Pandora Pre School Playgroup

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children thoroughly enjoy their time in this stimulating learning environment. They are happy, settled and demonstrate a positive attitude to learning, which helps them to gain useful skills for their future learning, including school. The manager and staff set high expectations for individual children and provide a well-designed curriculum that meets all children's learning and developmental needs.

Staff offer a lot of one-to-one tailored support to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to help them make as good progress from their starting points as their peers. Staff enthusiastically support the... development of children's language and problem-solving skills. This was evident when children made play dough and were eager to add the ingredients and take turns to stir the mixture.

Staff introduced new words and early science concepts as they encouraged children to experiment and describe the textures. Children behave well and form positive relationships with staff and their peers. They are kind and respectful and play cooperatively together.

Children are becoming independent learners. They are encouraged to make choices about their play and carry out small tasks, such as setting the table for snack time and helping to tidy up the toys. Staff use good strategies to support children's early literacy and mathematical skills.

On arrival, children identify and place their name on the registration board. Older children use their phonic knowledge enthusiastically to sound out words, and they happily count objects and calculate during number songs.

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

Children benefit from a wide range of interesting and challenging activities, aimed at their different ages, interests and abilities.

For example, children used their imagination and creativity to paint bear masks and worked cooperatively to make a bear cave. Staff skilfully extended children's learning by asking them interesting questions about nature and animal habitats, to help increase their vocabulary.Staff support children's emotional development well.

They use various props, such as puppets, for children to talk to about their feelings and emotions. Staff sensitively give younger children important messages that reinforce and encourage positive behaviour. They continually provide children with meaningful praise.

This helps to raise children's confidence and self-esteem.Partnerships with parents are effective. Key persons work closely with parents and get to know their children well.

This enables children to settle quickly in their care. Staff observe children and plan for their learning well. They regularly exchange information with parents about their children's development and changing interests, to help parents support their children's learning at home.

Children's health is promoted well by staff. Children learn to wash their hands at appropriate times of the day and adopt good hygiene routines. They enjoy healthy snacks and learn to keep themselves safe.

Staff teach children road safety and the importance of a healthy balanced diet and regular exercise. Children also develop strong physical skills as they practise their small- and large-muscle movements indoors and outdoors.The manager ensures the pre-school is very inclusive.

Staff develop strategies to support children who are bilingual. They skilfully promote children's home language alongside English. Children have good opportunities to learn about the differences between themselves and others.

They enjoy regular walks in the local community and local parks, to gain an awareness of the world around them and learn to develop confidence in social situations.Staff have good training opportunities, overall, to develop their skills and knowledge. However, supervision and coaching arrangements are not rigorous enough to identify and focus professional development opportunities effectively on specific areas of practice that some staff need to develop.

The manager evaluates the provision well, overall. She considers the views of the local authority early years coordinator, and has addressed the recommendations made at the previous inspection. Staff now take every opportunity to extend children's thinking skills effectively.

Partnerships with other professionals are effective, and this helps to support children, including those with SEND. However, the manager does not include parents' views in her self-evaluation to aid further improvements.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff have robust systems in place for safeguarding children and carry out regular risk assessments to ensure children play in a safe environment. The manager makes use of rigorous recruitment and induction procedures to ensure the suitability of staff to work with children. All staff receive regular safeguarding and first-aid training.

They recognise the potential signs and symptoms that indicate that children may be at risk from harm, abuse or radicalisation. Staff know how to report a concern and are confident to follow the clear procedures to promote children's welfare.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen supervision processes to identify and support appropriate professional development opportunities, to help some staff to improve their teaching practice ninclude the views of parents in the self-evaluation process to precisely identify further areas to improve and raise outcomes for children.