Willow Tree Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children of all ages are settled, confident and happy during their time in the welcoming nursery. For example, even the youngest giggle happily as they play hiding games with staff. Children are keen to join in with the interesting activities that staff carefully plan for them. For example, they engage in a cooking activity, where they prepare and make fruit salad and learn about healthy food. Staff have high expectations of children and plan challenging activities to help them make good progress. Children enjoy bringing their imagination to life. They are excited to act out how jungle animals sound and move. Children enjoy regular trips to the local nature reserve, where they learn about life cycles. For example, they are excited to watch frog spawn grow into frogs.

All staff are positive role models. Children are polite and behave well. They develop good social skills and are kind to each other. For instance, children are excited to share their achievements with each other and are greeted with excited praise and celebratory 'high fives'. Children learn about the importance of healthy lifestyles. For instance, they talk about the importance of good oral hygiene. Children gain good physical skills and learn to move in different ways. For example, they confidently and safely negotiate climbing and balancing equipment.

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

• The manager and staff have made significant improvements since their last inspection. They ensure that they have a clear understanding of the curriculum, which they implement well. Staff plan purposeful learning opportunities for children that they know will keep them interested and motivated to learn.
• Staff know all children well and get to know their unique personality and abilities. This helps them to build secure and trusting relationships with them. Staff meet all children's individual needs well. This includes children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). For example, staff liaise closely with outside specialists and implement effective strategies to support children. This includes implementing visual timelines to support their understanding of changes in routine.
• Overall, children learn in a language-rich environment. For example, staff provide running commentary and have meaningful conversations with all children. Children are confident to share their thoughts. However, on occasion, staff do not give children time to think and then respond to the thought-provoking questions to build on their developing communication skills even further.
• All children demonstrate a positive attitude towards their learning and overall, they are engaged in their learning experiences and make good progress. However, staff do not always recognise when it would be beneficial to build on children's interests and the learning they initiate. For example, at times, staff do not build on children's own interest and use of mathematical language as they play.
• The manager and staff establish positive partnerships with parents, who speak highly of them. They comment on how staff really care about the children, who they nurture and help thrive. Staff keep them well involved and informed about what their children have enjoyed doing, their achievements and next steps in their learning. Staff share useful information with parents to support them at home. This includes tips and ideas about healthy eating and lunch boxes.
• The manager closely monitors the good quality of education and care that staff provide. She regularly observes them teaching children and provides them with constructive and helpful feedback. Staff evaluate their practice together and observe each other, identifying strengths and areas to improve. They use their findings to support their future performance.
• All staff attend regular and beneficial training. They have recently learned about the different ways to consistently manage children's behaviour. This has helped children to be confident to express their feelings and emotions in a safe and appropriate way.
• The manager and staff provide children with opportunities to develop a good understanding of other languages and countries from around the world. For example, children learn about the festivals and traditions of Poland.
• The manager and staff use additional funding effectively to support the individual needs of children. They have purchased sports equipment to help children to develop their physical skills and build on their enjoyment of being outdoors.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff's understanding of how to ensure that children consistently have enough time to think and then answer questions
• support staff to be confident in consistently recognising and building on children's interest in mathematics.