Hallow CE Primary School Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and confident when they attend this setting. They giggle with delight as they play games outdoors, such as hide and seek with their friends. Children lead their own learning, and skilful staff extend their knowledge from what children show them.

For example, when children make a butterfly out of clay and leaves, staff talk to the children about what they have made. They lead this into a discussion about the life cycle of the butterfly.Staff support children to be independent thinkers and learners.

They encourage children to choose the toys they want to play with and what fruit they want for snack. St...aff encourage children to think what ingredient comes next when making play dough. Children use mathematical language, such as 'more' or 'less'.

They carefully use the tools and scoop out the correct ingredients.Children behave well. They work together to overcome conflict when sharing their toys.

They learn about their own behaviours and how these can make others feel. This helps them to build empathy. Children are confident and follow the rules to keep themselves safe as they enjoy more adventurous play, such as climbing over logs and using the tree swing in the wooden area.

Children develop languageskills when they sit and enjoy stories together. They repeat familiar phrases from the books they know.

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

The early years lead has a good understanding of the intent for the curriculum.

Staff provide children with a range of interesting experiences, indoors and outdoors, that cover the seven areas of learning well. They support children's learning well and give them experiences that help to provide secure foundations for their future learning.Staff make good use of assessments.

They ensure all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make rapid progress in their development. The special educational needs coordinator works closely with other professionals to ensure children with SEND plans are successful in their learning and development.Leaders have reflected effectively on their self-evaluation and have identified areas for improvement.

They have a clear plan to drive the pre-school forward. Leaders work in partnership with the local authority to develop a wider view of how they can continue to raise the quality of the provision.Children are well supported with the transition to school, to ensure they are ready for the next stage in their development.

They have many opportunities to visit the school to help them to settle. Staff and teachers work in partnership to ensure children are well supported as they continue to make progress in their development before they move on to school.Parents speak positively of the relationships the children have with the staff.

Staff share regular updates with parents about their children's progress. They encourage parents to discuss their children's achievements at home. Staff welcome parents' involvement in the pre-school.

During a recent external trip, parents volunteered to support the children and join in with the experience.Staff attend regular meetings to discuss improvements in the pre-school. They have some opportunities to attend training to build on their knowledge.

Staff say they feel supported with their well-being. Leaders are approachable when they have concerns they wish to share. However, leaders do not use staff supervisions as well as possible, to coach, mentor and support staff fully with their practice and professional development.

Staff provide children with good opportunities to develop an awareness of diversity and their wider community. Children explore a range of activities that help them learn about other cultures and festivals other than their own. They enjoyed a recent visit to the farm, where they learned about life cycles and how to care for animals.

This helps children to learn about the world around them.Children are generally settled. Most of the time they transition well to the next part of the day.

At times, staff do not successfully prepare all children to move on to the next activity or routine of the day. There are occasions when some children become slightly upset because they are not ready to move on.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The designated safeguarding leads and staff have a strong understanding of how to keep children safe from harm. They recognise the possible signs of abuse that may put children at risk, including the 'Prevent' duty and county lines. Staff remind children how to keep themselves safe when they visit forest school and use the different equipment on offer.

For example, when children use the binoculars, staff remind them how to wear them safely around their neck to ensure they do not hurt themselves. The setting has a robust safer recruitment process in place to ensure all staff are suitably vetted.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen further the system for staff supervisions to recognise the already good practice and continue to coach and build on their professional development review and refine how transitions are managed throughout the day to ensure all children are fully supported to manage a change in activity.

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