Old Catton Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children engage positively and enthusiastically throughout their day and are eager to learn.

They play cooperatively with their peers, building on each other's ideas. Staff encourage children's play and learning. For example, they help children to extend their role play as they help them to move a 'cooker' to allow children to pretend to 'cook' their food inspired dough creations.

Staff introduce new information to children and help them to make links in their learning. For example, they teach them the names of polar animals as they play and share books with them. This enhances children's knowledge.

Children s...ettle very well. They become familiar with the clear and consistent rules and routines. Children remind each other of the rules such as changing their shoes when they come indoors.

Staff encourage children to behave considerately towards others. They teach sharing and turn taking, and remind children to use their walking feet and quieter voices when indoors. This creates a calm and happy atmosphere where children feel safe to explore, learn and play.

Children's physical development and ability to tend to their personal needs is supported extremely well by staff. This close support staff give children encourages them to make strong progress in developing their self-care abilities, including managing their toileting needs and changing their clothes.

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

Those with oversight of the pre-school understand their roles and responsibilities.

They work closely with the staff to ensure that good standards are achieved and the provision continues to develop. For example, they have developed a sensory room for children to explore. Staff receive good guidance and support for enhancing their knowledge, skills and practice.

Staff focus well on helping children to gain the communication and skills they need to succeed in their future learning. They use effective techniques to help children to learn how to listen and pay attention. Children benefit from lots of conversation, singing and sharing of stories, which helps to develop their understanding of language and extend their vocabulary.

Staff use small-group activities to help children who are still developing their communication skills to practise them in a quiet and distraction-free space. These sessions are very well delivered and the children thoroughly enjoy them. This helps to reduce any gaps in their learning.

Staff complete regular professional development. This has a positive effect on what they provide and helps to develop their practice over time, leading to enhancements to the curriculum and teaching.Leaders and staff work to ensure that children are well-prepared for starting at the pre-school.

They visit children at home. This helps staff and children to start to get to know each other and helps children to settle well when they first attend.Staff appreciate children's different personalities and work to understand and value their home cultures, including finding ways to value the languages children hear at home.

However, sometimes the opportunities to help all children to begin to recognise and value the similarities and differences between themselves and others are incidental. They are not always intentionally considered as part of the challenging and varied curriculum.Parents are very positive about the pre-school.

They value the good communication from managers and the time taken to support their individual children to enjoy and achieve. They comment on how well staff know their children and how their children look forward to attending.Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to ensure that they have clear plans in place for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to support their well-being and learning.

When some children are reluctant to join in with a specific adult-led activity, such as whole group time, staff closely encourage and support them, including finding ways for them to continue their learning in another way.Children have lots of opportunities to be active to support them to develop their strength and physical skills. For example, they join in with a children's yoga session led by staff, as well as having lots of time to play actively in the well-designed outdoor area.

Children have opportunities to learn some new information about mathematics, such as matching and recognising numerals, or counting objects with staff. However, the underlying mathematics curriculum is not well-defined and learning opportunities about mathematics are not always clearly planned. Consequently, children do not show high levels of confidence during play that involves shape, measure and number.

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: nenhance the planning for children to learn about the differences and similarities between their own lives and the lives of others support staff to strengthen their knowledge and skills in delivering a more clearly defined and sequenced mathematics curriculum to help children become more confident in their skills.

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