Building Blocks Preschool Walton on Thames

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision requires improvement The quality of teaching is variable throughout the nursery. There are inconsistencies in the care and learning that the children receive and the staff's understanding of what they are teaching the children. Despite this, children are mostly content in their environment, and they seek comfort and support from staff.

When children are unsettled, staff are kind, caring and sensitive to their needs. This helps children to feel safe and secure. Staff positively praise the children and give them encouragement.

This supports them when building their confidence and self-esteem. Children mostly demonstrate positive behaviour and l...isten to what staff are telling them. However, at times, aspects of the routine and activities are not organised effectively to ensure the children's needs are met.

For example, children's behaviour deteriorates when there are delays in receiving their meals. They become frustrated and bored as they wait. Staff make an effort to distract children and support them while they wait.

However, this is not always successful. There are effective arrangements in place to ensure all children are allocated a key person. Staff understand their roles and responsibility as a key person and know the children well, and they support the children to understand their feelings and emotions.

This supports their personal, social, and emotional development.

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

The managers can clearly explain the curriculum and what it is that they want children to learn. Children are provided with individual targets to achieve goals to improve their development.

However, managers do not successfully monitor the curriculum in practice to ensure it is fully embedded in staff knowledge. Consequently, they have not identified that some staff members do not fully understand the curriculum, which means that the children's learning needs are not always met.Children have plenty of opportunities to play in the outdoor environment and explore different ways of moving their bodies.

Staff enjoy playing games with the children and encourage them to take turns and work together. For example, they work as a team to hold the parachute up, and they wait patiently for their turn during a game of 'duck duck goose'. Children run with confidence, freedom, and delight.

Staff receive some good support to develop practice and the quality of education for children and their families. Staff have regular supervision sessions and explain that they feel their well-being is important. However, there are inconsistencies in the delivery of purposeful teaching, and what staff intend for children to learn is not always reflected in practice.

For instance, staff do not always promote the youngest children's communication and language skills effectively, and they talk and sing with children when they have dummies in their mouths. As a result, children do not always make the progress of which they are capable.Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive well-planned support.

Staff provide children with tailored next steps in the areas where they most need support. As a result, children make appropriate progress from their starting points.Some staff members support the children's hygiene and independence well.

Children follow simple hygiene routines, such as washing their hands before meals, and most children carry out tasks for themselves. However, some staff do not promote the hygiene and self-care skills that managers intend. For example, staff feed children and wipe their faces for them, despite these being specific areas of learning to be developed.

Furthermore, some areas of weak hygiene practice go unnoticed, and opportunities to develop children's understanding are overlooked. At times, this does not promote children's independence and health well enough.Children link up together to share their experiences.

Overall, children play well together and share their ideas and thinking. For example, children work together to build large towers. They help one another by holding the tower steady while they carefully place the bricks on top of one another to make it even taller.

Staff are enthusiastic when offering encouragement as the towers get taller. This helps the children to persevere with the challenge. Eventually, the tower leans and breaks, and they laugh and decide to build another one.

Overall, parents are happy with the communication from staff and managers. Staff have developed good relationships with parents and keep parents updated about their children's progress. Managers understand the importance of parent partnership to support children to feel safe and secure.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: review and improve the organisation of activities and routines to avoid children waiting for long periods and to promote positive behaviour provide effective support, coaching and training for staff to ensure they have a secure understanding of the curriculum and what they want children to learn develop staff's knowledge of how to support the youngest children's emerging communication skills support staff to extend their awareness of how to promote good hygiene and develop children's self-care skills.