Yelvertoft Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children's happiness and enjoyment are at the heart of this setting. Children have their needs met well as staff take time to get to know them and their families. Staff tailor the environment to reflect children's interests and care needs. This results in children having a smooth transition into the setting and helps them to settle. Children display high levels of engagement and have secure emotional attachments with staff.

Opportunities for children to develop healthy lifestyles are highly evident. Children are taught to follow good hygiene routines as they independently wash their hands before snacks. They benefit from regular play in the outdoors and have physical exercise to enhance their large- and small-muscle skills. Children expertly use spoons to scoop out pumpkin seeds and use a pestle and mortar to crush them. They have access to a stimulating environment both inside and outside, where the resources offered allow children to explore real objects, find out how things work and direct their own learning.

Children demonstrate good behaviour. Staff support children to share and take turns as they play, and they consistently praise their efforts. Staff's calm approach and positive reinforcement help children to learn what is expected. Children form good relationships with their friends and staff and enjoy sharing experiences with them. They are confident and have high levels of self-esteem.

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

• Staff have regular supervision meetings with the manager and provider. They discuss the progress children make, any training requirements and their ongoing suitability. The manager monitors staff's engagement and interactions with children. However, she does not use this information to target appropriate development opportunities for staff, to enhance the quality of education further.
• Children love being outdoors and begin to learn about the world around them. They collect leaves, acorns, conkers and fruit from trees. Staff talk to them about what they find and about fallen fruit being for the animals and not for them. Staff link these experiences to help children learn about growth and decay. They talk to the children about the wind turbines children can see and about the energy these produce. Some children know that energy can be used to make batteries or to make lights work.
• The manager and staff make accurate observations and assessments of children's achievements and development. However, sometimes, staff do not consider how to use activities to help change play to extend children's learning. For example, children gather round the light projector and talk with enthusiasm about the dinosaurs and plants that are placed on it. Staff do not consider how to help children extend their knowledge during such activities. This means that, at times, children are not encouraged to extend their knowledge further.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents are encouraged to share what they know about their child when they start attending the setting. They are also kept updated and involved in their child's ongoing progress and learning, both verbally and through the use of an online app. Parents comment on the positive sharing of ideas by staff, which helps them to continue their child's learning at home.
• The manager and staff interact well with children to promote their speech development and understanding effectively. This includes children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff model language well and allow children time to think and respond to what is asked of them. They ask questions and engage older children in conversations.
• Children develop good independence skills. They put on their own coat and shoes with little support. Children begin to manage self-care tasks with little help from staff. At snack time, they help themselves to a cup and plate. They use tongs and spoons to serve their snack, and they pour their own drinks. These self-care skills help children to be ready for the next stage in their learning, such as school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• monitor staff practice more closely to support their professional development in order to raise the quality of education to the highest level
• use every opportunity to help support and extend every child's learning.