Moorside Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children and their families receive a warm welcome from staff at this nurturing pre-school.

Children quickly become absorbed in their play, demonstrating that they feel safe and secure. Staff model good manners and treat each other with respect. In turn, children are kind and considerate to one another as they play.

Children develop a strong sense of self as staff teach them about what makes them unique. They talk to children about their facial, features as they look at themselves in mirrors. Children comment that their 'eyes are brown, and their eyelashes are long'.

Staff encourage children to look after thei...r own belongings and to manage their own self-care. Children identify their names on pegs and labels, as they hang up their coats and bags. They pour their own milk and spread butter on their crackers during snacktime.

This helps children develop their independence and prepares them for the routines of school.Children are inquisitive about the natural world and enjoy feeding birds in the woodland area, where staff take them. Children talk about the types of birds they might find and eagerly look for the robin they have seen previously.

Conkers and pine cones are excitedly explored, and children notice sudden changes in the weather. They are fascinated by the water that cascades down from the outdoor canopy roof when it rains heavily.

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

The manager has developed a curriculum approach, which is ambitious for all children.

Staff know what children can do and what they need to learn next. The learning environment is carefully planned to incite children's curiosity. Additional funding for children is used well to target their specific needs.

All children make good progress in relation to their individual starting points.Staff skilfully guide and support children during independent learning times. However, they do not fully consider the different levels of children's listening and attention skills during whole group learning sessions.

Some children become easily distracted and do not fully engage in group-learning sessions.Overall, staff support children's communication and language development well. They utilise a range of strategies to support children's understanding.

Staff introduce and model new words in relevant contexts and this helps to expand children's vocabulary. However, they do not consistently allow children enough time to respond to their questions or comments.Children curl up on the comfortable sofa to share books with each other and with staff.

They choose from a range of fiction and non-fiction texts, which reflect the diversity of the wider world. Staff teach children how to turn the pages and handle books with care. Children develop good literacy skills.

Opportunities to explore mathematical concepts feature in every area of the learning environment. For example, children use different sized spoons to weigh and measure porridge oats. They talk about the moon and star shapes they make with play dough, and recognise numerals displayed around the room.

This demonstrates their developing understanding of space, shape, and numbers.Physical development is supported well. Children develop their gross motor skills as they build and construct with large objects in the outdoor area.

They use tweezers to collect and sort pretend bugs, developing the fine muscles in their hands and fingers. As they sing nursery rhymes, children watch staff and join in with the actions. This helps to develop their hand-to-eye coordination.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well. Effective assessment processes ensure that staff swiftly identify children who need additional support. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to support the progress of children with SEND.

Parents are very complimentary about the pre-school. They say their children settle quickly, as staff visit them at home before they start to attend the pre-school. Parents are happy with the progress their children make.

They appreciate the information staff share with them to help them to support learning at home.Staff say they are happy in their roles and cherish the time they spend working with the children. The manager supports staff to access a range of training opportunities, and this helps to further improve the quality of teaching and learning.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff are deployed effectively to ensure that children are safe at all times. They demonstrate good knowledge of the signs and symptoms which could indicate a child is at risk of harm.

Staff have a secure understanding of all safeguarding issues, including radicalisation. They confidently know the procedures to follow if they have concerns about a child. The manager and committee implement robust recruitment and vetting procedures, to ensure the suitability of all staff who work with children.

Staff talk to children about how to recognise trusted adults, who are visiting the pre-school by the distinctive visitor lanyards that they wear. This helps children to learn about keeping themselves and others safe.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff to consider the learning needs of all children during group activities, so that all children develop good listening and attention skills nextend the time given to children to respond to questions, to support the development of communication and language skills.

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