Hilltop Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children form strong relationships with friendly and approachable staff. They enter the pre-school happily, placing their belongings on their named peg.

They gain independence as they take off their coats to hang them up and persevere in tasks, such as putting their gloves in their bag.The curriculum is well designed to help children develop their language skills, in particular those learning English as an additional language and those with speech delay. For example, children keenly talk about their drawings, naming the different parts of their robot.

They confidently talk about the dough shapes they have made and demo...nstrate how to use the various tools. They make connections with their ideas. For example, when they create spiders, they talk about how their mummy is scared of spiders but that they are not.

Older children listen to instructions and specific vocabulary given by staff well. They match the 'pilot' to the 'rivet' successfully and continue to develop their imaginative story telling.Children behave well overall.

They are clear on expectations and receive good support to help them when they get frustrated. There is a strong focus on supporting children's emotional health following the pandemic. Children thoroughly enjoy stories that help them name their emotions and express how they feel.

Children do this with confidence and show resilience when things around them are changing beyond their control.

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

Staff plan the curriculum effectively. They have good knowledge of children's starting points from parents and make regular observations to help children progress.

Staff have high expectations for children. They embed the 'hopes and dreams tree' into all that they do to help prepare children for school. There is good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Staff identify any gaps in learning and devise support plans with parents and other professionals to help children catch up.Staff organise space well to provide children with a broad range of experiences across the curriculum. There is a strong focus on supporting children's literacy and language skills, particularly through poetry and familiar stories.

Children, including those who are learning English as an additional language and those with speech and language concerns, keenly recite poems and follow actions with enthusiasm. Children confidently ask for their favourite ones from the poetry basket. Children are familiar with daily opportunities to support them to hear and say letters.

They engage enthusiastically in 'silly soup' and are supported well to build on previous learning and recall what they know.On occasion, staff do not fully support children as they move to new activities.For example, as children line up to wash their hands, there is little interaction from staff.

This leads to some children exploring the paint, noise levels increasing and children becoming disengaged from their learning. Staff do not plan small group times as well as possible to ensure there is minimal disruption as children move to outdoor play.Staff are highly respectful of children's ideas and encourage their learning.

Children decide to extend their ball play and request a goal. They kick and aim well, developing good physical skills. Children are consistently praised for their attempts and their achievements celebrated.

Children are animated, jumping up and down, saying, 'I made it', after watching and learning from their friends.There are effective care practices that help children learn about keeping healthy. Children understand expectations.

For example, they know to wash their hands when they arrive at pre-school and how this keeps the germs outside. Children learn about healthy eating as they explore whole fruits and cut them. They talk about what the hungry caterpillar eats and which items are good for them.

There are effective partnerships with parents. Parents feel they are well informed about their child's day and their learning. Staff effectively support children to continue learning at home, such as reciting poetry.

The manager and staff are supported well by a dedicated chairperson on the committee. She has a good overview of what is going well in the pre-school. There are regular opportunities for staff to meet and talk about the children in their care.

They reflect on their practice well overall. However, there has been less focus recently to provide staff with effective professional development to ensure there is consistency in the quality of teaching.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff implement effective procedures to ensure that children are collected by known and authorised adults. Staff monitor children's attendance effectively and promptly follow up on any absences. They know their families well and can provide additional support if needed.

Staff have good knowledge of the possible indicators that a child is at risk of harm. They have good knowledge of the procedures to follow and who to take their concerns to. The knowledgeable designated safeguarding lead works closely with other agencies to ensure all information is shared regularly.

This helps to ensure that children's needs are met extremely well. There are effective recruitment and induction arrangements to ensure staff are suitable for their role.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nimprove arrangements to provide consistent support, coaching and training to raise the quality of teaching develop further arrangements as children move in between activities to enable them to remain focused on their learning.

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