Abbey 345 Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children show spirit and confidence. They develop strong relationships with staff, who know them very well as individuals. Children benefit from a curriculum that provides them with enriching experiences.

Children, including those who speak English as an additional language, are supported to make good progress in their communication and language skills. During the COVID-19 pandemic, staff offered support to parents to help them further engage and extend their children's learning at home. Staff arranged regular video calls with children to read them stories.

This helped children to maintain relationships with staff and ...provided support for their seamless return to pre-school when the time came.Children immerse themselves in their play and sustain their interest in activities for long periods. For example, children concentrate as they adjust the height of plastic pipes to see how they can send balls down them in different ways.

They spend time developing their creative ideas as they use paint, leaves and glue. Children benefit from lots of praise and encouragement from staff, who introduce new words, such as 'autumnal'. This empowers children and builds their confidence, self-esteem and vocabulary.

Children develop friendships with their peers. They play well alongside each other, especially as they use their imagination in the role play kitchen and hospital.

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

The inspirational manager takes pride in her long-standing staff team.

Staff are very supportive of each other and comment that working at the pre-school is like being part of a wider family and they feel supported and valued.Staff are encouraged to access targeted training to continue to build on their skills and knowledge. They speak positively about their recent forest school training.

The manager said that this gives children the opportunity to experience nature at a 'primitive level'.Staff understand how to teach children and know what they want them to learn next. They provide a good balance of free-play activities and adult-guided experiences.

However, staff do not always make the most of their interactions with children to fully challenge and extend their learning.Staff develop strong partnerships with parents. The manager and staff are sensitive to children's individual needs and the needs of their families.

Parents have nothing but praise for the pre-school. They comment that they, as well as their children, feel supported in the early years journey.Staff provide children with a good range of opportunities to explore the outdoor area.

This helps children to develop their physical skills. Children take turns, and patiently wait for their friends, as they confidently negotiate an obstacle course. They climb onto the rope swing and lie back to look up at the canopy of leaves above them.

Staff create a rich, communication-friendly environment for children. Children are keen communicators and confidently answer questions about why leaves are falling from the trees. They share what they know as they explain that the leaves are falling because of the wind.

Children recall previous learning as they say, 'The leaves are changing colour ready for the Winter.' Staff give high priority to promoting children's literacy skills. Children listen to stories each day and delight in answering questions as they recall what was read.

They borrow books to take home from the pre-school lending library, further promoting their love of reading at home. Children's literacy is further enhanced through a range of resources to promote their mark-making skills. For example, children confidently use pencils to draw and start to identify the letter that starts their name.

Staff support children who receive additional funding, such as pupil premium. They provide activities, such as forest school, where children experience outdoor pursuits and learn more about the world around them. Equally, staff support children with special educational needs and or/disabilities.

They identify children who may need additional help or early intervention and agree support plans swiftly. The pre-school works in close partnership with outside agencies to ensure there is a collaborative approach to children's learning.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The manager and staff understand the reporting procedures they must follow if they have concerns about a child or adult. They are confident of the signs and symptoms of abuse that may indicate that a child is at risk of harm. Staff's safeguarding knowledge remains up to date through refresher training that is frequently revisited during staff meetings.

Children have a good knowledge of how to keep themselves safe. They independently risk-assess and confidently tell visitors about the different safety rules. For example, they say, 'only one allowed,' on the indoor trampette.

An effective recruitment procedure is followed to ensure staff are suitable for their roles. Existing staff's ongoing suitability is successfully monitored by the manager.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nextend staff's skills to enable them to build on their interactions with children to further extend and challenge children's learning.

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