Crowthorne Village Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children have a positive attitude to their learning and behave well. They take part in activities with enthusiasm and excitement.

Children rush into the setting keen to start the day. They develop good relationships with the staff and demonstrate that they feel happy, safe and secure in the warm and welcoming environment. They show high levels of self-esteem and excitedly make independent choices in their play.

Staff provide an inclusive environment where all children and their families are welcome. Children have fun as they learn and successfully develop the skills they need for the next stage in their learning. They ...enjoy the responsibility of completing tasks.

For example, they help to tidy toys away and serve themselves drinks during snack time.Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who speak English as an additional language are supported well. The manager and staff are aware of their individual needs and provide targeted support to help them to catch up.

They collaborate effectively with parents and other professionals involved in children's care. They follow their advice on how to support children's learning in the setting. These positive relationships provide continuity in children's learning and ensure that all children make progress from their starting points.

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

The manager and staff are committed to their roles and responsibilities and have high expectations for children. They are aware of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on children's learning and development. The manager identified that after the national restrictions, some children need support to develop their social and communication skills.

Subsequently, the pre-school is working tirelessly to help support children to catch up in these areas.Children are at the heart of everything the manager does. Since the pandemic, the pre-school has been through a period of staff changes.

As a result, the manager has identified some gaps in the teaching. She has taken positive steps to address these minor weaknesses. For example, she regularly conducts staff supervision meetings to enable staff to reflect on their practice.

However, these steps are not sufficiently embedded to raise the practice to the highest level.Staff use ongoing observations to help identify what children already know and can do. They adapt their teaching in response to identifying the skills children need to develop.

For example, during a cutting activity, staff recognise that some children struggle to use scissors. They use effective teaching methods, including showing and demonstrating, to support children to develop this skill. Children show good levels of determination as they persist until they succeed.

They demonstrate satisfaction in meeting their own goals and show pride in the result.Overall, children are well prepared for the next stage of learning. Staff have a good understanding of how children learn and support their learning well.

However, on occasion, staff do not continuously provide resources based on children's individual abilities. For instance, despite some children being able to hold a 'chunky' pen confidently, staff do not provide a variety of writing resources to help extend these skills even further.Children listen with interest to familiar stories.

Staff read with excitement and encourage children to make links to their own experiences. Children confidently recall their previous experiences, such as the foods they eat at home that are the same as those in the book. Staff use these positive interactions with children to extend their learning further.

For instance, they talk about the character in the book drinking milk. Children demonstrate a good understanding of the benefits of making healthy food choices. For example, they comment that milk is good for their teeth and bones.

Overall, staff support children's communication and language skills very well. During one-to-one conversations they interact effectively with children to help promote their emerging speech. However, during group activities, the less confident children are not consistently encouraged to join in with conversations and express their thoughts and ideas.

Children gain a good understanding of a healthy lifestyle. Staff encourage them to follow good hygiene routines, such as regularly washing their hands. Children have plenty of opportunities to play outdoors to enable them to benefit from regular fresh air and exercise.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff understand their responsibilities to keep children safe. They complete safeguarding training, ensuring children's safety and protection are a priority.

Staff have a secure understanding of the correct procedure to follow if they have concerns about a child. They have a good understanding of safeguarding issues. Robust recruitment and vetting procedures help to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children.

Staff are vigilant about safety and put into place a range of procedures to help keep children safe. Staff are deployed well and supervise children closely.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: continue to develop staff supervision to raise the quality of teaching to the highest level provide a wider range of resources within activities to help challenge children's physical development further nencourage the less confident children to contribute and express their ideas during group activities.