Little Lambs Pre School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children and their families receive a warm welcome at this friendly and inviting pre-school.

Children confidently separate from their parents and happily engage in play. They are familiar with the daily routines and are keen to sing a welcome song with their friends at the beginning of the session. Children delight in the opportunity to share their knowledge about the weather, which day of the week it is and to count how many of their friends are in attendance.

Children demonstrate secure attachments with staff, who are nurturing and responsive to their individual needs. Children listen to staff and follow simple instr...uctions. They confidently recall the pre-school rules, such as to 'use listening ears, kind hands and share toys'.

Children receive lots of praise and encouragement, which helps build their self-esteem.Children show high levels of interest as they play with ice. Staff encourage them to describe how the ice feels and to observe the changes as it melts and turns into water.

Staff have high expectations of what children are capable of. They help them solve problems and carefully use questions to help them think about what they would like to achieve. Children show delight as they free the toy animals that are frozen in the ice.

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

Most of the children who attend the pre-school live in flats and have limited access to outdoor spaces. Staff plan to ensure that all children have daily opportunity to play outside. Children learn to negotiate space and develop their large-muscle skills as they ride wheeled toys.

They enjoy 'jumping like frogs and hopping like rabbits'. The staff plan activities that broaden children's experiences. They make use of the large playing field at the setting to take children on 'insect hunts'.

Children learn about the importance of eating a well-balanced diet and the need to make healthy food choices. They are developing healthy lifestyles. Children understand that they need to wash their hands before eating.

They serve themselves at snack time and confidently pour drinks. Children and staff talk about why it is important to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.Children frequently choose books and ask staff to read to them.

They listen carefully to staff as they read their favourite stories. Children recall the events in the story, name the characters and anticipate words and phrases. They thoroughly enjoy singing songs and nursery rhymes, joining in with actions and words.

They hold up number cards when singing counting rhymes and begin to learn that written numerals have meaning.Staff provide a stimulating curriculum based on children's interests, what they already know, what they can do and what individual children need to learn next. Staff work with parents and other professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Staff attend multi-agency meetings to promote the best outcomes for children.Children understand what makes them unique. They talk about how they have different-coloured eyes and hair to that of their friends.

Staff plan creative activities and food tasting events to support children to learn about different cultural traditions and festivals throughout the year.Staff's well-being is a priority for the manager. She operates an open-door policy for staff who wish to share their feelings or concerns.

Staff are supported to manage their workload. They are allocated time to keep up to date with paperwork. Staff have access to a range of development opportunities, which helps them to remain professionally up to date.

However, systems to coach and mentor staff are not precise enough to fully develop staff practice.Parents are complimentary about the pre-school. They comment that their children are keen to attend and are well cared for.

Parents say that they like having access to their children's learning journals online and appreciate receiving development reports each term. However, staff do not currently provide parents with enough guidance to extend their child's learning at home.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff have a secure knowledge of the safeguarding policy and procedures, including the safe use of mobile phones. They can identify possible signs of abuse and fully understand internal and external reporting procedures. Staff use risk assessment effectively to ensure that children are not exposed to hazards.

Children are well supervised as they move between the indoor and outdoor environments. Staff teach children how to manage risk, for instance children know that when they walk down the stairs they must hold onto the rail and face forwards.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: focus professional development more precisely on raising staff practice to a higher level strengthen information sharing with parents about their child's individual next steps for learning and how they can support and extend their child's learning at home.