Barton Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive enthusiastically and greet staff warmly. They confidently say goodbye to parents and happily engage in play. Children explore the wide variety of activities and quickly become engrossed, demonstrating increasing levels of concentration.

Children form confident relationships with staff. The uniqueness of each child is recognised and valued. Children get the encouragement they need to build on their individual interests and make good developmental progress.

Staff are excellent role models; they are gentle, kind and respectful in their interactions. They encourage children to think about how their actions ...and the actions of characters in stories affect others. Children are polite and behave well.

They begin to understand and follow rules and learn to look after the resources. Staff encourage children to develop an understanding of their local community. For example, children visit a local care home where they participate in a range of activities with the older people who are residents there.

Staff encourage children to recall their activities and talk about their families and experiences. Children are curious and ask questions. They learn to tend to their own personal needs with gentle encouragement and support.

This contributes to their self-confidence, particularly in preparation for school.

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

The manager has high expectations for all children. Comprehensive self-evaluation, informed by staff and parents' views and children's progress, helps to identify weakness and areas for development.

This leads to continuous improvement. Arrangements to support and mentor new staff are effective. Staff benefit from a well-established programme of training and development.

They are enthusiastic and knowledgeable about their roles.Staff are particularly effective at supporting children's communication and social skills. For example, staff model language well as they join in role play at the shop.

They talk about and help children to make a shopping list, and children find bags to carry, ask for and select items from the shop and then count out the coins to pay. Children count, sort and match in their activities. Staff encourage them to compare sizes and use positional language, increasing their early mathematical awareness.

Staff encourage children to experiment. For example, children explore the water play and help each other to lift the pipes and make the ducks 'swim' into the buckets. Staff ask questions to encourage the children to think and link their knowledge.

For example, they ask the children why they think the duck is stuck and what can they do to make it move.Children develop the skills that will help them learn to read and write. They use a variety of mark-making materials, encouraging their finer movements and control.

They see adults writing and some children try to write their names.Children listen attentively to stories and use books independently. They recall familiar stories and talk about what will happen next.

Children proudly demonstrate their increasing physical skills as they ride balance bicycles and tricycles. They show delight as they blow huge bubbles that float off into the sky. Some children try to chase and catch them.

Staff encourage children's awareness of safe behaviour as they take age- and developmentally appropriate risks in their activities. For example, they learn to use a knife with care to cut fruit and cheese for snack time.Staff carefully monitor children's progress to ensure all children, including those who are in receipt of early education funding, make good progress from their starting points.

Staff plan each session carefully, ensuring children have opportunities to experience a wide variety of activities. They know each child well and adapt their interactions to extend the skills of each individual. They have easy access to resources and so they extend and follow children's interests quickly.

However, teaching of knowledge and understanding of the world is not as strong as other aspects, despite the pre-school having a good variety of resources to support this aspect of learning.Staff get to know the children and their families very well. Parents are very complimentary about the care and learning opportunities their children receive.

They recognise the good progress children make and feel well informed by the staff. However, the pre-school does not sufficiently share ideas or resources to encourage further learning at home.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The manager ensures all staff undertake safeguarding training. Staff know the action they must take if they have concerns about a child. Safeguarding information is clearly displayed, reminding everyone of their duty to report concerns.

Robust recruitment and vetting systems are in place to ensure the suitability of staff. Staff risk assess thoroughly to ensure potential risks are managed effectively. They supervise children closely, particularly in the outside area.

Staff ensure the required adult-to-child ratio is maintained at all times. Regular fire drills enable all staff and children to learn how to evacuate the premises swiftly.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: develop teaching skills to further enhance children's opportunities to improve their knowledge and understanding of the world develop further ways to encourage and link children's learning between pre- school and home.