Lavington Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children beam with excitement as they enter the pre-school. They identify their names on cards and use these to self-register as they arrive.

Children quickly immerse themselves in the stimulating indoor and outdoor environments. Staff provide children with a safe and caring environment for them to learn and grow. They continuously give children praise for their individual achievements, which enhances children's sense of belonging and promotes their self-esteem.

Children have developed positive relationships with staff and other children at the setting, and they enthusiastically engage in meaningful conversations to sh...are their experiences. Children's behaviour is good. Staff work closely with families to support children to settle quickly into their care.

As a result, children feel safe and secure at the setting. Staff plan a broad range of excellent experiences which significantly enhance children's learning and development. For example, the manager has developed superb links with the local residential home where children regularly visit and share their learning with those of a different generation.

Visitors from the community will often come in and talk to the children about different topics. For instance, the local vicar comes in to read stories to the children during the year, such as at Christmas and Easter.

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

Staff provide children with superb opportunities to develop their understanding of different emotions.

Children independently use the mirrors to copy the different facial expression cards that are on display. They talk to each other about why they may feel that particular emotion. Staff provide children with strategies to help them to express how they feel.

For example, children use cardboard cut-out body templates to draw how they may be feeling.Children benefit from an excellent outdoor space which enables them to develop very good physical skills. They use the outdoor resources to climb, stretch and jump to develop their balance and coordination.

They show motivation as they dig in the sandpit to fill up their buckets to make sandcastles. Children test out their ideas as they fill various containers with water. They work together to pour all the water down the guttering tubes and use the containers to collect it at the bottom.

Staff have high expectations for all children. They know the children well. They use effective monitoring and assessments to identify what children need to learn next.

Children revel in the opportunities available to them in the environment. However, group times are not as effective as they could be. During these times, staff do not adapt teaching as well as they could to further support children's individual next steps and maximise their learning.

Children develop an exceptional knowledge and understanding of how to keep themselves healthy. Staff provide activities that support very good hygiene practices. For example, children show care and consideration as they wash the plastic dolls in soapy water.

They use toothbrushes to make sure that the dolls' teeth are clean. Children talk to each other about why exercise and eating healthy food are important. They say that 'running and eating fruit will make my bones big and strong.'

Children are extremely independent with their personal care. They wash their hands after sneezing and coughing to reduce the risk of cross infection.Partnerships with parents and other professionals are highly effective.

Parents describe the setting as 'amazing' and comment on the range of exciting activities on offer. Staff establish very good links with local schools to ensure children's continuity of care and learning is strong.Children are extremely keen to play and explore.

They are very confident learners. For example, they show excitement as they look at the atlas and work together to design treasure maps to bury their gold. They show excellent determination and perseverance with activities.

For instance, younger children demonstrate high levels of concentration as they roll different pieces of play dough together to create snowmen. They carefully place various natural resources onto their models to represent the snowman's features, such as his eyes, hat and scarf. Although children show very good engagement most of the time, the structure of the session can sometimes interrupt their self-chosen learning.

Therefore, at times, children become disengaged and lose focus.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.All staff have a secure knowledge of the procedures to follow to protect children's welfare.

They have a good understanding of child protection policies and procedures, including wider safeguarding concerns. Staff receive regular training to ensure that their safeguarding knowledge is up to date. Managers use risk assessment effectively to ensure that children's safety remains a high priority.

Managers have robust recruitment procedures and ongoing checks to help ensure the suitability of staff. New staff receive a clear induction before they start to enable them to fully understand their roles and responsibilities.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: continue to raise the quality of teaching during adult-led activities so that staff adapt their teaching more effectively to further support children's individual next steps and maximise their learning to the highest level review the structure of the session to minimise interruptions and to better support children's engagement and focus in activities.

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