Willow Tree Pre-School Charitable Incorporated Organisation

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children excitedly arrive at the pre-school and demonstrate that they feel happy, safe and emotionally secure. They form close bonds with all staff, including their key person, and make friends with others. Children are enthusiastic learners and become quickly absorbed in their play.

Staff encourage children to develop their independence and sense of responsibility. For example, children learn to put away their own coats, pour their own drinks and use knives to prepare fruit. Children behave well and learn the importance of being respectful to others and living things. For instance, children have wonderful opportunities to care for a gecko, a tortoise and stick insects. Children learn to feed, water and handle them with care. Children behave well and learn to share and take their turn. Children receive praise for their efforts and achievements. This develops their self-esteem and motivates them to continue to persevere at their chosen task.

Children thoroughly enjoy the outside area. They have fun and laugh as they ride bikes and scooters around a racetrack. Children fully engage themselves in sensory and imaginary play. They make pretend jungles from gloop mixture and small word jungle animals.

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

• A welcoming and friendly atmosphere greets all children and their families. Partnerships with parents are good. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the manager and staff maintained effective ongoing telephone and online contact with the children and their families. Consequently, children's return to the pre-school has been successful. Staff have strengthened partnerships with parents by inviting parents to share their cultures' food at meal times with the children.
• Parents comment very positively about their children's experiences at the pre-school. They value the information that staff share about their children's learning. Parents admire staff's commitment to ensuring children achieve a good level of development. They comment on their children's good progress since attending pre-school and the sound contribution staff have made to this.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those in receipt of additional funding make good progress in their learning. There is a strong commitment to working with external agencies. Staff swiftly act on the advice given to them to provide purposeful activities to progress children's learning. For instance, staff build in activities involving steps and slides to strengthen children's physical skills needed for balance. Occasionally, some staff do not extend the children's vocabulary by adding new words for children to hear as they play.
• Staff monitor children's progress regularly. They address and close any gaps in learning quickly. Recent monitoring found a weakness in children's physical skills, after time away from the pre-school due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff skilfully set up a new area to promote children's large- and small-muscle skills. For example, children have opportunities to play in gloop, mark make in sand and use balance bikes and tricycles to build up key physical skills.
• Children follow daily routines and show good levels of independence. Young children feed themselves independently. Older children pour their drinks and skilfully open their lunch boxes. However, sometimes, the organisation of group sessions, for example during tidy-up and carpet times, means that younger children are not fully engaged as they wait for activities to begin and end.
• Children receive good support as they get ready to move on to the next stages in their lives and school. For instance, staff share detailed reports with parents, meet teachers and support children with their school visits by attending their schools during settling-in sessions. This helps children feel very secure and ready for the next stage of their learning.
• Staff speak of the support they receive from management and clearly enjoy their work. They are committed professionals who are passionate about supporting children to have the best possible start. Although staff attend some training, managers do not focus training enough to further enhance professional development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to enhance the organisation of larger group activities to help enrich younger children's learning opportunities further
• improve arrangements for the monitoring of staff to address development needs and to further enhance the teaching of language to a consistently good standard.