Twinkletoes Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children have close relationships with staff and make positive friendships with their peers. They confidently invite staff and other children into their play. They ask questions and show a clear fascination and wonder. For example, children excitedly show everyone the snail that they have found, exclaiming that it tickles when it comes out of its shell. Children make decisions for themselves. Staff give guidance and positive encouragement for children to make choices as to where they play and for how long. Children display good levels of focus and concentration in their play. Staff encourage them to complete their play to their own satisfaction.

Children show care and compassion towards their friends. They learn to share and cooperate. Staff act as positive role models, supporting each other in their roles and responsibilities. Children play in a relaxed and calm environment. They receive positive recognition for their achievements, helping them to feel proud. Staff know the children well and provide experiences that interest them. Staff talk enthusiastically about how children learn and what they like to do. Children explore new play ideas and resources confidently, showing an understanding for their use. For example, children identify three different-sized cows in the farm and describe them as 'daddy', 'mummy' and 'baby', relating size to their own experiences.

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

• Children value other children's contributions to their play. They listen to their friends, demonstrating an understanding of rules and boundaries. For example, children understand the stop and go signs when riding bicycles to help them stay safe.
• Children are very aware of their surroundings and confidently explore their play environment. They choose to play indoors or outdoors at any time during the session. They confidently ask for help. Staff encourage children to express their needs through gestures, expressions, visual aids and speech.
• Staff provide experiences and activities that relate to past conversations with children. For example, children retell the story of 'The Three Little Pigs'. Staff provide the props and the story to help children to express their imaginations and recall skills.
• Parents make positive comments about the setting. They are very happy with their children's progress. They receive regular information about children's development, identify next steps together and share achievements from home.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive very positive interaction and engagement. Staff successfully implement plans using observation, information and advice from other professionals and parents. This helps to provide a consistent personalised approach to children's ongoing care and development. Parents express their appreciation for this support and recognise progress their children have made.
• Children experiment physically by balancing equipment with precision. They carefully carry their plates at snack time, making sure yoghurt pots don't fall over. They develop small-muscle skills, such as peeling lids from pots, using spoons effectively and pouring their drinks. Staff provide a range of bicycles to extend children's abilities to balance and propel forward. For example, they progress from tricycles, to balance bicycles to bicycles with stabilisers that can then be removed.
• Children's speech and language is continuously encouraged. Staff use open-ended questions to help children to understand and explore new ideas. Staff introduce children to new words through stories and engage them in meaningful conversations. They introduce stories with repetitive rhythm and sounds to extend younger children's speech. Children learn to think for themselves and share ideas with friends. For example, children ask for more water when there is little left to continue their pouring and filling play.
• Managers recognise staff's individual strengths and delegate responsibilities effectively. They identify, through discussions with staff, training required to develop their practice, to enhance children's learning. However, managers do not always evaluate how staff use children's identified strengths and how they learn best, to fully extend development in all areas of learning. For example, children show a fascination of a particular area of learning. Staff do not always use this knowledge to fully help children in areas of learning that they need support in, such as sharing and negotiating in their play.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff's understanding of using information and identified next steps for individual children more effectively to further promote their progress in all areas of learning.