Upton Methodist Church Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

This setting provides children with a welcoming and nurturing environment that makes them feel secure and valued. Children benefit from warm and friendly interactions that help them settle quickly. Effective communication between staff and parents ensures that children receive consistent care and support.

Children engage in a variety of creative activities, such as making cards for special occasions. They have access to a wide range of resources that encourage creativity and the development of fine motor skills. Children take pride in their work, carefully painting pictures and arranging materials to create their own unique designs. They use their emerging writing skills to label their work.

The provider promotes physical development through a well-sequenced curriculum that includes activities that build children's locomotor skills. Children enjoy taking part in fun physical challenges, such as balancing, crawling and hopping. These help them develop coordination and strength. Children learn to take turns and support one another, fostering a sense of teamwork and cooperation as they pretend to be pirates rescuing their treasure.

Staff nurture children's social skills effectively as they engage in collaborative play and storytelling activities. Children use props and toys to create imaginative scenarios, enhancing their language and social interactions.

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

• The provider's curriculum is clear and ambitious, designed to cultivate independent and confident children who are well prepared for their future education. The provider uses planned activities, such as painting, to encourage children to experiment with tools and materials, providing them with numerous opportunities to freely explore their creativity and develop skills. Children are proud of their achievements and are highly motivated.
• The provider is effective at supporting children's communication and language development. When reading books to children, staff sustain their concentration, read engagingly and discuss their predictions about the story with them. Children learn to identify sounds within words and spot patterns in rhyming vocabulary. They enjoy matching objects hidden in a bag with one another, calling out 'fish in a dish'. These activities foster a love of reading and language.
• Staff know children well. They use various assessment tools to accurately assess children's abilities and identify areas for their development. Most staff plan activities that incorporate these skills and knowledge into children's play and learning, such as fun games that extend their vocabulary. However, occasionally, staff do not use this information as effectively and do not correct children's misconceptions. For instance, when children miscount dinosaurs using their fingers, some staff do not teach accurate counting skills promptly.
• The provider accurately evaluates the quality of teaching and learning. They have a clear view of what is going well and are ambitious to make even further improvements. The provider has implemented enhancements in the environment. This has helped children sustain their concentration and engage in purposeful play. For example, children enthusiastically engage in pretend play, selling and buying fantasy ice creams while riding play vehicles. They say, 'I'd like to buy rainbow ice cream please.' However, there are times when staff do not interact enough with children outdoors, leading to some children losing focus and playing without peer interactions.
• Staff teach children the skills that enable them to develop their independent life skills. At snack time, children butter their crackers and pour their own glass of milk. Children enjoy the responsibility of using real crockery and glasses, taking care as they take turns. They behave well, enjoying each other's company as they help one another.
• The provider has established strong partnerships with parents. Staff members work closely with families to communicate children's progress and identify any developmental gaps. The setting shares strategies with parents to help support children's learning at home. The provider takes proactive steps to involve parents in working alongside external agencies, offering extra support for children, especially those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the use of assessment information so that all staff effectively plan and respond to gaps in children's learning and correct their misconceptions quickly so that children make even more progress
• support staff to develop consistency in the quality of interactions that help children maintain their concentration and focus, particularly in the outdoor environment.