Wind In The Willows Preschool Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children of all ages enjoy attending. They arrive happily and have close relationships with staff, which helps them to feel settled and secure. For example, babies benefit from lots of cuddles and interactions with their carers. Children spend much of their time outside where they make choices about their play and explore independently. Pre-school children investigate plumbing fittings, putting them together and pouring water through them. Younger children explore different textures as they play with toy animals in sand, water, grass and other materials they have collected. Children have good opportunities to learn about living things. They help to care for the pre-school's chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs, and a new gardening area is currently under construction, which staff will use to extend children's knowledge of the world further. Children are well behaved. They learn to regulate their emotions, and older children confidently discuss the 'golden rules'.

Staff know the children well and have high expectations for every child, whatever their individual starting points. They provide a varied range of activities that engage children and take account of their interests. They support children that need additional help with individual plans and focused activities effectively. Children make good progress.

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

• Staff have a secure understanding of what they want children to learn and why. They get to know children well, liaising with parents to find out their starting points and then making regular observations of their progress. This enables them to identify what each child needs to do next and provide activities that support their learning. Staff use effective teaching methods to engage and motivate children. They build on what they already know, ask them questions to help them think for themselves and praise them for having good ideas.
• Children focus well on a varied range of interesting learning opportunities. For example, they listen intently to a story, joining in with refrains and discussing how the characters are feeling. Overall, leaders and staff provide an enabling learning environment. For example, children aged two to three have a large, well-equipped classroom and outdoor space, which supports their learning well. However, the baby room has recently been moved and is still being developed. Babies now have free access to a small outdoor area that successfully supports their growing independence, and they enjoy spending time there. However, it is not fully equipped to support their learning, and staff do not always ensure that babies have sufficient learning opportunities when outside.
• Children behave well. They learn to share and take turns and confidently tell staff if they feel that another child is not following the rules. They build good friendships and play together happily. For example, they enjoy playing in a den with one another. Staff use happy and sad face cards to help children manage their behaviour and discuss their feelings. They are quick to offer praise for desired behaviour, recognising good sharing and the use of 'kind hands'.
• Children generally communicate well. Many older children chatter confidently as they play and interact with others, talking about a wide range of subjects. Staff use effective strategies, such as sign language and visual cards, to support children who need extra help with their communication skills. Some babies have dummies in their mouths for long periods, which limits their speech development. Staff are not consistently proactive about working with parents to find strategies to reduce or stop the use of dummies.
• There are strong partnerships with parents. Parents and staff share information about children's starting points and progress to ensure a joint approach to their learning. Leaders and staff provide support for the whole family, signposting them to services that may be helpful.
• Leaders and staff have taken part in an accreditation scheme that helps them evaluate what they do and make ongoing improvements. Leaders monitor staff practice and ensure training is easily accessible to develop their knowledge and skills further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on the existing developments in the provision for babies to ensure that they enjoy a varied and rich set of experiences to help them make further progress
• develop effective strategies to limit the use of dummies to support babies' emerging speech.