Tiny Tots Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders and staff have high expectations for all children and want them to have the best start to their education. They encourage children's positive attitudes to learning through interesting and fun activities. Children relish these experiences, which help them to become ready for future learning. For instance, children benefit from lots of opportunities to practise grasping and squeezing with their fingers, such as by playing with dough and using tweezers. This helps to develop the small muscles in their hands. Therefore, children develop their drawing and writing skills very well.

There is a strong focus on supporting children's emotional well-being. For example, leaders are flexible about the hours and days that children attend, to help them settle and feel secure. Staff are attentive to children's needs and provide cuddles and reassurance when needed. This helps children to feel happy and safe at the pre-school. They are confident to play and interact with others.

Staff are positive role models and support children's understanding of rules and boundaries well. Staff encourage children to use good manners and to listen to each other when they are talking. They praise children when they make good choices, such as sharing toys. This helps children to understand what is expected of them. They behave well and show good levels of self-control.

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

• Staff know the children well. They gather detailed information from parents, to help establish what each child can already do when they join the preschool. Staff monitor children's development and plan appropriate next steps in their learning. They identify where children need additional help and provide targeted support. Leaders ensure that additional funding is used effectively, to enhance children's learning experiences. Children make good progress from their starting points.
• In general, staff promote children's communication and language skills well. For example, they regularly share books with children and encourage conversations during play. However, staff are not always clear about the words that they want children to learn. Furthermore, they have not explored a broad range of ways to introduce new words. Therefore, children are not consistently exposed to a wide range of vocabulary.
• Staff use the children's interests to help them plan the activities. This motivates children and promotes a love of learning. Children are purposeful during their play and show high levels of involvement. For example, they explore how shapes fit together as they build a road for their toy cars.
• Children are well supported to develop their independence, in readiness for starting school. For instance, staff provide plenty of time and encouragement for them to learn new skills, such as washing their hands and putting on their outdoor clothing. This helps to boost children's confidence in what they can do.
• Staff teach children about diversity and different ways of life. For instance, they celebrate a range of festivals and cultural events with children throughout the year. Staff include traditions that are relevant to the children who attend the pre-school. This helps children to feel valued and to respect their similarities and differences.
• Staff support children to lead healthy lifestyles. For instance, they provide healthy snacks and talk to children about the benefits of eating well. Parents say that this encourages children to make healthy choices about food at home. Children have daily opportunities to be active and to play outdoors. This helps to promote their physical health and well-being.
• Leaders are ambitious and have a clear vision for the pre-school. They continually evaluate the provision, to identify where they can improve. For instance, in response to parent's views, leaders have reviewed how they share information about the daily activities. This helps parents to continue children's learning at home.
• Staff say that they are well supported by leaders. This includes a thorough induction and regular supervision sessions. Staff regularly refresh mandatory training, so that they understand how to keep children safe. However, although staff have access to a wide range of training, leaders do not ensure that they embed what they have learnt into practice, to continuously develop teaching.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to enhance and develop the ways that they support children's language and communication skills
• ensure that professional development is sharply focused, to help staff embed what they have learnt and continually build on their teaching skills.