Guildhall Feoffment Preschool And Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The manager has high expectations of her staff team.

She aspires for every child to be the best they can be. Staff place the utmost priority on children being confident, independent and ready for the next stage of their education. This is reflected in the high levels of self-assurance demonstrated by children from a young age.

The relationships developed with parents are a key strength of the setting and contribute successfully to creating a shared approach to support children's learning. The manager makes good use of additional funding to help promote children's future learning. For example, the setting employs a spee...ch and language therapist to support children with language delay.

Children develop good literacy skills. They have many interesting opportunities to make marks and practise their early writing skills. Children enjoy listening to their favourite stories.

Overall, staff make good use of this interest in books to capture children's imagination and encourage them to join in and predict what will happen next. Staff allow children the freedom to take appropriate risks. Children delight in demonstrating their balancing skills or trying to jump the furthest.

They are very independent and staff give them time and encouragement to help them learn to persevere with difficult tasks.

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

The manager ensures staff recognise the important role good language skills plays in children's future learning. Staff get down to children's level and ask age-appropriate questions while introducing new words to extend their vocabulary.

Some children are extremely articulate for their age, such as in the way they form sentences. There are many meaningful strategies and technologies in place to support children who speak English as an additional language. For example, staff create 'Talking Albums' with family members so that children can listen to key phrases in English, followed by the translation in their home language, at the push of a button.

Children quickly develop close attachments to their key person. Staff are caring and attentive to children's needs. The youngest children are cared for in a smaller room with a cosy family feel.

The high expectations of staff and effective room layout help to encourage the high levels of independence in their personal care shown by some children in this room.Staff work closely with parents to find out about children's previous experiences, interests and capabilities. Staff use this information effectively to build on what children already know to broaden their understanding and promote their good progress.

They engage parents well in their children's learning and provide meaningful help and guidance to support their learning at home. Parents are highly complimentary. They particularly praise the excellent communication and the 'attention to detail shown by staff'.

Children play together happily, sharing ideas and working out how to solve simple problems. Staff give them time to figure things out for themselves without stepping in too soon. Children in the pre-school room understand how to take turns with popular resources, such as the ride-on toys.

Staff skilfully help them to learn about the impact of their actions on others. Children remind each other of the rules and understand the concept of fairness.The manager has introduced many strategies to help raise the quality of staff skills throughout the setting to a consistently higher level, although the impact of this is not yet seen throughout all aspects of practice.

The teaching of senior staff is of the highest level and their skilful interactions excite and engage children's imaginations. However, some staff do not adapt their teaching skills to respond swiftly to different situations to ensure each child is benefiting fully from the experiences available.The setting employs a cook to prepare nutritious home-cooked meals each day.

Children tuck in with gusto while learning good table manners. Staff organise mealtimes effectively to help children learn about portion sizes and healthy options. Children confidently follow well-established routines, such as collecting their own cup and plate and then scraping their dishes when finished.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have of good knowledge of the of the signs and symptoms that indicate a child may be at risk of harm. They are confident about their responsibilities to protect children and the action to take to promote their safety.

As part of their induction process, all staff attend safeguarding training and the manager regularly tests their knowledge to check it is up to date. Thorough recruitment procedures are followed to help ensure staff are safe and 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: help all staff develop the skills necessary to sustain the highest levels of concentration and involvement from each child.