Winfrith Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are engaged and absorbed in their learning at this setting. Staff actively participate in children's play, offering comments and suggesting new ideas to enhance their imaginative activities. For example, children delve into new concepts through role play, acting as doctors, checking staff's blood pressure and administering 'vaccinations'. Staff foster interactive exchanges, encouraging children to respond with confidence and helping them to maintain concentration.

Children learn to follow instructions and know that rules are there for a reason. They love riding bikes and following road signs and traffic light signals, which they control. This encourages them to understand traffic rules and negotiate space with increasing control.

Children listen attentively, respond positively to staff and follow instructions, such as washing their hands before snack time. When they see staff preparing for snacks, they eagerly offer to help with tasks such as setting out plates. If they accidentally bump into each other, they promptly apologise and quickly return to their activities, showing their ability to recover quickly from minor disruptions.

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

• The provider has developed a comprehensive and ambitious curriculum designed to prepare children for future learning. Staff purposefully design activities to support children in expanding their knowledge of the world. The provider collaborates with the local school to establish a phonics awareness curriculum that prepares children for future learning. They teach children to recognise rhyming words using objects to help them identify language patterns, such as 'pear' and 'bear' or 'can' and 'fan'. Staff occasionally speak to children in a 'robot voice' to help them hear individual sounds within words. This approach ensures children acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to prepare them for early reading and writing.
• Staff are good at supporting children's language development through interactive role-play activities. For instance, while learning about community helpers, children pretend to drive an ambulance to the hospital. They engage in meaningful conversations, prompted by staff, notice traffic lights and discuss actions such as stopping at a red light. This approach helps children to develop their language skills and understand everyday concepts. The staff's skilled guidance ensures that children gain valuable communication abilities while having fun. However, there are times when staff do not give children enough time to respond to questions, so they cannot share their ideas when exploring the use of new vocabulary.
• The provider accurately assesses children's development. Staff participate in ongoing training and diligently apply their knowledge by systematically evaluating children's understanding of key concepts and vocabulary. They regularly monitor progress, adjusting the curriculum to ensure children receive the necessary support to progress. However, there are instances where the provider does not promptly identify needs, resulting in delays in providing the targeted support children require to close learning gaps quickly.
• Staff give children responsibilities, which they carry out with pride. Children learn to manage risks outdoors with a checklist to ensure it is safe for play. Staff calmly provide reassurance and understanding when children become unsettled. This fosters calmness and confidence in children, who are kind, polite and thankful. Children independently offer to help staff when preparing tables for activities. Staff sing with them during lunch preparations, explaining healthy foods and which foods are treats. They eat together, discuss lunch items the children enjoy and enhance their social skills and understanding of nutrition.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Staff provide parents with regular, detailed feedback on their children's development. When concerns arise, parents feel confident discussing them with staff, who offer tailored activities and ideas for home support. For example, when children confuse colours, the provider lends resources and games they can play at home. Children enjoy taking a book home from the setting's library to share with their families. Parents appreciate the prompt questions that staff provide to support them in engaging their children's comprehension of stories. This proactive approach ensures parents feel supported and involved in their child's learning journey.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to give children time to think and respond with their own ideas when answering questions
• ensure assessment information is gathered quickly so that children's needs are identified early, and targeted support can help children close gaps in their learning.