Sturton Cygnets Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are greeted warmly on entering the safe and inviting environment staff have created. They find their names on their coat pegs and settle quickly with the familiar and longstanding staff team.

Children play imaginatively in the mud kitchen. They use their small muscles to fill up jugs and mix with the mud, exclaiming, 'I've made birthday cakes!' Staff support the children to find mint in the garden and to use a variety of kitchen tools to stir the muddy mixture.Children use their large muscles to dig excitedly for worms.

They gently hold a worm in their hands, and staff help them to identify its size and shape.... Children play harmoniously with each other, developing their cooperation skills and imaginations. They use the resources in the role-play kitchen to create pretend food.

They chop real vegetables with safety knives and carefully put the food on the table, saying, 'This is a birthday party.'Children are introduced to new words by staff, which helps to build their vocabulary. They listen carefully to instructions as they make their own play dough.

Children use new vocabulary that staff have introduced, such as 'knead', as they squash and squeeze the dough. Children are supported in their mathematical development as they discover how old other children are, making the same number of claps as their age.

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

The passionate and dedicated manager and her staff provide an exciting and ambitious curriculum to give children the best start in their learning.

They use their knowledge of each child to identify what children need to learn next. As a result, children are making good progress in their development.Staff promote good behaviour.

They offer praise and encouragement when children are kind to each other. Children understand the routines in place and spend prolonged periods of time engrossed in exciting activities. They share their toys and say 'please' and 'thank you' throughout the day.

The manager and her staff promote a love of books in the setting. Children share familiar books together, and they use their recall skills to help remember the plot, joining in enthusiastically with the words in the story. Children borrow books to take home and enjoy with their families, which helps to promote literacy at home.

Parents are highly complimentary about the setting. They receive daily updates about their children's progress and talk about the wonderful and stimulating environment in the home-from-home setting. Parents comment that staff go above and beyond to find out about children and their families before they start, helping to quickly settle children with a familiar key person.

The manager uses additional funding to enhance the experiences offered at the setting. For example, they have provided additional resources so that children can plant and watch seeds grow at home. This has a notable impact on children's progress.

Staff promote children's good health. Children spend a lot of time in the welcoming and stimulating garden. They are offered activities that help to develop their large-muscle skills, such as pushing wheeled toys and digging in the mud.

Healthy snacks are offered throughout the day, and fresh water is available for children.Transitions to school are well supported. Staff make contact and share information about the children with the teachers at the children's schools.

The setting makes use of the facilities available to them within the school. This helps children to familiarise themselves with areas such as the school hall and the library.Children are familiar with the routines in place.

They understand what is happening now and what will happen next during the session. For example, they understand when snack is available to them and come to the table to help to prepare their own snack, chatting with their friends as they eat. However, at times, less experienced staff do not use these routines as an opportunity to interact and engage with children, to promote learning.

Building independence is a particular feature of the curriculum. Children use real crockery as they independently pour their own drinks. Staff sensitively give children domestic tasks, such as helping to carry the washing to the laundry.

They carefully supervise children as they load up the washing machine and press the button to start the machine.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.All staff are knowledgeable about how to keep children safe.

They benefit from regular training, which helps them to identify signs of abuse, and they report any concerns about a child's welfare. This includes keeping children safe from radicalisation and female genital mutilation. Staff understand their responsibilities to report any concerns they have about another staff member.

There are clear and robust recruitment procedures in place to ensure that all staff working with children are suitable. Risk assessments are in place, and hazards are minimised to ensure that the children's environment is a safe and suitable place to play.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen the quality of interactions between less experienced members of staff and children to ensure a consistent approach within the staff team.

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