Tiny Feet Preschool

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children engage well with the learning activities on offer at this setting. They show positive attitudes towards learning.

Children form good relationships with staff, who encourage them to be as independent as possible. They feel safe to explore the pre-school, with staff encouraging and supporting them to try new things. Staff praise children's efforts and achievements regularly, to motivate them to learn and boost their self-esteem.

Children make good progress in their learning during their time at the pre-school. They gain a range of skills that they will need for the next stage in their education.Children behave w...ell, and staff encourage them to show respect for one another.

Staff sit and talk to children at lunchtime and encourage them to share what they have been doing at home. Staying healthy is a big focus. Staff arrange learning activities to promote healthy eating, exercise and yoga.

This helps children to learn how to look after their bodies.Staff know the children well. The leadership team work in partnership with parents to gain information about what each child can do when they start at the pre-school.

They use this information to decide what children should learn next. The manager and her team work hard to support all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and children who are learning to speak English as an additional language.

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

Parents speak highly of the pre-school and feel well supported by staff.

They report that they feel very safe leaving their children at the pre-school. Parents feel that staff are very attentive to their children's needs. They feel that their children are making good progress as a result of attending this pre-school.

For example, when children find it difficult to touch new textures, staff use children's interests to motivate them. This ensures that children try new things and make progress.Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour.

They take time to explain why a particular behaviour is not kind. They use a kindness jar to encourage children to use their manners, share and be kind to one another. Staff have put activities in place to help children practise their sharing skills.

This teaches children to respect each other and to recognise the effect that their behaviour has on others.Staff help children to develop their early mathematical skills. They model mathematical language and provide lots of opportunities to practise counting, number recognition, shape recognition and measuring.

For example, they encourage children to compare objects using weighing scales to see which are heavier and lighter. This prepares them for the next stage of their education.Staff value the importance of reading and books.

Staff sing songs, read stories and re-enact tales with finger puppets. They provide a lending library so that children can take books home to read with their families. This helps children to develop a love of reading.

The manager ensures that children with SEND receive support as early as possible. She refers to outside agencies for advice, such as speech and language therapists and occupational therapists. She involves health visitors and other specialists to tailor care to the needs of the children.

This early intervention is invaluable as children progress through their education.The manager has a sound knowledge of the skills that children learn at different ages and stages of development. She has started to share this knowledge with other staff, to involve them in planning the curriculum.

However, there is scope to strengthen professional development so that all staff have a clearer understanding of what they want children to learn and how they can plan activities to achieve this.The manager has started to think about ways to organise the learning environment to cater to the children's different ages and stages of development. For example, older children practise their early writing skills in a quieter area to prepare them for school.

However, some staff do not always consider how to adapt an activity to reflect the different ages or abilities of some children.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.All staff have a good knowledge of safeguarding.

They are alert to signs of potential abuse and know the procedure to follow if concerned about a child in their care. In the event of an allegation made against a member of staff, they are clear on the actions to take and know the appropriate agencies to contact. Where necessary, the manager changes routines to ensure the safety of all children.

Safer recruitment procedures are in place to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children. The manager has created a robust staff induction system to give staff the information that they need to keep children safe.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff to fully understand how to implement and sequence the curriculum so that they can plan activities to consistently build on what children know and can do nenhance staff understanding of how to adapt learning activities in order to meet the needs of the age and stage of children participating.