Little Wizards Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children, including those new to the setting, arrive happy, settle quickly and become ready to learn. They are confident, and explore and investigate their environment with growing enthusiasm. Leaders and staff provide an interesting and challenging curriculum that promotes all areas of children's learning and development.

They ensure the provision, both indoors and outdoors, is fully accessible throughout the day. Children are happy and demonstrate they feel safe as they interact with staff and other children around them. Staff are positive role models.

This, and staff's ability to promote children's emotional attachm...ents, helps children to behave well. Children build friendships with others as they share and take turns with resources. Leaders and staff have resourced the environment thoughtfully to reflect children's different experiences and to foster their curiosity.

For instance, real furniture is sited in the children's home-play areas, including a dressing table and a standard lamp. Leaders and staff promote this homely feel further as they provide wooden tables and chairs, rather that plastic toy equivalents. This, and a range of other real household items such as wooden and metal kitchen utensils, helps children to make meaningful connections in their play.

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

Leaders ensure that all staff, parents and their children are fully included in the identification of what needs to be improved in the setting. They monitor this and identify targets for further improvements that will directly benefit the children attending. Leaders support staff's professional development very well and ensure staff's workload is manageable and does not have a negative impact on their well-being.

Staff are provided with regular one-to-one meetings with the leaders. This provides regular opportunities to discuss their key children and any concerns they may have. Leaders oversee the curriculum and observe staff's practice to ensure teaching has a positive impact on all children's learning.

Staff identify what children already know and can do and what interests them. They use this information to closely focus on what each unique child needs to learn next. Parents are supported to promote their child's learning at home.

For example, they take home books and resource packs that provide instructions on how best to use the equipment to foster their child's learning further. Staff develop positive relationships with other professionals including the local schools.Children enjoy regular walks and talk about the plants and wildlife they see.

Their interest in wildlife is further ignited as they observe the tadpoles turn into frogs over time and jump through the railings as they head for the river. Children observe caterpillars as they change into chrysalises. They look on in awe as the chrysalises change into butterflies and fly up to the sky when released.

These activities help children to develop respect and empathy for living things.Leaders provide healthy well-balanced snacks and meals that meet children's individual requirements and parents' preferences. Staff sit with children as they eat and talk to them about how water helps their brains to work better so they can all learn new things.

Children have great fun and are physically active as they dance about to their favourite songs. This helps to promote children's awareness of the importance of a healthy lifestyle.Children grow their own herbs and use these in their dough play.

Staff encourage children to use their senses and available tools. Additionally, they teach children new words to enhance their growing vocabulary. Children mix water, soil and herbs to create their own magical concoctions and potions.

They make marks using pens, crayons and chalks to create their own pictures.Staff encourage children to explore similarities and differences between themselves and others around them. Children explore their own and the festivals of others in the local and wider community.

These activities help to prepare children to develop their social skills and to become ready for their move on to school.Children's growing independence is not always fully promoted throughout the day by all members of the staff team.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders ensure all staff keep their safeguarding knowledge updated and know the policy and procedure to be followed. Staff know what to do and who to inform should they have any concerns about a child in their care. They supervise children well and check all areas of the nursery to ensure any possible risks to children are effectively minimised or removed.

Leaders ensure security is a high priority. They implement robust recruitment procedures and ensure that all staff continue to be suitable to work with children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: raise the awareness of all staff about the importance of having the highest possible expectations for every child's independence.