Chapel Street Pre-school

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children settle quickly and thoroughly enjoy their time at this happy setting. Staff are caring and promote children's well-being effectively. They know children well and build strong relationships with them.

Children smile and have fun. Staff support children to recognise their emotions. They talk to children about their feelings.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. They model polite manners and respectful behaviour. This helps children to understand the expectations and follow the good examples set.

Leaders are ambitious for all children's learning and development. Overall, the curriculum b...uilds on what children know and can do. This supports all children to make good progress and be ready for the next stage of their education.

Staff work effectively with others. For example, skilled staff work with children, their families and specialists when necessary. This helps to ensure that all children are included in the setting and make positive progress.

Staff plan activities to help children learn more, based on gaps in their learning and their interests. This encourages children to become enthusiastic to join in, remain involved in activities and concentrate for longer. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, staff share more information about children's development through an online app than in meetings with parents.

However, staff chat briefly with parents at drop-off and pick-up times.

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

Staff support children's speaking skills effectively. They speak clearly and teach children new words.

Staff plan lots of opportunities for children to sing, learn rhymes and talk about books. They pause to give children time to think before answering questions. Staff use actions and objects to support children's understanding of speech.

This helps children to develop their communication skills, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and children who are learning English as an additional language.Staff plan activities to help children build their small and large muscles. For example, children squeeze play dough, use crayons to draw and help to serve their own breakfast.

Children dance and skip during music sessions. They run and kick the ball outside. These experiences help children to develop their strength, coordination and balance.

Staff promote children's independence skills very effectively. For example, young children quickly learn to put an apron on themselves and to hang it up when finished. Staff have high expectations of children and build their independence over time.

This helps children to be more responsible and independent as they become older.Leaders provide information for parents about keeping children's teeth and bodies healthy when they join the setting. They encourage families to join a dentist and share ideas about healthy lunches.

Staff plan fun activities for children to help them learn to clean their teeth. These experiences help children learn to make healthy choices.Staff plan activities to help children learn about celebrations and cultures.

They ask families to share traditional food to help celebrate special times. Staff display words from children's home languages. This helps children learn about different families, special times and what makes them unique.

Staff promote children's literacy skills well. They regularly read books to children and encourage families to borrow books to take home. Staff show children how to write their names on their pictures and encourage them to have a try.

Staff demonstrate how to follow instructions as they make play dough with children. These experiences support children's early literacy skills.Overall, staff plan a wide range of indoor activities across a broad curriculum to support children's learning.

However, opportunities for children's learning outdoors are more limited. This is because staff do not always plan a wide range of outdoor activities to support children's learning across the curriculum. As a result, children who prefer outdoor learning may not access as broad a curriculum as those children who learn inside.

Leaders are self-reflective and seek staff feedback with the help of trustees to find ways to improve the setting. For example, trustees and leaders have found a solution to reduce staff's workload. Leaders have correctly identified the need to develop outdoor learning opportunities for children.

They also want to give parents more chances to share their views about the setting and their children's learning in person.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts the 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: plan more carefully for children's learning across the curriculum when they choose to play outdoors give parents more chances to share their views of the setting and their children's learning