Wrigglypeeps Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enter the setting happily, with confidence and eagerness to learn. Warm greetings from staff make them feel welcome and safe. An effective key-person system helps children settle in well. Children form strong bonds with nurturing staff, who prioritise their emotional security. Staff value conversations with children and strongly support their communication and language development. Children describe how they planted flowers in the garden, showing good communication skills. Children are curious. They ask questions and proudly introduce themselves to visitors. Staff plan an ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum that builds on what children know and can do. Children squeeze pipettes to strengthen their hand muscles. This prepares them for future learning, such as effective tool use in the woodworking sessions and writing. Staff help children to develop their understanding of the wider world. They use a globe to talk to children about other countries.

Children show positive attitudes to learning and respond well to staff. They eagerly work as a team to tidy up, saying 'I can do it' while carefully putting a bike away. Staff support children's independence skills. They teach children how to put on their coats and prepare fruit for snack. Children learn about time and early mathematics. Staff explain to children that when they hear the cuckoo clock sound ten times, it is snack time.

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

• Managers value their staff team. They empower staff to use their strengths and knowledge to enhance the setting. Staff attend training to enrich areas of provision for children, such as the outdoor environment. Staff meet with managers to discuss their roles and professional development, and staff report high team morale. They feel well supported by their managers, which promotes a harmonious learning environment for children.
• Staff provide effective support for children's emotional development and well-being. They use strategies such as breathing techniques to calm children if they need it. They help children to understand strong emotions they encounter, such as by imagining a 'volcano in their tummy'. This helps children to learn ways to cope and talk about how they feel.
• Children learn about the natural world. They enjoy discovering insects in the garden, and staff ask children questions to provoke their thinking skills, such as 'Do snails move fast or slow?' Children use their senses as they explore aromatic herbs. Staff encourage children to learn about the changing seasons as they collect fallen leaves and notice the different colours.
• Children immerse themselves in the broad range of learning experiences staff offer. Staff support children to pursue their ideas when they ask to 'make an orange pumpkin'. This promotes their independence in learning. However, occasionally, staff do not notice when children need extra support to become involved and participate in activities to maximise their learning.
• Children are confident communicators. Staff use effective strategies to promote children's speech and language. They introduce new vocabulary, such as 'raw' and 'mash', as children explore vegetables. Staff repeat back what children say so that children can hear spoken words. This helps to develop their clarity of speech. Staff provide extra help for children who need support in this area, which helps to reduce any gaps in children's development.
• Staff are good role models. They implement rules and boundaries and praise children's positive behaviour. For example, they say 'that was a kind thing to do for your friend.' However, staff do not consistently remind children of the rules or fully explain risks as they play, particularly when children run inside or use scissors.
• Children demonstrate a love of books. They freely choose books to share with their friends. They turn the pages and show delight at the illustrations as they talk about what they see. Staff read clearly and with expression, which engages and excites the children. This deepens children's curiosity and promotes their literacy skills.
• Staff form effective partnerships with parents, schools and other settings children may attend. They refer to other professionals to gain additional support for children, should they need it. Staff actively involve parents in their children's learning. They gather information from them about children's interests. Parents speak highly of the setting and of the care their children receive from staff.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to notice and act when children need extra support to increase their involvement and participation in activities to maximise learning and help them make the best possible progress
• help staff to consistently support children to understand rules and risks to keep themselves safe as they play.