise when they are hungry and thirsty, and they choose when to eat their healthy snack.
• The special educational needs and disabilities coordinator meticulously monitors the progress that children make. She works closely with staff, parents and outside agencies to ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities swiftly receive their full entitlement to early intervention. Children who need additional support with their language development benefit from high-quality, one-to-one teaching interventions. For example, they excitedly remove everyday objects from a bag and recall the object's name and the action word to describe what it can be used for, such as a plate is for eating.
• Staff continuously analyse their observations of children's play to determine what children know, understand and can do. They use this information to plan for future learning experiences and to adapt their teaching in the moment. Staff are highly resourceful and provide opportunities for children to explore their personal interests. For example, they put paint brushes in the end of toy drills to motivate children to paint and write. Staff quickly bring an image of the Leaning Tower of Pisa to help children to make a link with towers they have constructed.
• Children make excellent progress in their communication and language. Staff have specifically designed the learning environment to ensure that children have quieter spaces to support their speaking and listening skills. Younger children enjoy sharing cosy areas of the nursery where they can talk to their friends and staff. They look in the mirrors to explore how their mouths move when they make different sounds. Older children choose to access the sensory room, where they can further develop their concentration skills.
• Partnerships with parents are exceptionally effective. Leaders and staff prioritise parents' involvement in children's learning. For example, parents and staff attend training together to gather information to specifically address the unique needs of children. Parents say how well prepared their children are for school and how they quickly progress in their language development. Staff keep parents very well informed about their children's learning.