Wildlings Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and their families receive a warm welcome as they arrive at this friendly pre-school. Children talk excitedly to staff and their friends and quickly settle. They hang their belongings on their coat pegs, collect their photos and register that they have arrived. Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour, such as insisting they use good manners and be kind to their friends. Staff praise children for their achievements to support their self-esteem and confidence. Children show a sense of pride as they successfully peel and cut their own fruit to eat at snack time.

Leaders design a curriculum that supports children's social and emotional development. There is a significant focus on children learning to appreciate nature and the outdoors. Leaders and staff plan activities around carefully selected themes, which they reinforce through well-known stories, such as 'Handa's Surprise'. Children learn about various fruits and confidently identify avocados, pineapples and mangoes. They make their fruit salad by using the fruits during a cooking activity.

There are several opportunities for children to enhance their physical development, particularly outdoors. The environment allows for both large- and small-muscle growth. For example, children lift and carry large bricks to construct a structure and make marks on a large easel using paintbrushes with paint and water. Additionally, children improve their hand-eye coordination by weaving paper to replicate a basket pattern.

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

• Leaders are passionate about their role and strive to provide the best start for children in their care. Staff speak highly of leaders and feel valued and happy in their roles. Leaders oversee the curriculum, reflect on practice and have a clear vision for the pre-school. Both leaders and staff work as a team to ensure continuous improvement.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Staff provide parents with frequent updates about their child's learning and progress. For example, through use of an online application, newsletters and invitations to attend parents' evenings. Staff speak to parents on children's arrival and collection, promoting a two-way exchange of information. Parents comment positively about the pre-school and staff. They appreciate the care and attention that staff provide and the strong relationships that their children develop with their key person.
• Children show strong levels of engagement and concentration and, overall, make good progress in their development. They enjoy taking part in a variety of learning experiences that are provided by staff. In the main, children benefit from staff's positive interactions during activities. However, during some small- group activities, staff do not offer enough support to all children for them to actively participate. This means that some quieter children do not always benefit from the learning experience.
• Leaders offer a variety of experiences for children. These include walking to the local church and playing in a nearby woodland where they enjoy forest school activities. Children learn about other parts of the world through storybooks and fun activities, such as going on 'magic carpet' rides.
• Staff prioritise supporting children's communication and language skills. They consistently talk and interact with the children, read stories and sing rhymes. During activities, staff repeat words clearly for children to hear and remember, such as 'juicy' and 'core' when they discuss apples. Children are supported to develop a love of books. Children bring books from home to share with their friends. Leaders offer a 'lending library' for children to share books at home with their families.
• Staff skilfully incorporate mathematical language into various activities. They encourage children to count in different contexts, such as counting how many children are present during registration. Additionally, staff support children's learning by helping them identify shapes. For example, they recognise 'triangles' while building pyramids with magnetic shapes. Staff also discuss concepts such as 'halves' and 'whole' as children cut apples during snack time.
• Staff encourage the importance of making healthy choices through routines, discussions and activities. Children learn to manage their hygiene, such as washing their hands before snack time. They learn about healthy food by sharing books about vegetables and organic foods with their key person.
• Leaders foster a strong partnership with the school on the same site. For example, there is a strong relationship between the head teacher and the staff. Because of the shared site, children become familiar with the school. They begin to recognise staff and attend school events. In addition, leaders work with other local primary schools to ensure a smooth transition for all children starting school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• organise group activities more effectively, so all children can partake in and access the planned learning.