Footsteps Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children settle quickly at this inclusive and welcoming pre-school.

They are warmly greeted by the friendly and caring staff team. Staff reassure and encourage children to play and explore when they arrive. Outdoors, children confidently explore the wormery and share their thoughts about composting.

They enjoy the environment and are eager to join in with the group activity involving play dough. Children remain engaged for good periods of time with activities on offer. Staff know children very well and are able to provide additional support at specific times, when children need it.

As a result, the key-person ...approach is well embedded, and children show that they feel secure.Children's behaviour is good. The atmosphere in the pre-school is exceptionally calm.

Mixed ages of children keenly play and learn alongside one another. Children consistently show positive behaviour. They follow routines with great eagerness and use good manners.

Staff are strong role models, who are kind and caring in their approach. Staff work very well as a team and routines are seamless. Children know exactly what is expected of them and treat each other with respect and courtesy.

For example, children offer to help their friends out during play, where they see there is something that they can do to help. Children are polite and caring. They show concern for one another and confidently and politely ask for help when needed.

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

Children experience good support to develop their communication and language. Staff help engage children in a range of different conversations to support their skills. For example, children talk about the colours of the cups and plates available for snack time.

They learn about matching the plates and cups. To complement children's language development, staff send home a soft toy to encourage child and parent interactions. Children are growing into confident communicators.

Staff know children well because they effectively observe children to assess their development. Staff know how to promote children's learning through play. They have plans in place for children's next steps in learning.

However, occasionally, staff do not actively promote children's critical-thinking skills, when they implement the curriculum to further boost their knowledge.Staff support children's mathematical development well. During activities, children learn how to count, recognise shapes and use mathematics purposefully in their play.

For instance, staff support children to count the toy cars in order and to recognise shapes in the 'Rangoli' patterns Staff plan a curriculum led by children's interests. However, staff do not currently consider how to use opportunities to support children's understanding of technology and online safety, and to promote positive attitudes towards screen time.Parents speak positively about the pre-school.

They praise staff's good communication and feel that children develop high levels of confidence. Regular exchanges of information between staff, parents and carers support children in settling in. Parents speak positively about the setting, saying that they feel staff are kind and caring.

Children say that 'Footsteps is fun'.The methods staff use to communicate with parents are not always effective for all families. This is because they do not always consider how to support all parents to fully understand what it is their children are learning next.

Consequently, some children do not benefit from opportunities to continue their good learning at home with their parents Staff work very well with other professionals, and this is a key strength of this pre-school. They share appropriate information to promote children's welfare and development and enable their families to receive pertinent support. This particularly supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to make good progress.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff understand their role in contributing to children's safety. For example, they conduct risk assessment of the building facilities and have procedures in place to keep children safe.

The manager ensures that all staff regularly refresh their knowledge and maintain an up-to-date understanding of safeguarding. They know how to recognise possible signs of abuse or neglect in children and understand how to report any concerns to the relevant professional. Staff are clear about how to report any concerns or allegations against other staff members.

Staff are deployed well across the pre-school. Robust recruitment procedures are in place to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff to deliver the curriculum more effectively during group activities, to provide children with consistently appropriate levels of challenge nenhance the curriculum to help include opportunities for supporting children's understanding of online safety strengthen the already good partnerships with parents to support and guide children's individual learning at home.