Bodmin Pre School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are confident and motivated to learn.

Relationships between parents, staff and children are strong, which supports children to feel safe and secure. Staff draw upon resources in the local community to provide children with exciting learning experiences outside of the setting, such as visiting the local greengrocers to buy fruit for snack, and the charity shop to buy books. This helps children to learn about their community and the wider world.

Staff observe what children can do and continually extend and add to the activities to support children's progress and next steps in learning. For example, when children... can confidently manoeuvre themselves along an obstacle course, staff encourage them to think about how they could make it more challenging. Mealtimes are a particularly social occasion where staff and children use real china resources safely, and talk about their interests and families.

Children show high levels of independence as they use small china jugs to pour their own milk or water. Staff use a range of simple signs and words in different languages to make a positive impact on children's communication and language development. Children who require additional support are particularly well supported.

Staff use additional funding thoughtfully to make sure it is used effectively to help children develop the skills they need for school.

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

Managers have a good understanding of the learning and development requirements and they monitor children's progress well. Staff accurately assess what children know and can do, and use the information they gather to plan children's next steps in learning.

Staff plan a wide range of activities indoors and outdoors that capture children's interests. Therefore, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are making good progress.Managers offer effective support and training for staff to enable them to extend their skills.

They evaluate and reflect on the quality of teaching by providing feedback on practice through systems such as peer observation and performance reviews. As a result, teaching is consistently strong and children are making good progress.Children's health and well-being are particularly well supported.

Staff are participating in a national programme to promote healthy lifestyles through regular exercise and outdoor play. Staff fully involve parents, so they can continue this at home. Each child has resources such as a backpack, water bottle, bean bags and game cards to suggest ideas.

Parents receive information about healthy lunch boxes, and staff always provide healthy food for snack.Staff make good use of spontaneous learning opportunities to extend children's learning. For example, staff teach children about life cycles of fish, using the pre-school fish and their babies to spark the interest.

They observe how they grow in size and what the fish need to survive. Staff provide reference books in all areas to help extend children's learning with their literacy skills.Children are well behaved and show consideration to each other and the staff.

They benefit from staff being positive role models and being consistent in their management of children's behaviour. On occasions, when younger children are finding it difficult to follow the simple rules, staff support them to learn to share, take turns and help their friends.Partnerships with parents are positive and supportive, and key persons keeps parents well informed about their child's learning.

Staff informally chat with parents about how their child is progressing at drop off and collection times each day, and they have an online system that parents can access to see how their child is progressing. Parents state that they value photographs and videos to reassure them that their child has settled well. Staff regularly seek the views of parents to see if there is any improvements they could make.

Staff provide a stimulating environment that fosters children curiosity through a wide range of natural and interesting resources. In general, children can move toys or equipment around the play areas depending on what they want to play with. However, staff do not always think about how they can consistently make technology more accessible in everyday play.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Management and staff regularly update their training to keep abreast of the wider safeguarding aspects. Staff know and understand their role and responsibility to implement the effective policies and procedures.

They are alert to any causes for concern, and managers take swift action to protect children from harm. Staff work closely with other agencies and early years settings to support children and their families. Risk assessments are effective and allow children to take risks safely.

For example, children use planks of wood to make a structure they can walk along, learning how to balance. Outings are well planned to ensure children's safety and allow them to experience the natural world, such as feeding ducks.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: further extend opportunities for children to explore early technology outside.