Wonderworks preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at this welcoming pre-school. They show excitement as they get ready to play outside in the snowy weather. Staff encourage children to put on their own wellington boots, coats and gloves to ensure they are cosy and warm. Children are curious about the world around them. They show interest as staff talk to them about how the melted snow has frozen and turned to ice. Children work together using toy tools to safely chip away at the ice to free their play figures. Staff ensure children stay safe. They talk to children about the slippery ground and, when children walk along the obstacle course, staff hold their hands to help them balance. Children use their arm muscles as they playfully throw snowballs, use toy diggers to scoop up snow and use potato mashers to squash up the snow and ice. This helps build on children's emerging interests.

Staff are positive role models. They support children to use their manners, help tidy away resources and to be mindful of others. In turn, children show kindness, giving their friends a hug and allowing them to go first during activities. When children occasionally struggle to manage their behaviours during play, staff gently intervene and acknowledge children's emotions. This helps children deal with their feelings, supporting them to quickly return to their play.

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

• Staff develop positive relationships with parents. Parents say staff provide support and guidance to help ensure their children make progress. For example, staff have provided parents with resources and strategies to support their children with toilet training and developing positive behaviours at home. Parents state their children are developing in their confidence and language skills.
• Staff help children to develop their language and communication skills. They sing familiar songs, which see children eagerly join in. Staff encourage children to take part in simple conversation and they introduce new vocabulary. For example, children show interest in the pineapple they are having for snack. Children are encouraged to explore the pineapple's texture and staff use words, such as 'spiky' and 'prickly', to describe the fruit.
• Managers and staff identify children with special educational needs and/or disabilities early. They work closely with parents to establish effective strategies to help all children make good progress. In addition, they work with children in small focus groups to help them to develop the skills that move them forward in their development.
• Staff plan activities for children to develop their small-muscle skills. These activities help children practise the skills that are needed for early writing. For example, children are challenged by staff to stretch, squash and roll play dough into different shapes. In addition, four-year-olds receive praise as they use pencils to make marks on paper in an attempt to write their own name on their art work.
• Staff provide activities within the daily routine to help children develop their early independence skills. Children are encouraged to serve themselves a snack, put their leftover fruit in the bin and put their dirty pots in the washing-up bowl. This helps children do as much as possible for themselves.
• Staff help children learn some important self-care skills. Children are supported to wash their hands after using the toilet and before meals. However, staff do not consistently reinforce good hygiene routines. For example, when children cough and sneeze into their hand and wipe their nose with a tissue, staff do not always remind them to wash their hands.
• Staff know their key children well, including what makes them unique. They determine appropriate next steps and understand how to embed these within children's play. However, at times, staff do not deploy themselves well enough. This means children sometimes lack the support needed from staff to engage them in meaningful learning and play.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen hygiene practices, so they are consistently embedded to promote children's understanding of good hygiene
• strengthen the deployment of staff in order to provide consistent and purposeful interactions for children, which build on their existing skills and knowledge.