Holyport Pre-school

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive happily, and staff greet them warmly with a smile and a chance to talk about how they are. Children settle quickly into the pre-school routine and find an activity that interests them. The environment is well organised and child-oriented, enabling children to be independent and make choices in their play and learning.

All children develop secure relationships with their peers and the staff. They are confident in approaching staff to ask for help. Children play well together or alongside their peers, according to their preferences and stage of development.

Staff have high expectations for all children's ...involvement in pre-school life, including the most vulnerable and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children demonstrate strong attitudes to learning. They engage in play and activities and are willing to try new things.

Children are able to think for themselves and follow their own ideas, such as choosing to draw around a plastic spoon in the creative area. Staff scaffold children's ideas, suggesting this could be a person, and children excitedly create their own interpretation of this. Children are polite; they spontaneously say, 'Excuse me,' to gain staff members' attention.

They learn the expectations and behave well. Staff gently reinforce expected behaviours when children argue over resources. They learn to resolve conflicts, share and take turns.

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

Leaders and staff have ensured that effective improvements have been made since the last inspection to improve the quality of the provision for children. All previous actions have been suitably addressed. The provider completes robust checks on the staff team to assess their ongoing suitability.

However, they have failed to provide Ofsted with the required documentation to assess the suitability of all members of the committee.Children develop a love of books and reading, and they have daily exposure to different types of books. Children use non-fiction books to find facts and research information, for example an atlas and books about dinosaurs.

They also ask staff to read their favourite stories and repeat back familiar words and phrases. Some children are beginning to recognise written words, such as their own names and those of their friends. A few children can spell their names out loud; however, they do this with the letter name and not the phonetic sound, which does not fully support appropriate early literacy skills.

Leaders and staff have a clear and ambitious curriculum for all children, covering all areas of learning and considering children with SEND. Staff use this as a basis to set up different areas and activities around the pre-school. They base these on themes, children's interests and what they need to learn next.

This ensures that all children make good progress in their learning from their individual starting points.Staff engage in activities with children, asking questions and giving suggestions to extend their learning. Children are confident in sharing their thoughts and ideas and problem-solving.

For example, they work out how to balance bean bags on different parts of their bodies and try different methods until they are successful.Communication and language are particular strengths in the pre-school. Staff offer strong support to children.

They understand their differing developmental stages and model language accordingly. Children copy new words and learn new vocabulary, such as 'delicious', when describing cakes they have made in the sand. Staff also encourage children to use signs and gestures to express their needs and wishes when they are not yet able to verbalise them.

Parents say they are very happy with the care provided by the pre-school. Staff work closely with parents to understand children's starting points and any gaps in learning or additional needs. They carefully plan for individual children and consider what they need to learn next.

However, they do not always use ongoing discussions with parents effectively to fully understand when other agencies are involved in working with children. This does not promote a consistent approach to supporting children's ongoing development.Staff have access to appropriate training to help them develop in their roles.

For example, they have been focusing on 2-year-olds. This is to ensure the curriculum is accessible to the youngest children and activities are simplified or extended as required to meet their individual needs.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff and the designated safeguarding leads complete appropriate and regular safeguarding training. They all understand their roles and responsibilities to keep children safe. Staff demonstrate appropriate safeguarding knowledge, recognising possible signs and symptoms that a child is at risk of harm.

This includes wider safeguarding issues, such as radicalisation and extremism. Staff understand how to escalate concerns and make referrals for children or if they are concerned about a fellow staff member. Leaders and staff complete effective risk assessments to ensure children have access to a safe and secure environment.

Robust recruitment procedures ensure that those caring for children are suitable to do so.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage and Childcare Register the provider must: Due date ensure that Ofsted is provided with relevant information so that vetting processes can be completed for all committee members to ensure their suitability.31/05/2023 To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: develop further the partnership working so that parents and staff benefit from consistent opportunities for two-way discussions about the children and share information about children's special educational needs support staff to ensure teaching is consistently precise and matched to current practice, with particular regard to the use and teaching of phonetic sounds.