Upton St Mary's Pre-School Playgroup.

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff welcome children into this warm and friendly setting. They take time to get to know children and families. Staff give lots of reassurance for children who are new to the setting. As a result, staff build positive relationships with them. Children quickly settle and choose from a range of activities on offer, which staff know they are interested in. For example, children enjoy filling and emptying containers in the sand, while others share stories with staff. This helps children to feel happy, safe and secure.

Children thoroughly enjoy music and movement sessions. They beam as they listen to staff play familiar songs on the piano. For example, children enthusiastically jump up and down as they sing 'five cheeky monkeys'. Staff support children to count the fingers on their hands to represent the monkeys. This supports children's emerging counting skills and mathematical language.

Children's behaviour is good. Staff act as positive role models. Every child is celebrated as being unique. They support children to be kind and respectful of others. Staff and children say a 'thank you prayer' before they have snack, and staff encourage children to have polite manners by saying 'please' and 'thank you'. This helps children to have a positive attitude to learning and develop their emotional well-being.

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

• Managers have created a well-thought-out curriculum, which considers the age and stages of the children who attend. For example, younger children focus on developing their mark making with chunky crayons while older children use stencils to practise their emerging writing skills. This means that the curriculum is well sequenced and enables children to develop their knowledge and skills over time.
• Children enjoy time outdoors in the garden area. Staff provide children with opportunities to explore the world around them. For example, children use magnifying glasses to examine a spider and web. This helps to teach children about the natural world in which they live.
• Children develop their independent skills through a variety of activities. For example, during snack time, children hand out cups to their friends and use plastic knives to cut up bananas. Younger children learn to drink from cups with no lids, while older children confidently use one-handled cups. This helps children to prepare for the next stage in their learning.
• Partnerships with parents are a strength. Parents comment on the 'nurturing and kind' environment that staff create. They receive regular feedback through daily communication and parents' meetings. They enjoy looking in their child's journal, which includes photos and comments of their child's time at the setting. Staff give advice on a range of topics, such as toilet training. Consequently, this helps provide continuity of care for the children.
• Children learn about a variety of cultures and beliefs. For example, staff teach children about Chinese New Year and how it is celebrated. They enjoy learning about the animals in the Chinese zodiac story and that this is the year of the snake. This helps children to understand about the diverse world they live in.
• Communication and language is held in high regard. Staff model language very well, as they continually talk to children and introduce them to new language during meaningful conversations. Children take books from the lending library to share with adults at home. This helps to develop children's early communication and language skills.
• Staff plan activities to support children's next steps in learning, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. For example, older children learn initial letter sounds in a small group. They look at the letter 's' and think of items beginning with this sound. However, on occasion, larger-group activities are not always organised successfully, resulting in younger children losing interest and becoming distracted. This means that some children do not always have high levels of engagement in their learning.
• Children have many opportunities to develop their physical skills. For example, they practise their climbing skills on the large climbing frame and ride around on trikes and bikes. Staff support them to ensure that they are safe as they learn new skills. This helps children to develop their large muscles and overall physical development.
• Managers and staff are reflective about the provision. They have regular meetings to discuss what works well and what they would like to change. Staff have regular supervisions, and managers ensure that workload is manageable. As a result, staff feel very well supported and are passionate about their roles.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the organisation of larger-group activities to ensure that they are meaningful for all children and support high levels of engagement.