St Paul’s Beckenham Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision requires improvement Staff warmly welcome children on arrival.

They exchange messages with parents which supports children's care and well-being. Children say goodbye to their parents at the door and confidently follow the morning routine. They take off their coats and wash their hands on arrival.

This supports them to follow good hygiene routines and builds on their independence. Children behave well and follow rules.Staff have high expectations for all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

They provide a broad and interesting curriculum which builds on children's knowledge. Children engage... in the exciting range of activities on offer. For example, they make rockets with different shapes and talk with staff about the first Black woman to travel into space.

Children beat out the syllables in their names on the African drum. Both activities are linked to Black History Month which helps to promote children's understanding of diversity.Ofsted has not been notified of changes in relation to trustees and appropriate suitability checks have not been completed.

This is a breach of the requirements of registration. However, this breach does not impact on children's safety, well-being or development as the trustees do not have any unsupervised contact with the children.

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

The manager is passionate about providing high-quality care and education.

She works with her staff team to plan activities and a range of experiences which build on the curriculum areas. Staff use observations and assessments to ensure that children are making good progress and identify any gaps in learning swiftly. This ensures that children have the skills they need to prepare them for future learning.

Staff engage with children and promote their communication and language skills well. They ask meaningful questions and give children time to think and respond. Staff introduce new vocabulary during play and provide commentary.

For example, children pretend to make pizzas with dough. They discuss the size of the base and use the word 'big'. Staff encourage children to think of alternatives to extend their vocabulary further.

Partnership with parents is effective. Parents speak highly of the staff team. Their children have made strong attachments with their key persons.

Parents say communication is good. They receive regular updates on their children's progress and next steps. Staff provide ideas to continue learning at home, alongside children taking books home to enjoy reading.

Parents state their children have increased their vocabulary, independence and social skills since starting pre-school.Children develop their understanding of healthy lifestyles. They drink water and pour their own drinks.

Children help to prepare their snack and know fruit is a healthy option. Children understand the importance of washing their hands to remove germs. They enjoy physical activities inside and outside, which helps to develop their balance and coordination.

Children keenly participate in sports activities with the sports coaches.Staff embed a culture of inclusion. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) supports children to access the curriculum and build on their skills.

She runs sensory circuits to help children prepare for the day's learning. The SENCo works with other professionals to ensure that children receive the extra support they need. The manager ensures additional funding is used for appropriate resources and extra curriculum activities.

Children learn to count and test out mathematical concepts as they play. They drive cars at different speeds and manually wind the lift up and down. Children count at circle time, and as they sing and share stories, which increases their understanding of numbers.

Several children speak English as an additional language. Staff support them well with learning English, however, they do not support their home languages alongside this.The manager completes effective inductions with all new staff.

This helps them to understand their roles and responsibilities. Staff state the manager is supportive and checks on staff well-being regularly. All staff have regular supervision meetings and access training to build on their knowledge.

The staff team evaluates activities and discuss any concerns. However, the manager does not identify areas for further improvement.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The manager follows robust recruitment procedures and ensures that all staff working with children have suitability checks in place. This procedure has not been followed by the leader in regard to the trustees. However, they do not have direct contact with the children.

All staff have completed safeguarding training, including the 'Prevent' duty and understand their role to keep children safe. They recognise signs and symptoms which could indicate potential signs of harm or abuse. Staff know the procedures to follow if they have any concerns regarding a child's welfare.

Risk assessments and daily checks ensure that the environment is safe for children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage, the provider must: Due date improve understanding of notifying Ofsted of changes, especially in relation to completing suitability checks for new trustees.18/10/2024 To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support children who speak additional languages to use these during play alongside learning English nevaluate practice effectively to identify and address areas for improvement.