Wolverham and Stanney Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are confident, enthusiastic learners. They are inquisitive and enjoy exploring the well-resourced environment, both indoors and outside. Children are supported well by the thoughtful, kind and considerate staff team. Staff are always on hand to offer gentle reassurance and support, whenever required. Children and their families are firmly at the heart of everything that staff do. Staff have carefully adapted routines in response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. They have sustained effective methods of communication with parents.

Children delightfully lead their own play and learning. They embrace challenges and support each other to solve simple problems and challenges. For example, children negotiate with each other and try out different ideas and resources, when attempting to build a wall outside. Children understand the high expectations staff have of their behaviour. They behave well and treat staff and each other with respect.

Children develop a range of creative skills. Toddlers enjoy exploring the pinecones that they have collected. They squeal with excitement as they dip them in paint and roll them on paper to make marks. Older children use real fruit and vegetables and pretend to prepare food in the 'home corner'. Staff talk to children as they play and encourage them to recall aspects of their past learning. This helps children to build upon previously taught skills and knowledge successfully.

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

• Staff know what leaders intend for children to learn and achieve at the pre-school. The education programmes are clearly sequenced. Staff use children's interests to motivate and engage children in their learning. One example of this, staff introduced a variety of farm animals into children's play, when a child excitedly discussed the farm he had seen close to his grandparents' home.
• Staff provide children with a range of opportunities to develop their confidence and independence, making them less reliant on adults. Younger children learn how to pour their own drinks. Older children use more challenging tools and equipment to develop their physical skills. Children are supported effectively to carefully manage their own risks. They are highly confident in their own abilities.
• Overall, staff extend and support children's learning well. Staff talk to children about what they see them doing and introduce new vocabulary as they play. For example, as children play in the 'mud kitchen', staff introduce words, such as 'casserole', when helping them to talk about what they are making. Occasionally, however, some staff do not ask questions that encourage children to think and share their ideas in order to extend their learning even further.
• Children enjoy counting and sing songs that require them to count. Staff recognise opportunities to introduce new mathematical skills to children during adult-led group activities. However, staff do not always fully support or extend the mathematical skills and understanding of children during their self-chosen free play and routines.
• The hard working staff receive a range of supervision, coaching and professional development opportunities. Staff are ambitious and understand the importance of their roles. They value the support of leaders and managers, who encourage and support staff to enhance their level of qualification. Leaders and managers regularly review and successfully implement a wide range of policies.
• Staff accurately assess children's progress and act swiftly, should any gaps in children's learning and development arise. The special educational needs coordinator is passionate about her role. She is quick to seek the extra support that some children need. Where children receive the support from other agencies, she ensures that everyone follows the agreed strategies so that all children make good progress.
• Parents value the service provided by the pre-school. Some parents attended the pre-school themselves as children and speak very fondly of the staff. Written testimonies from parents thank the staff for the positive impact they have had on their children's lives. Parents comment on how much progress their child makes and how children enjoy attending the pre-school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consistently ask questions that encourage children to think and share their ideas and understanding, to fully challenge children in their learning
• enhance opportunities for staff to help children to extend their mathematical learning as they play, in order to enable children to build on their mathematical knowledge and skills further.