Abbotsham and Alwington Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children enter the setting at the start of the session confidently and eager to explore the attractive environment that staff have created for them. They have close relationships with staff and feel happy and safe in their care.

Staff are kind and respectful. For example, they give children a warning before tidy-up time, so the children are able to finish their play in their own way. This helps to prepare children for transitions throughout the day, so they are ready to move on to the next activity.

Children behave very well and understand staff's expectations. They respond immediately when staff play a musical instrum...ent by stopping what they are doing and listening to and following instructions.Staff have high expectations for children and provide a wide range of stimulating activities and resources.

Children enjoy investigating and testing out what they know. For instance, they are fascinated to learn about different materials when they use metal detectors, excitedly calling out to staff when the devices beep. Staff are encouraging and supportive, which helps build children's confidence to try new things.

They patiently explain to children how to catch a ball and help them to climb over obstacles, and cheer enthusiastically when children succeed.

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

The manager leads a strong team. Staff morale is high and they all have close relationships with each other and the manager.

They are committed to providing high-quality experiences for children. The manager is a highly skilled practitioner and acts as an excellent role model for staff. For example, when reading a story to the whole group, she uses theatrical voices, pauses to allow children to join in with repeated refrains and makes excellent use of questions to obtain their ideas.

All children listen intently and are completely engrossed. Although the manager promotes staff's professional development, the support and coaching she provides are not as focused and highly effective as they could be, to enhance staff's teaching to a very high standard consistently. On occasions, staff do not recognise when they could extend children's learning further.

Staff work closely with parents to enable very good consistency for children. They provide parents with regular updates on their children's progress and suggest how parents can extend children's learning further. Parents value this advice and share with staff the outcome of the activities their children do at home.

Staff are particularly skilled at modelling language and teaching children new words, for example talking about spheres, hexagons, avocados and segments. They routinely repeat what children say before responding, to model the correct pronunciation of sounds. Children develop good speaking skills and express themselves confidently.

The manager is reflective and makes changes to the setting to benefit children. She has moved the role-play area to the main playroom after realising its popularity with children, to allow the other children in the smaller, quieter play area to concentrate better on their chosen activities.Children are independent in their self-care.

They are all eager to help prepare the fruit for snack. They pour their own drinks, manage their toileting needs and put on their coat, asking for help from staff only to fasten the zip.Staff support children to count throughout the day and teach them to link numbers with quantities.

Children often clap each time they say a number when counting to keep a steady pace, which helps them come to the correct answer. Children develop good mathematics skills.Children learn good social skills to help them build friendships.

They take turns, use good manners without prompt and offer to give cuddles to their friends when they are upset. Staff celebrate children's positive behaviour and motivate them to be kind and caring, for example by presenting them with 'kindness balls' in front of the rest of the group, which children receive proudly.Staff encourage children to persevere and solve problems.

For example, when children struggle to turn on a technology toy and go to give up, staff patiently suggest they try again and the children then succeed. This helps to build their self-esteem and to develop a can-do attitude. Children are creative and confidently select the resources they want, for example deciding which tool will be the most effective at digging sand to 'rescue' a buried toy.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff have a secure understanding of their responsibilities to keep children safe. They have completed up-to-date training to help them recognise potential signs that a child's welfare is at risk of harm and how to report any concerns.

The manager implements robust recruitment and vetting procedures to ensure all new staff are suitable and fully aware of their role. Staff carry out effective risk assessments to provide safe and secure play areas for children, for example counting the children as they move between the garden and playroom to check that everyone is present.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: provide more targeted support and coaching for staff to help them recognise how to extend every child's learning as much as possible.

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