Nassington Pre School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and safe. They thrive in this highly welcoming and nurturing environment.

Children receive a warm welcome from staff as they enter the pre-school and seek out their friends. They form close attachments to staff and soon develop a sense of belonging. Children are supported equally to follow their interests and build on what they already know and can do.

Staff are skilled at working closely with parents to help children settle with ease. This supports their individual needs effectively. Children's emotional security and overall well-being receive a high priority from staff.

They benefit from r...egular praise, encouragement and recognition for their efforts and achievements. For example, children are presented with a hygiene certificate for being successful in achieving hygiene routines at home. Staff have high expectations for all children to achieve well.

Activities are appealing and challenging. All children behave very well and show good self-esteem. They are developing as confident speakers and inquisitive learners.

Children are curious and enjoy investigating the very good range of natural resources and activities on offer. They make regular visits into the local community. For example, they visit the village shop and buy ingredients for baking.

Children learn to use money and become familiar with people who work there. Staff use these opportunities to teach children about safely crossing the road and to be aware of their surroundings.

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

The manager, trustees and staff work well together as a team.

They are passionate about providing children with high levels of care and good-quality education. Leaders have a clear vision for the future of the pre-school and are ambitious for all children to achieve well. The manager and staff have developed an exciting and stimulating programme of learning which is based on children's interests.

Staff complete regular observations and assessments of children's development. They have a clear picture of individual children's progress. This helps them to establish what children need to learn next.

Staff enrich children's interests and experiences. They provide opportunities for children to learn from professional people and learn about things that may not be familiar to them. For example, a child showed an interest in paintings he had seen.

A local artist was invited to work alongside the children. He taught them how to use and blend colours to create different effects. Children painted a farm scene and this helped to ignite their creative imaginations.

Staff support children's literacy skills well. They read with enthusiasm and involve children in telling a story. For example, children 'read' the pictures and talk about what happens next.

Staff introduce words, ask questions, and act as good role models for communication.Staff provide a good balance of adult-led and child-led activities. They interact well with children as they join them in their play and make learning enjoyable.

Children enjoy discovering things for themselves and leading their own play. However, on occasions, staff miss opportunities to build on children's interests further, and to fully extend their language and thinking skills.Staff promote learning in different ways.

They receive regular requests for popular songs that include rhymes and numbers. They provide children with good opportunities to make marks and to draw and write. Older children learn to write their name and do this with skill and increasing accuracy.

This helps them to prepare well for their move on to school.Staff plan plenty of opportunities for children to be physically active outdoors. Children ride bicycles and run.

They balance on low-level wooden walkways which they have constructed themselves. This helps them to develop their large-muscle skills.Staff consistently promote positive behaviour.

They provide children with gentle reminders to share resources and take turns in their play. Children show good manners and are polite and considerate towards the needs of others.Staff encourage children to be resilient and independent.

For example, they give children responsibility to prepare the tables for lunch. Children pour their own drinks and put on their coats and boots to play outdoors. All children show high levels of confidence to engage with adults who visit the pre-school.

The manager and chairperson of the trustees take an active role in evaluating the setting. They observe staff practice and offer feedback and guidance during regular supervision meetings.Staff enjoy their work and are given time out of sessions to complete progress records.

They attend a good range of training opportunities and share their learning with colleagues. This has a positive impact on children's learning.Parents speak highly of the pre-school.

They place a high value on the good range of information they receive and the regular updates on their children's progress.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff team understand how to identify signs and symptoms that could indicate a child is at risk of harm.

They clearly understand how to report any concerns about a child's welfare or the behaviour of an adult. They have a broad understanding of wider safeguarding issues and how to identify and report any concerns. Robust recruitment procedures ensure that all staff are suitable.

Thorough induction and ongoing support from the manager help to ensure staff remain alert to their responsibility to keep children safe. Staff deploy themselves well and are vigilant in their supervision of children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: provide more support and guidance for staff to extend children's language and thinking as fully as possible during activities.