Earlybirds Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children receive a warm welcome from practitioners on arrival into the pre-school. They settle well and are eager to begin their chosen play.

Practitioners have high expectations for every child. This helps to provide children with a learning environment which promotes confidence and a willingness to try and develop new skills. Children are confident to access the environment and show that they feel safe and secure.

This provides them with good foundations, to be ready to learn. The pre-school has formed good links with the attached school, to support a steady transition from pre-school into Reception class. For exampl...e, children use the school library and playground during their sessions.

This helps children become familiar with the school grounds and the teachers. Practitioners focus heavily on communication and language and providing children with tools to help them share their views, feelings and wishes. For example, they use visual cards to support children with their understanding of daily routines.

They also use emotion cards to help children understand their feelings. Children begin to develop an understanding of their feelings and how to share these with others. Practitioners work closely with parents to continue to encourage the development of communication skills.

For example, a noticeboard is used with a question based on the daily activities, to help parents spark conversations with their children about their day.

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

Practitioners skilfully observe children to find out their learning and development needs. When children require further support to fulfil their learning in specific areas, such as speech and language, this is put into place.

Children are motivated to learn new skills, such as using scissors. When practitioners notice that some children are swapping hands, they swiftly offer left-handed scissors to find which is the preferred hand. The well-resourced learning environment captures children's interests and provides them with valuable skills ready for their next stage of learning.

Practitioners gradually introduce mathematical language as children fill and empty buckets of water. As a result, children develop an understanding of capacity.Practitioners have high expectations for children's behaviour.

They nurture children to understand the rules and boundaries of the pre-school. Older children know the rules and take pleasure in helping younger children develop their understanding. For example, they know that they do not go outside without an adult.

Children display high levels of concentration and persistence in their learning, such as when they problem solve when making dough.Children are encouraged to develop their independence. This is embedded within the culture of the pre-school and has a positive influence on children's daily learning experiences.

For example, younger children keep trying when getting themselves dressed and older children take pride in washing their cups and plates after snack. They thrive in the outdoor area as they manage their own risks. Children develop their physical strength as they use large resources to create obstacle courses.

The new manager has an ambitious vision for the pre-school. She is going through a rigorous induction with the senior leader and already has a robust knowledge of the policies and procedures. She is working closely with practitioners to understand their individual strengths and teaching styles.

The senior leader has passed on targets from practitioners' appraisals so the new manager can start supporting with these from the outset. This supports a continuous approach to practitioners' professional development, to support children's progress.Parents speak positively about the pre-school and how their children settled in.

They explain that they chose the setting due to the practitioners' kind and caring manner with the children. Parents feel their children are supported individually which helps them be ready for school.Practitioners do not consistently maintain close links with all other settings that children attend in order to exchange information.

This does not fully support a connected approach to children's learning.A system for exchanging children's development information between key people is not yet embedded. This has most impact when children change key person.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The senior leader works closely with the staff to develop their awareness and understanding of safeguarding. She is confident in knowing her roles and responsibilities.

She knows the process for making referrals to outside agencies and working with the local authority should there be an allegation against a member of staff. She understands the importance of confidentiality. She keeps robust documentation of concerns and referrals.

Practitioners know signs and indicators of abuse, including how to report welfare concerns. They complete relevant documentation to ensure the safety of children, including registration information and accident logs.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen partnership work with other settings to secure high-quality exchanges of information that support the best outcomes for children strengthen systems for communication between practitioners so children's age and stage of development is known and this can inform future teaching, particularly when changing key person.

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