Addingham Preschool

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are confident and happy in this extremely caring and welcoming pre-school. They are eager to explore and benefit from the wide range of opportunities provided by staff.

As a result, children become highly motivated learners. Staff ensure an environment that is rich in language and question children in a way that stimulates discussion. Repetition of words and phrases, through songs, nursery rhymes and familiar stories, enables children to build up their vocabulary and explore language through play.

Children count spontaneously as they check how many blocks they have used to build their tower. They develop an un...derstanding of shape, space and measure in play-based activities, such as in the sand. Children's curiosity about, and understanding of, the world is supported well.

They quickly learn to respect each other and enjoy learning about different backgrounds and cultures. For example, parents are invited to visit and cook food from their birth countries. Children learn how to make, and enjoy eating, tasty banana dumplings and creating lanterns as part of Chinese New Year.

Staff are excellent role models. They confidently use praise and encouragement with great effect to help raise children's self-esteem.

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

Staff have high expectations of what children can achieve.

They have a good understanding of how children learn, and this helps them plan activities that engage and motivate children. Checks on how well children are doing, along with the children's interests, are shared across the team and used to help plan future activities. Children who need support to develop particular skills are given specific planned activities to help them make progress.

Children's behaviour is excellent. They show high levels of care and concern for each other. They play together very well, share resources willingly, and treat each other and adults with respect.

Children understand when it is their turn to speak and when they must listen. They are extremely independent and confident, moving easily between the different rooms and outside. This allows them to make decisions about their learning and the activities they undertake.

Staff care deeply for the children, who blossom in the warm, caring relationships that enable them to become confident, inquiring learners.Staff use innovative ideas to support children's health. For example, they use baby lotion and add glitter to represent germs.

Children learn how, when they pick up objects, the germs can be transferred onto the objects they touch. This helps children to understand the importance of handwashing and how to stay healthy.Staff promote children's literacy skills well.

Children's fascination for reading is stimulated by the wide range of attractive books. There is a cosy corner where they can curl up with their chosen book and become absorbed by it. Some children search for their name cards, make good attempts to copy their name and know the sounds that letters make.

Children make good strides in their physical development. They are confident riding the bicycles and show good coordination and balance. However, the outdoor area is not used to equally good effect across the whole of the curriculum.

Equally, staff do not make the most of opportunities to support children to judge risks and manage them for themselves.Staff frequently adapt their plans to allow children to follow interests that emerge. For example, children's interest in jungle animals ignited great imagination.

They created their own storyline, all offering their own ideas. They talked excitedly about searching for the lion's den and looked for danger through the binoculars they had made.Staff have strong links with parents and other settings that children attend.

Parents feel very well involved in every aspect of their children's learning. Parents comment extremely positively about how staff are so committed and friendly, and how they nurture and prepare their children for school life. They praise the communication that staff share about their child's development and progress.

The manager uses self-evaluation well. She seeks the views and comments of her staff, parents and the children to help inform areas for change. Staff comment that they feel very well supported.

They keenly carry out their own research and undertake regular and relevant training to benefit the children in their care.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.All staff place the highest priority on safeguarding.

They recognise signs of potential risks and safeguarding updates are a regular agenda item in staff meetings. Staff are fully aware that safeguarding children's welfare is everyone's responsibility. Safeguarding training is kept up to date.

Staff have a secure understanding of safeguarding issues and procedures to follow should they be concerned about a child's welfare. They ensure that the premises are safe and secure for children to play and learn in.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: provide more opportunities for children to judge risks and work out how they can manage them for themselves maximise use of the outdoor learning area so that the high-quality indoor provision is replicated more frequently outside.

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