Woolston Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are welcomed into the setting by friendly staff who know them well. They settle quickly and enjoy spending time with their friends and engaging in the activities available, both indoors and outdoors. Children are offered a broad choice of experiences and are encouraged to try something new, such as role-playing in the hairdressers or exploring the noise they can make with a guitar.

Children behave well and are praised for sharing and turn-taking with their friends. Staff give children a 'high five' or thumbs up to support their understanding of how to play cooperatively and praise their achievements. They teach children to listen carefully by singing a short song to capture everyone's attention. This helps children understand that the routine will soon be changing or there is a new instruction to listen to.

Staff work hard to support children to recognise and understand their emotions. For example, children respond well when staff ask how they are feeling, using pictures on their lanyards and a feelings board to support these conversations. Children benefit from small groups where they can talk to staff about how they are feeling. This means children feel listened to, and it makes them feel safe and secure.

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

• Staff provide a curriculum that uses children's interests to engage and challenge them. For example, children enjoy learning about animals that live in the sea and use scissors to cut strips of tissue paper to make jellyfish tentacles. This extends children's understanding of a new topic and encourages them to be curious about the world around them.
• Staff use their knowledge to ensure the needs of all children are met, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Experiences are fully inclusive, and staff are well-deployed to ensure all children are given the same opportunities to succeed. Leaders use funding effectively to provide children with the right support at the right time. This helps to move children's learning on and provides every child with a sense of achievement.
• Staff use conversation to engage children and encourage their communication and language development. Staff model language and respond to children with comments and questions. However, there are occasions when children are not consistently given enough time to process a question and then respond. This means that children do not have time to think, respond and fully engage in the intended learning.
• Staff have developed positive relationships with parents. For example, parents/carers are invited to a breakfast morning, where they eat bacon sandwiches and croissants with their children and spend time playing together. This means that children's care is consistent and communication is effective.
• Children are taught how to keep themselves safe. Staff work in partnership with children to decide the rules for the soft-play area and agree on how many children can play in this area at a time. Children are asked to think about whether something is safe and what they can do to ensure it stays safe for themselves and their friends. This helps children to develop an awareness of managing risk.
• Parents and carers are delighted with the progress their children are making in the pre-school. They say that communication with staff is very good, and they feel fully informed about their child's learning. Parents enjoy attending events, including grandparents' sessions and Mother's Day tea parties. They value the support provided by staff on topics such as toileting and accessing funding.
• Leaders have a clear overview of the setting. They have spent time working as a team to provide an environment where staff enjoy working and are happy and focused. Staff feel well supported and attend training regularly to ensure their knowledge is up to date, and they have a good understanding of how children learn and can apply this to their practice. This means the environment meets the needs of all children attending, including those with SEND.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide children with enough time to process information so that they can join in with discussions and answer questions.