Little Bears Pre-School in Bury St Edmunds highlights how a small, cohesive staff team can be highly effective when it comes to achieving a vision for outstanding.
Little Bears achieved the top grade from Ofsted in February, with its leadership involving a team of four described as nothing less than 'inspirational'.
Ofsted noted how the current management structure enables every practitioner to make a positive contribution to the direction of the pre-school. It praised the fact that deputy manager Rebecca Smith, who is an EYP and the highest qualified member of staff, works directly with the children and oversees the learning and development requirements under the EYFS.
Little Bears operates from a classroom in Tollgate Primary School. It is registered for 35 children and offers morning and afternoon sessions. It has recently increased the number of two-year-olds it takes and has worked hard to create an effective learning environment for this age group.
Ms Smith joined the pre-school at the age of 16 as a volunteer, and started working there two years later. She has since worked her way up to graduate practitioner level.
She says, 'We have a fantastic team and everyone shares the same desire to continually evaluate what we do - whether it is through participating in Every Child a Talker or the Eco-Schools programme.
'It has worked well linking everything into the Self-Evaluation Form because it centralises our improvement plans. All staff understand where our vision is and can contribute to the process of the setting's development.'
Every member of staff combines more than one role, with Rebecca herself acting as special educational needs co-ordinator alongside other responsibilities. The setting's owner Keren Thomas combines her management position with being a key person.
Ms Smith says, 'We have children with special educational needs and we all have a strong professional understanding of how our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion is achieved. In line with this, we have developed partnerships with the local children's centre and other professionals working with individual children.'
Plans are now in place to develop the outdoor space with a nature area to provide more opportunities for children to explore the natural world.
'We saved up for a canopy so we have a covered area in the garden that the children can use all year round,' says Ms Smith. 'We offer what we consider to be "real" free-flow and all the areas of learning can be accessed out there. However, we don't believe in taking the inside outside - we see the outdoors as a whole different way of working, which we embrace.'
Getting to know children and parents has been key to Little Bears' effectiveness and growth.
'Ofsted was very impressed with our transitions,' she says. 'The inspector talked to children settling in and to their parents. The feedback from both was really positive and demonstrates why children flourish as they move through our pre-school.'