Village Centre Pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff use the daily routine to develop children's independence skills in readiness for school. Children get ready to go outside to play and put on their coats and wellington boots. They butter their bread at snack time and help to tidy up at the end of the session. Children become familiar with the daily routine. The bell rings and they know it is time for registration. They sit on their 'spot', listen for their name and respond when it is their turn.

Staff enable children to learn about different occupations. Children use magnifying glasses to examine fingerprints in the 'police station', look at X-rays in the hospital and put bandages on the staff to make them feel better. Staff support children in building model houses and measuring how tall they are. They talk about how to keep safe by using their 'protective goggles' and to use the measuring tape correctly.

Children demonstrate a positive attitude to learning, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They enjoy playing outdoors and use their imagination, such as going on a 'T-Rex' hunt and making 'stick stew' in the mud kitchen. Children concentrate as they climb and balance on crates. Staff support them to count as they go.

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

• Leaders and managers have a clear understanding of the early years curriculum. They monitor and evaluate the provision and discuss this during staff meetings. Staff complete annual appraisals to identify what they do well and any areas they might want to develop further. However, there is less focus on leaders and managers evaluating individual staff's practice to identify how they can further improve the support they provide for children's learning. Staff recruitment procedures ensure that anyone working with children is suitable to do so.
• Staff work as a team to plan a varied and well-balanced curriculum for all children. They ensure that each area of learning is included, with a focus on children's confidence, communication, language and social skills. Staff know their key children well and use this information effectively so they can plan and provide activities to support children's developmental needs. Staff work in partnership with other professionals to target children's care and learning needs, including children who are funded, to help them make good progress in their learning.
• All staff have completed training in safeguarding to ensure they know how to keep children safe. Staff are vigilant when children move from one area to another. They ask children to count their friends before they go outside and when they come back in from the garden. Effective risk assessments are completed on activities. For example, when children play in the garden, a member of staff monitors the gates to ensure that no one can leave the area unsupervised.
• Staff promote children's communication and language well. They plan exciting activities, for example 'Silly Soup' where children learn to listen and take turns in identifying the objects they add to the bowl. Children love to listen to stories. They follow simple actions, such as tickling their toes. Staff help the children to learn new words to add to their vocabulary, such as 'tipping', and explain what the words mean.
• Children learn to respect each other and the diverse community. For instance, they take part in a range of art and craft activities to help them learn about the different festivals throughout the year. They look at photos supplied by parents and talk about what makes their family special and who lives in their home.
• Parents comment that activities are fun and educational. They say the staff go 'above and beyond' to support their child. Parents confirm they can see how their child has grown in confidence since starting pre-school. Staff provide parents with information about the weekly activities and what children will be learning. This enables parents to contribute towards their child's learning. Staff provide regular updates through parents' meetings and electronic communication. This helps to keep parents informed about their child's developmental progress.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend the systems for supervising staff practice further to build and improve their skills and knowledge over time.