Horns Drove Community Pre-School and R.A.S.C.A.L.S

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy, safe and confident at pre-school. They benefit from a well-thought-out, language rich and calm environment.

Staff help children to be fluent speakers due to implementing a clear, focused curriculum.Children's behaviour is good and they demonstrate care and compassion for themselves and others. For example, when young children come in from outside play, older children offer comfort and check on their well-being.

They warm them up by rubbing their backs or offering them some gloves. Staff act as wonderful role models and are are clear and consistent in the messages given to children about the high sta...ndards and expectations required of them. Children show that they are being supported to develop good resilience.

They persevere at activities and problem-solve creatively to extend their knowledge and understanding of the world. For example, children remain engaged and engrossed in outdoor play during the task of melting ice. They use their previous knowledge to first try using warm water to melt the ice and, when this is not successful, they suggest moving the ice block into the sunshine.

Staff know children well and plan in partnership with parents and other professionals to support all children, but especially the most disadvantaged and vulnerable, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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

Since the last inspection, the managers and staff have made significant improvements in the planning and delivery of the curriculum. This has been helped by the reorganisation of the learning environment.

As such, children independently and confidently access a broad and balanced range of activities and learning experiences.Children's behaviour is good. They understand the rules and boundaries of the setting and these are continuously supported by staff.

Children play alongside one another in harmony and the setting is calm. There is lots of wonderful language and learning taking place. For example, children playing with small-world resources talk about the 'aquarium' that they have built and the 'wibbly, wobbly, curvy' track that surrounds it.

They use their manners and say 'excuse me' when trying to negotiate around their friends.Overall, children try hard to problem-solve in their play. However, at times, staff intervene too soon to avoid minor disputes or set backs, which would allow children to practise their developing self-control and self-management skills.

This impacts on their personal development.Staff benefit from regular supervision and are provided with clear, accurate feedback on how to continuously improve their practice and raise the quality of teaching within the setting.Leaders and managers have provided a comprehensive package of support, coaching and mentoring to staff to improve practice, skills and confidence in supporting children with SEND.

Children with SEND are supported well and participate fully in this inclusive setting.Managers and staff work with parents and wider professionals to support children with additional needs and share effective tools and strategies for home and the setting. For example, booklets are made for parents to share at home with their children to help to prepare children who struggle with transitions.

This helps children to begin to adjust to significant changes to the environment.Parents praise the setting for the partnership working, and its open and welcoming approach to dealing with worries or concerns that they may have. Parents are pleased with the communication systems in place for sharing information regarding their children's learning and development, and say that they are completely confident that their children are happy, safe and secure at pre-school.

All children make good progress at the setting. However, staff are not fully effective at ensuring that planning has even more challenge and is more ambitious for children who are already doing very well, such as in relation to communication, language and mathematics.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and managers ensure that staff receive appropriate training, support and supervision in order to fully understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding. All staff are clear on the signs and indicators of abuse and are secure in the procedures for recording and reporting any concerns. There are effective systems in place for monitoring children's absence, and these are recorded and reported appropriately to track for trends or highlight that further support or a referral to statutory partners is required.

Staff make good use of risk assessments, and these are shared with children to support their understanding of how to keep themselves and others safe. Parents feel that children are safe as a result of improved behaviour management practices within the setting.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: develop consistency across the staffing team to ensure that children are supported to do things for themselves, including providing more opportunities for children to practise ways to manage their own conflicts and set backs review the planning and support in place for the most-able children across all areas of their learning and development.

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