Ducklings@TattenhoePark

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The pre-school has newly opened, and children are still becoming familiar with the staff and the environment. Despite this, they arrive with enthusiasm and are eager to start learning.

Children follow a clear curriculum that focuses on supporting them to become confident communicators who learn through their own interests. For example, when children demonstrate an interest in road signs and street names while out on a walk, staff provide them with signs and labels in their construction area. Children watch diggers and workers building houses through the pre-school window.

This sparks their interest, and they act out wh...at they have seen in their role play. Children enjoy playing outdoors where they practise their physical skills. They ride on bicycles and practise walking on different surfaces, such as woodchip.

Staff have high expectations for children and monitor the overall good progress they are starting to make.Children benefit from going on walks in the local area as they explore the community where they live. This helps to boost children's personal, social and emotional development as many experiences are new for them.

Children behave well. They are starting to develop friendships and beginning to understand about sharing and taking turns, with staff's support.

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

Staff support children's communication and language skills well.

When young children are still developing language, staff recognise their early communication, such as pointing, babbling and making eye contact. Staff successfully build on this. For example, they show children animal figures, making the sound of the animal and then introducing its name.

This interests children, who start to copy, expanding on their vocabulary. Staff know to pause and wait for children's responses when talking to them. Consequently, interactions between staff and children are relaxed and unhurried, and help children to learn about the rules of conversation.

Young children want to explore the world around them and use all of their senses to do this. Staff recognise this important stage in their development. However, they do not always plan activities to support children to explore this impulse in a suitable manner.

There are rules for some activities, such as using scissors. Staff explain these very clearly, along with the potential consequences of not holding scissors correctly. As a result, children quickly begin to understand the reasons for rules and follow them accordingly.

The manager has an extensive knowledge of how to support children's understanding of diversity. As a result, activities are meaningful and relevant to young children as they reflect their lives and experiences. This good-quality teaching helps to create an environment where all children and their families feel welcome.

Currently, the organisation of the premises means that children cannot take responsibility for their own personal hygiene. Children have to ask staff to take them to the bathroom and to wash their hands. Simple adjustments are possible so staff can implement plans to encourage children's greater independence.

Children are confident and settled. Even when staff are very new to the pre-school, they know their key children well. Children form close relationships with the adults who care for them.

They greet staff warmly with outstretched arms as they come running into the pre-school, wanting to cuddle them.All staff discuss the good support and coaching they receive. Although the setting and staff are new, they have quickly developed relationships with each other and share a vision for how they want the setting to develop.

Student staff receive excellent supervision. The manager recognises and values the knowledge and skills that each member of the staff team bring to the pre-school. As a result, staff quickly settle in their role and form good relationships with children and parents.

Parents discuss how much they value the information that staff share with them. It helps parents to feel confident that their children are settling in well and enables them to support their children's learning at home.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Children play and learn in an environment that is safe and secure. The high ratio of staff to children helps to ensure that staff can always supervise children closely. Staff understand about how to keep children safe.

They recognise the signs and symptoms that children might be at risk of harm. Senior staff know about the relevant local child protection issues. Staff undertake extensive training to ensure they are aware of these issues and can identify any signs children are at risk outside of the pre-school setting.

The manager and area manager keep meticulous records and work collaboratively to share information with local safeguarding children partnerships. This helps to safeguard children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nexpand on the curriculum for the youngest children to support them to explore their natural sensory impulses, for example for mouthing items when exploring the world around them nadapt the physical environment to encourage children to have greater independence over meeting their personal needs, such as using the bathroom and washing their hands.

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