Cullompton Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Children flourish in the exceptionally warm and nurturing environment.

Staff welcome every child individually, which gives children and their families an extremely positive sense of belonging. As a result, children are very happy and secure. They settle very quickly and form strong and secure bonds with staff.

This supports their emotional well-being extremely successfully. Staff have exceptionally high expectations of the children. They plan a broad and challenging curriculum to ensure that every child makes excellent progress from their starting points.

Children enthusiastically engage in a superb and... extensive range of learning experiences and activities, which are expertly adapted to meet the needs of all children effectively.Staff use highly effective methods to support children to manage their behaviour for themselves. Consequently, children's behaviour is excellent.

They learn to share resources, listen to others and develop an exceptionally deep understanding of their feelings and how their behaviour can affect others.Children's understanding of health and safety is highly developed. They learn to use real tools such as saws and hammers skilfully and safely, as they develop excellent physical and teamworking skills in the exciting outdoor environment.

This, and the way that the staff praise children for their achievements, supports children to become highly confident and to excel.

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

The manager and staff have an inspiring commitment to provide the highest possible quality of care and learning for children. The manager is an inspirational leader.

She is an excellent role model and has a high drive for improvement. She monitors staff's performance closely to maintain extremely high standards and provides regular opportunities for staff to discuss their teaching and practice. This highly effective reflection helps to ensure excellent outcomes for children.

Staff skilfully and superbly interact with children to build on their excellent communication and language skills. For example, they engage in lively conversation as they draw pictures and practise writing for a purpose to make postcards. Children focus and concentrate extremely well and talk about larger numbers as they address the cards to send home.

Staff inspire and engage children effectively as they extend their learning further, using additional resources and pictures to learn about their community.Partnerships with parents are extremely strong. The manager and staff very successfully communicate with parents to involve them in their children's learning and provide a range of support and ideas to further extend children's learning at home.

As a result, parents feel highly valued and have nothing but praise for the manager and staff, and the high quality of the provision.The manager and staff use their extensive knowledge of how children learn to make accurate and precise assessments of their development. They provide exceptionally well-tailored support to ensure every child makes the best possible progress.

Children thoroughly enjoy and enthusiastically engage with staff during circle time or during 'nurturing group' activities. They develop exceptional confidence and become self-assured learners. For example, children choose and dress in costumes as they perform on stage, singing and dancing to favourite songs.

Children are exceptionally accepting of one another's differences. They encourage each other to take part in activities and join together in celebrating their achievements.Children cooperate extremely well with one another as they mix potions and fill bottles, using their senses to explore smells and textures.

Children have an excellent understanding of how to behave, are extremely kind and caring towards one another and play exceptionally well together.Children develop superb independence skills as they peel the skin from bananas, take lids off yoghurt pots and use the bathroom independently. They communicate extremely well with one another and are very well prepared for school.

The special educational needs coordinator is committed and passionate to ensuring that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive the very best possible support at the earliest opportunity. She works extremely closely with the manager, staff and external agencies to implement accurate and effective plans. Highly effective monitoring systems and regular meetings with staff to discuss children and inclusion support help to close any gaps in children's learning rapidly.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff ensure that they give children's safety the highest priority. They have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of child protection issues and know how to identify and refer concerns about children's welfare.

They can recognise the signs or symptoms which may be a cause for concern, including wider safeguarding issues. Safeguarding is always on the agenda at meetings to ensure that staff keep their knowledge up to date. There are thorough procedures in place for staff recruitment and the manager is meticulous in ensuring staff's ongoing suitability.