Belton Pre-school

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are warmly welcomed by staff as they arrive at the setting.

Their individual emotional needs are considered, and staff knowledge of the children is evident. For example, staff acknowledge a child arriving upset and sensitively interact while using a familiar toy from home to transition the child into the room. This allows children to join their peers and other adults at their own pace, having been given time to settle.

Children are actively encouraged to experiment with a range of resources to extend play. For example, children are encouraged to use leaves or grass instead of brushes to paint bubble wrap attac...hed to a fence in the outdoor area. This then encourages further conversation as staff and children talk about how the paint spreads thinly or thickly and how the bubble wrap pops if pushed.

Children have access to a large outdoor space with a variety of resources and learning opportunities. They assess risks during their play. For example, staff encourage them to use equipment safely when playing in the outdoor space and climbing on apparatus.

Staff praise children as they carefully climb across the sunken tyres in the outdoor space and they laugh together as they slip while trying to balance.

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

Parents are complimentary about the nursery. They comment that they are very happy with the staff and the service provided, which is a 'home from home'.

Parents describe strong partnerships with their child's key person and know about their child's development through regular information-sharing by both face-to-face updates and an online app.Staff generally engage well with children while they play. For example, during an activity with ice, children and staff laugh excitedly about slippery and melting ice.

However, there are occasions when staff over support children during activities and, as a result, children do not always get the opportunity to share their own ideas with their friends.Staff place a high value on promoting children's communication skills. They plan specialised activities with individuals or small groups of children.

This helps children establish good listening skills and positive interactions with their friends. For example, children with delayed speech are provided with some basic sign language and flash cards by the setting that enable them to communicate with adults to say 'please' and 'thank you'. A set of the same flash cards is shared with the family, who adopt this same process at home.

All staff use the basic sign language in their daily communication with all children.The majority of staff encourage independence in the children, for example to put on and take off outdoor footwear. However, support for this is not consistent and staff open children's lunch box containers before they have been given the opportunity to try to do this themselves.

Staff lead by example, encouraging children to listen to each other, take turns and share resources. Staff praise children when they have tried hard, which develops their self-esteem.Overall, staff have a good knowledge of their key children.

They understand what children need to learn next and use information from their observations of children to guide their planning. However, the curriculum intent is not always fully understood across the staff team and, as a result, next steps for children's learning may not always be relevant.The newly appointed manager works hard to develop the pre-school offer and has a clear vision for change.

For example, she has considered peer support for the largely new staff team and ways to support its continuing development, such as special educational needs coordinator training.Staff actively encourage children to stay safe and highlight potential risks for them to manage. For example, on a walk to the local forest school, children are reminded to hold hands while they safely cross the road, having listened out for approaching cars to make sure it is safe to cross.

The small staff team is well supported by the trustees, who are hands-on in their approach. For example, a trustee is involved in the recruitment process for new staff. This enables the manager to make informed decisions with the new and growing staff team.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff understand their responsibilities to safeguard children. They attend regular safeguarding training to keep their knowledge up to date.

The manager and staff know how to identify the signs of abuse and where to report concerns regarding children's welfare to. Staff can confidently respond to a range of scenarios posed to them. Scenarios include indicators of abuse, radicalisation and female genital mutilation.

Staff carry out regular checks of the indoor areas and the garden to ensure that they are free from hazards. There are effective recruitment arrangements in place to ensure staff are suitable, and remain suitable, for their role.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff to identify when it is beneficial to leave children to engage with their peers during an activity and not over support during activities give children further opportunities to develop independence in everyday activities strengthen staff's knowledge of how to consider appropriate next steps for their key children in order to support children to make the best progress.