Cherhill Preschool

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive at the pre-school eager and excited for their day to begin. They have formed secure emotional attachments with all staff, not only their key person. Children are happy and busy throughout the day.

They grow in confidence as they access the well-resourced environment indoors and outside. Children move freely around the rooms to explore and develop their own ideas. They develop close friendships with others.

Staff promote children's independence skills well as they encourage children to take off their own coats and bags and hang these on their pegs. Children are keen to learn and show their interest in th...e activities provided. They develop a love of books as they share stories with staff, talking about the characters.

For example, children identify and describe the woodland animals found in their story and enthusiastically search for them outside.Due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, parents are unable to enter the pre-school building. Staff use their outdoor space to hold settling-in sessions, as well as providing verbal feedback to parents while maintaining social distancing guidelines.

They also use electronic communications with parents to ensure information is shared effectively.

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

Children develop curiosity about the wider world, for example as they engage in daily forest school sessions. The forest leader is passionate about providing rich and exciting opportunities for children to explore the woodland, as well as developing their physical skills.

Children show great enjoyment in building homes for woodland creatures using various tools, sticks and mud. Children have ample opportunities to balance on logs, climb trees and develop their understanding of playing safely. For example, the staff teach the children how to handle sticks with care.

Children's behaviour is good. Staff act as positive role models and provide regular opportunities for children to revisit the rules of the setting. Staff speak gently to children, particularly where they need more emotional support.

Staff support children's confidence and emotional skills well. They boost children's confidence levels with lots of positive praise. This helps children to become confident and independent learners.

Children are developing the skills and knowledge they need to be well prepared for school. They put their coats and wellies on ready for outdoor play, wash their hands before mealtimes, and sit and eat their meals with their friends. Staff also plan and deliver weekly activities to promote children's physical abilities, such as throwing and kicking a ball.

Children benefit from using the large outdoor playground for these sessions, which is located within the school grounds.Children make good progress across all areas of learning. They have opportunities to learn about shape, size, colour and number throughout everyday activities.

For example, children enthusiastically engage in art activities where they explore different flowers. They identify various colours and shapes within the flower and have a go at painting their own from what they can see.Most of the time, children show high levels of engagement and motivation to learn during activities.

However, on occasions, staff miss chances to fully engage the youngest children in outdoor learning opportunities. As a result, children become disengaged and do not get the best learning experiences possible.Staff have a good knowledge of the children who attend the pre-school.

They make regular observations and assessments of children's individual learning. Staff develop effective partnerships with parents and regularly discuss children's learning and development. Parents comment on the 'great relationships' staff have with children, and the progress their child has made since starting at the setting.

Staff engage well with children and model good language skills to support children's play and experiences. However, at times, staff do not give children enough time to respond before moving on.Staff are enthusiastic and work well together.

They benefit from regular supervision meetings with the manager to discuss their professional development. Staff well-being is well supported. The manager and committee work together effectively to reflect on the overall provision.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager ensures that staff keep their child protection knowledge up to date through regular training. All staff are aware of how to identify and report any concerns they may have regarding the children.

This includes wider safeguarding issues such as radicalisation. When appointing new staff, the manager follows thorough recruitment processes to ensure staff are suitable for their role. Staff are deployed well within the setting and constantly risk assess the environment to ensure children are safe and secure.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nenhance the quality of staff interactions with the youngest children, particularly outdoors, to fully engage and support their learning and development to the highest level support staff to develop their questioning skills to ensure they give children time and opportunity to think and respond

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