Muddy Puddles Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff create a welcoming and happy environment. Children come in eagerly. They feel safe and secure in the lovely relationships they have with their key persons.

Staff understand every child as an individual. They adapt their practice effectively to meet children's differing needs. For example, when interacting with children with special educational needs and or disabilities (SEND), staff always sing the child's favourite songs.

Children develop speech as they join in merrily.Managers recognise what the children need most to help them thrive. They ensure effectively that staff are confident to teach children in a way t...hat supports children to meet their full potential.

Managers take care to understand the community around them and know how they can best support the families. They learned that dental health in the area is often poor and are working with children and families to promote good dental hygiene.Children enjoy their interactions with staff; they laugh and smile as they play games to develop their learning.

For instance, a group of children eagerly guess what a staff member is drawing on a chalkboard. They develop their control of mark-making tools as they follow her lead and make their own pictures. Children show perseverance in their play.

For instance, they take great care when building pyramids out of carpet tiles. They demonstrate their early mathematical skills as they count the levels in their structures and compare heights.

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

Children develop a strong awareness of how to keep themselves safe and healthy.

Staff teach them effectively how to manage risks they encounter as they play. For example, when children hold toys while trying to get to the top of a climbing frame, staff help them to work out how to manage the task safely. Children demonstrate an understanding of the positive benefits of nutritious foods when they make 'broccoli pies' in the mud kitchen.

They lift toys after the play and exclaim, 'I'm strong because I ate broccoli.' Staff promote positive behaviour effectively as they teach children to manage their feelings. They help children to feel calm and cope with issues that arise in their play.

Staff support children sensitively to feel confident to play with other children and to develop social skills. Children feel pleasure in sharing their friends' special moments. For instance, they eagerly sing happy birthday to a child who is celebrating and have beaming smiles as they blow out the candles.

Managers apply a strong focus on supporting children to develop speech and language skills. They have provided staff with training that is being implemented to a high level in the setting. Staff show consistency in the teaching skills they use to help children pronounce letter sounds and words clearly.

This includes ensuring they have eye contact with the child and exaggerating mouth movements to help children learn how to turn sounds into words. Children who speak English as an additional language quickly begin to understand and use English with increasing fluency.Staff work in close partnership with others to support the progress of children with SEND to ensure they meet their needs.

They work with a variety of professionals to offer support for families. For instance, they use translators to help ensure parents who speak English as an additional language can be involved in their children's learning.Managers provide focused support and guidance for staff to help them develop their teaching skills and knowledge.

Staff benefit from frequent training and opportunities to gain or enhance their qualifications. Managers have recently implemented systems to reduce the time spent on planning. Staff now use their strong understanding of children's interests and developmental needs better, to offer effective and meaningful learning experiences.

Staff demonstrate effective teaching skills as they engage in good-quality interactions with children and encourage them to develop their own ideas. However, at times, staff miss opportunities to challenge children and to help them develop problem-solving skills.The deployment of staff and organisation of some activities sometimes means that children's experiences are not engaging or enriching.

Parents understand well how their children are progressing and how they can continue children's learning at home. Staff work with parents to establish consistent routines to help children meet their next steps in learning, including when potty training.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Managers act promptly and effectively on any issues that arise in the setting that may affect children's safety. They implement robust risk assessments and successfully ensure that all staff follow these precisely in their practice. As a result, they provide a safe and secure environment for children.

Staff understand fully the signs that may indicate that a child's welfare is at risk and consistently monitor children's well-being. They benefit from frequent training and updates on safeguarding procedures that ensure they know what to do if they have a concern about a child's welfare.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nensure staff deployment is well organised and effective so that all children can be supported in their learning nimprove the quality of teaching further to ensure staff consistently challenge children in activities and offer them more opportunities to work out how to solve problems.

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