Tots Pre School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff provide a nurturing and supportive environment, where they celebrate children's uniqueness and individual needs.

Staff seek out information from parents about children's home life before they attend. They know the different languages children speak at home and this helps staff to tailor the care and activities on offer to each child.Children happily arrive at the pre-school and are individually greeted with warmth and smiles by the staff.

They enthusiastically join in with the range of activities on offer and quickly become engrossed in their play. Children develop good friendships with each other and enjoy imagi...native play, such as cooking and shopping in the pretend play areas. This helps children make good progress in their personal, social and emotional development.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. As children play together, they remind each other that it is kind to share, showing they understand the rules and expectations of the pre-school. Children enjoy playing outdoors.

Staff provide a wide range of activities, such as planting and harvesting vegetables. Children show great delight as they dig up potatoes and pull carrots from the soil. Staff extend children's learning further by talking to them about where foods come from, what they might taste like and the importance of not wasting food.

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

Management have a good understanding of the impact that the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has had on children and their families. Staff continued to communicate with parents throughout the period when children could not attend the pre-school. They used emails and social media to share ideas on activities and signpost parents to additional help and support within the community.

Staff have regular supervision and opportunities to develop their skills, such as working with children with additional needs. This helps provides well-targeted support to children. Management engage with staff to support them with their workloads and emotional well-being.

Overall, the curriculum offers exciting and challenging activities. Children are continuously engaged in play, especially when staff have linked children's learning experiences to their interests. However, staff do not always make good use of the resources and equipment on offer to challenge children's learning even further.

Staff supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities have a clear understanding of their role. They use their knowledge to support children to have every opportunity to reach their full potential. Staff establish strong links with outside agencies to support children's speech and language skills.

Staff use additional funding children receive to buy equipment, such as higher-level tables and easels. This helps to meet the needs of individual children.Partnership working is a strength of the pre-school.

Parents are appreciative of the good levels of care their children receive. They comment that their children enjoy attending. Parents feel informed and confident to share their children's needs and how best to support them.

They have a clear awareness of their children's achievements and this provides a consistent approach to learning.Children enjoy participating in activities which are based on what they know and can do. Staff get to know them and understand how to follow their emerging interests.

Children manipulate dough to help develop their physical skills to support their eventual early writing skills.Staff provide thought-provoking opportunities for children to develop their knowledge of dental hygiene. For instance, staff ask children what types of foods are best to avoid, to maintain heathy teeth.

Children enthusiastically share that apples are good to eat and milk is good to drink to keep their teeth strong.Staff support children's communication skills and help them to pronounce the names of dinosaurs. This increases the range of vocabulary children use in their play.

Adult-led activities help focus children's attention. They become truly captivated in newly hatched ducklings. Children observe and help the ducklings learn to swim in water containers.

This experience gives children confidence in handling and caring for animals.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Management ensure that safeguarding is an important part of everyday life in the pre-school.

They use strong recruitment procedures to ensure staff are suitable to care for children. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of child protection and the wider issues of safeguarding and understand their roles and responsibilities. For example, they quickly identify and act upon children's non-attendance.

Staff complete daily risk assessments on the pre-school environment to help minimise any risks to children. They clearly record accidents and evaluate these to identify any emerging patterns to safeguard children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen the organisation of resources and equipment on offer and challenge children's learning even further.

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