Whittington Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children form strong and beneficial relationships with their key person and the whole staff team. New children are provided with lots of sensitive, patient and thoughtful reassurance. They are given support to help them settle, join in with activities and start to independently explore. Staff are friendly and kind. They take the time to get to know children and obtain lots of information from parents when children first start. They attentively support children's care needs, ensuring that children are happy and their well-being remains high.

Children benefit from the well-thought-out and customised curriculum that staff form based on the children's ages and individual stage of development. One of the setting's key curriculum goals is to inspire awe and wonder for nature in the children. Older children learn to respect living things as they search for and identify insects during their forest school session. They learn to plant and grow items, and excitedly find 'treasure', such as potatoes, as they dig in the soil. Children are inspired and challenged effectively through the wealth of physical opportunities. They develop their coordination by climbing and balancing on equipment, and practise their throwing and catching skills while playing with balls and bean bags. Children also beneficially broaden their skills during sessions with outside professionals, such as for sports and music. Staff then enhance their own planned activities with the skills that were introduced in these sessions, to extend children's learning further.

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

• Children's communication and language skills progress well. Staff ask children questions to encourage their thinking and conversational skills, and give them time to respond. Staff provide clear instructions and help children to understand the routines of the day. Staff working with the younger children skilfully get children's attention and reinforce their messages with photos, signs and symbols. This helps children's understanding, reduces any frustration and builds their confidence very effectively.
• Staff encourage children's perseverance. Older children pour their own drinks. They work hard to get their boots and listen to the staff's well-placed tips as they manage to put them on, ready to go to their forest school session. Younger children learn to wash their hands and tidy up the resources. Children are proud of their achievements and develop their independence and sense of responsibility well.
• Young children learn to follow the boundaries in place for their own and others' safety. Staff help them to manage their behaviour, emotions and frustrations, and appreciate the needs of others. However, at times, staff working with the older age group do not provide clear explanations and are not always successful in their approach. Children's understanding and skills in this area do not develop as much as they could.
• The managers and staff show dedication to the children in their care. They support children with a complex range of needs, and thoughtfully support all the families who use their provision. They share lots of information with parents and promote a beneficial community atmosphere through their charity and seasonal events. They also offer useful stay-and-play sessions to help parents and children settle in and get to know the pre-school and staff.
• All children are sensitively and successfully supported to achieve their potential. Staff genuinely care about every child. They give high priority to working with other professionals to get children with special educational needs and/or disabilities the support they need. Staff promptly identify any gaps in children's learning. They implement interventions, liaising closely with parents to enable all children to make good progress.
• Children enjoy the creative opportunities that are available to them. Younger children usefully explore life experiences as they play imaginatively with baby dolls. Children construct intricate structures. They make marks with paint and pens, experimenting with the effects they can create. Staff give children time to investigate and test out their ideas as they play. However, during some adult-led group activities, staff do not always give children enough time to process, practise and engage with new experiences and skills.
• Staff morale is high. Managers listen to staff and adapt their support. For example, they tailor training to staff's preferred ways of working and provide more in-person training, rather than online. The team meets regularly to discuss and evaluate practice. They have recently enhanced the arrangements for children's mealtimes to provide greater communication and social opportunities. Managers have also correctly outlined the need for further behaviour management training to help extend the consistency in the support that children receive.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to consistently support older children to recognise and understand their emotions, and manage their behaviour
• support staff to give children enough time to process, practise and engage with new experiences and skills during group activities.