Little Stones Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are full of smiles and laughter as they arrive at the pre-school. They are warmly greeted with a cuddle by supportive staff. Children hang up their coats on their named pegs, showing a good awareness of the pre-school routine.

They seek out their friends and immediately begin to play with interesting resources. Children giggle as they play in a tepee, making 'soup' for 'dinosaur roar'. They pretend to feed soup to toy dinosaurs and demonstrate supportive relationships with each other.

They notice when their friends need help. For example, children help each other to open packets at lunchtime. Children understa...nd that they need to eat their savoury food before they can have their 'yummies'.

Children benefit from a fun and stimulating curriculum which is designed to meet their individual needs. Staff identify what children need to learn next and then plan a suitable range of learning experiences. Children show high levels of enthusiasm as they make use of all the interesting resources.

For example, children squeal with delight as they find a 'big, juicy' spider in the outdoor area. They dig in mud to catch it and carefully place it in a pot. They extend their own learning by using magnifying glasses to study their find and excitedly discuss the spider with friends and staff.

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

The knowledgeable manager leads her team well. She is an effective role model for staff, as she demonstrates friendly and supportive interactions with children. The manager encourages all staff to attend frequent training opportunities to improve their knowledge and practice.

Staff choose courses which will help to support children in their key groups using additional funding appropriately. For instance, recent training on managing children's behaviour has supported staff to have a consistent approach when dealing with unwanted incidents. Overall, children's behaviour is good but on occasion younger children struggle to maintain concentration in large-group activities.

At these times, staff are not fully effective in supporting children to gain the skills they need to sit, listen and engage well.Partnership with parents is a strength of the pre-school. Staff build positive working relationships with parents and share ideas for children's learning and development.

Parents talk about the pre-school being 'wonderful and very supportive', and comment that their children's speech has improved since joining the pre-school. Staff offer parents advice and guidance on issues such as potty training. Flexible settling-in sessions are offered to parents in order to allow children to settle quickly.

This allows staff to understand children's needs and interests from the beginning. Parents are invited to share their ideas and opinions of the pre-school. They are welcome in the setting to be a 'mystery reader' to read new stories to the children.

The manager monitors practice honestly and effectively. She recognises strengths and weaknesses in practice, and relays this back to staff. Children enjoy an activity about dinosaurs and fossils.

They learn new vocabulary from the 'words of the week', such as 'extinct'. Children are encouraged to discuss past events such as whether they have ever been to a museum to see dinosaur bones. Staff ask purposeful questions to children to extend their learning.

However, on occasion staff do not give children sufficient time to think or respond appropriately to questions.Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress. Staff recognise when children need additional support.

They work effectively with external agencies and local schools to support children's learning. Staff skilfully adapt activities as appropriate to ensure that all children have access to the same opportunities. For example, staff use simple sign language to ensure children can understand instructions effectively.

Children develop their independence skills well. They put on their own coats before going out into the outside area. Staff provide exciting learning activities for children.

For instance, children show a good attitude to learning as they enjoy forest school activities, such as searching for bugs and insects. Children show good concentration skills as they excitedly pick up worms they have found, and staff encourage children to compare the length of the worms. Children are encouraged to take controlled risks at the pre-school, such as toasting marshmallows by an open fire.

They show confidence in their play as they laugh while coming down a slide arms first.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Managers and staff have a good understanding of how to keep children safe.

They can identify signs and symptoms that may indicate a child is at risk of harm. Managers ensure that staff keep their safeguarding knowledge up to date by providing regular training and by posing scenarios. Staff know the correct reporting procedure to follow, including whistle-blowing if they are concerned about the conduct of a colleague.

Robust recruitment procedures are in place to ensure that staff working with children are suitable. The manager continues to assess staff's suitability through discussions and regular supervision meetings.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: develop strategies to help younger children remain consistently engaged during group activities, to help them stay interested and involved give children enough time to think about and reflect on questions asked, to best support their learning.