Woodborough Village Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the pre-school happy and ready to enter. They show their parents and carers where their belongings go and eagerly walk into the hall and wave goodbye. Children remain confident throughout the session and are keen to show off their skills. They hold a blanket and throw it into the air. They show visitors different ways they can catch it with their hands and on their fingers.

Children are happy. They smile frequently and have fun. Children engage for prolonged lengths of time. Children stand at a table set up with paint and brushes and work together to mix different colours. Two children giggle as they hold a brush together and make marks on paper. Children understand what is expected of them in terms of their behaviour. When necessary, children are reminded about the expectations. For example, when they run, they are asked to slow down and use 'walking feet'.

Children are supported to develop pride in what they achieve. Staff use 'wow' moments to talk about what children have done well or when they have met their targets. Children show what they have been drawing and making, and they talk about their pictures being of themselves and the Easter bunny. At the end of the day, children share their 'wow' moments with their parents.

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

• Staff and managers understand child development and plan their environments based on children's next steps and interests. They identify children who require support to ensure that all children have equal access to the curriculum.
• Staff have built positive relationships with children. They know the children well and support them to express their feelings and understand emotions. Staff encourage children to understand their own and each other's feelings and support them to think of ways they can make one another happy. Children suggest that a child who is upset could sit with them to eat.
• At lunchtime, children recall staff using a thermometer on one of their friends who was poorly. Staff ask children what the thermometer can tell them. Children are unsure and staff introduce children to new knowledge that the thermometer can help them to find out if there is a high temperature and this can be a sign they are poorly.
• Children comment about what they enjoy at pre-school. Some children tell visitors they like the water, and other children like to paint and play in the home corner.
• Children are given experiences that support them to develop physically. Staff arrange dough, brushes, pens and pencils for children to use for mark making, to develop their fine motor skills. Outdoors, staff encourage children to race up and down the tennis courts. Staff provide balls, which children skilfully kick and throw to one another.
• Staff suggest ways for children to put their coats on, for example putting their hoods on first and then their arms in the sleeves. Children successfully put their own coats on. Children register themselves as present by finding their name cards on arrival. Children are supported by staff to use the toilet and wash their hands. This promotes children's independence.
• Parents speak honestly and highly of the pre-school. They say that their children receive support, including for any additional needs. Parents feel that they are communicated with well and that they know what their children are working on next, which they receive from an online system. Parents comment on how the staff have supported their children to be ready for school and that the staff have shaped them. Parents say that their children enjoy the additional activities, such as baking and cooking each week and visits to the woods.
• Staff use their interactions to extend children's learning during planned activities. For example, they help children to form letters and make marks, using different materials. However, when children engage in free play, staff do not engage as consistently to extend children's learning. For example, when children play in the home corner and choose their own resources to explore, some staff engage well but other staff simply supervise children.
• Leaders, managers and staff are relatively new to their roles. In a short space of time, they have made improvements. Leaders and managers have a clear vision and processes in place to support the staff team. Staff say that they feel well supported through their induction processes. However, leaders and managers have not yet embedded their staff processes to establish support for improving their knowledge, skills and interactions.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop the consistency of their interactions with children during free-play experiences, to enhance their learning further
• embed processes to support individual staff to improve their practice when delivering the curriculum.