Newton Solney Pre School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive eager to start their day in this inviting and stimulating pre-school environment. They receive a warm welcome from the kind and attentive staff. Children hang up their belongings on their own named peg and find their name on the self-registration board.

Staff praise children for their amazing creations, for example when they bring in their own mini garden for a local gardening competition. They acknowledge children's achievements, helping children to feel valued and supporting their emotional well-being.Staff teach children how to keep themselves safe using different tools.

This results in children comp...etently using scissors, tape dispensers and a wide range of craft materials. When children finish their artwork, they take it to their own named clipboard on the wall. Children are proud of what they create, and they comment kindly on other people's work.

As a result, children remain highly engaged and behave well together.Children relish their time in the outdoor area. Staff support them to take and manage risks that are appropriate for their age and stage of development.

For example, children are confident in their abilities as they pedal tricycles and navigate themselves safely around the play area. They balance and jump, showing good strength and coordination in their bodies.

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

Staff gather detailed information from parents when children first start at the pre-school.

This helps them to understand each child's interests, home background and starting points. As a result, the manager and staff have planned an effective curriculum that builds on children's knowledge and skills and clearly identifies next steps for learning.Staff engage well with children, asking questions and initiating conversation to support language development.

Staff help children to learn action songs and rhymes. Children develop their listening and attention skills as they excitedly join in with these familiar songs and actions.Staff enthusiastically read stories and ask children to predict what might happen next, to develop children's literacy skills.

Children know that the writer of the book is an author and the person drawing the pictures is an illustrator. However, at times, staff do not always notice and include quieter children during group activities. Consequently, not all children are supported to fully engage in the learning opportunity.

Staff use the curriculum well to build up children's writing skills. The environment is well equipped with pencils, crayons and chalks, and staff regularly support younger children in making marks and recognising their meaning. Staff encourage the older children to write their own name on the Father's Day cards that they have made.

They write their names with recognisable letters.Staff weave mathematical concepts through children's play and during routines. For example, staff model mathematical language, such as 'shorter' and 'longer', as they encourage children to compare the size of objects.

Staff invite children to count each other at circle time or count how many bricks make up their tower.Opportunities to enhance children's growing independence are well planned. For example, staff show younger children how to put one shoe on and then ask them to try and put their other shoe on.

They encourage children to keep going and celebrate with them when they succeed, building on their self-belief. Older children are confident to put on their own coats and shoes. They use the toilet independently and wash and dry their hands.

They pour their own drinks and wash and dry their own tableware at snack time.Staff join in with children as they play dentists. They talk together about the importance of oral hygiene.

Staff model how to brush teeth round and round and from top to bottom. This supports children to adopt a healthy lifestyle and to develop positive attitudes for the future. Children also develop the small muscles in their hands during this activity as they squeeze toothpaste onto the toothbrush and clean the toy teeth.

Staff speak positively about how the manager supports their well-being and how they are a close-knit team. The manager regularly observes staff practice and uses supervisions to discuss training opportunities. However, supervisions do not always focus sharply enough on what individual staff need to do to build on their skills and knowledge to improve outcomes for children.

Partnerships with parents are very strong, and parents report that their children are happy and well cared for. They state that staff are good at sharing information and keeping them informed about their children's progress. Parents are made to feel very welcome and say that the pre-school is a real community.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen supervision arrangements to support staff's professional development to further improve outcomes for all children nimprove how staff include quieter and less-confident children in group activities so that they benefit from the intended learning.

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