Vicarage Farm Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children's safety is promoted well. For example, when they play outdoors in hot and sunny weather, staff remind them to wear hats. Staff reinforce phrases, such as 'no hat, no out', helping particularly younger children to understand what is expected of them. Children help staff to carry out safety checks in the garden. They identify and minimise risks, such as removing litter. This helps children to learn how to provide a safe space for them to play.

Children have opportunities to learn about feelings and emotions. Staff look at books with children that show different facial expressions. Younger children begin to name how the images of monsters are feeling in the book. Older children are supported to talk about what makes them feel a certain way and who to go to for comfort. Older children tell staff that monsters make them sad and they will go to their mummy. Children learn the concept of floating and sinking when they play in water. For instance, staff show them that if they drop a stone into water, it will sink, and if they add pom-poms to the water, they float. Staff take children to shops, such as to buy milk for their peers at snack time. Children learn about people who help them and are keen to tell visitors, on their return, that they asked the shop assistant for a receipt.

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

• Staff promote positive behaviour. For example, when children begin to run indoors, staff remind them to use their walking feet. When children begin to walk, they receive praise from staff for using their listening ears and walking. This helps children to understand staff's expectations for their behaviour.
• Parents and carers say that they appreciate the information staff share with them to support their children's safety at home, such as when they play in water.
• Staff use their observations and assessments of children's learning to help identify their abilities. If gaps appear in their development, staff make referrals to other professionals to help children progress. Staff identify ways to support children's learning. For example, they show children simple images of what happens at snack time to support their understanding and to encourage them to join in.
• Additional funding is used effectively to meet the individual needs of the children. This includes purchasing books that shows words in a different language. This helps to support children who speak English as an additional language to have a sense of belonging.
• Staff have completed training courses to build on their knowledge of how to support children's communication and language skills. Overall, they do this well. However, sometimes, staff do not implement the teaching strategies they have gathered from training courses to further promote children's speaking skills. For example, sometimes staff do not encourage children to respond to the questions they ask them. Furthermore, some of the questions they ask do not encourage children to answer with more than a 'yes' or 'no' reply.
• Since the COVID-19 pandemic, staff made changes to the way parents arrive with their children. This includes using a different entrance and children leaving parents to go to staff at the garden gate. This change helps children to settle quicker, promoting their emotional well-being.
• Staff offer children a range of nutritious snacks that contributes to a healthy diet. Children learn where food comes from. For example, staff help them to understand that ice cream is made in a factory from milk. When children say that milk comes from a supermarket, staff explain that it comes from a cow first.
• Staff promote children's oral health. Children have their own toothbrushes and are supported by staff to clean their teeth after lunch. Staff give children identical toothbrushes to encourage them to clean their teeth at home.
• Staff support children's independence well. For example, they give children gentle reminders to get tissues and wipe their noses themselves. Children select their own cup and bowl at snack time and pour their own drinks.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support all staff to implement teaching strategies gathered from attending training courses to build on children's speaking skills.