Pip And Jim’s Pre School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children enjoy being at the pre-school. They form strong and beneficial relationships with their key person and the whole staff team.

This helps to foster children's well-being effectively.The manager has clear plans for the pre-school's curriculum and closely supports the staff team in implementing this. They offer a stimulating range of materials, inspiring children's curiosity and exploration.

Staff give children time to experiment. Children relish making and moulding dough and produce wonderful mixes and creations. For example, they use fresh mint to make their 'smelly snowman'.

Children very much benefit ...from the attentive support that staff offer them during their play. Staff promptly pick up and follow children's interests to progress their skills very well. For example, staff get out large cardboard boxes when children spontaneously focus on boats.

Staff and children have great fun sitting in their 'box boats' and even collect play food as a snack for their imaginary journey. Children are inspired to make marks and develop their dexterity well. They draw on the chalkboard outside with staff.

They giggle as they draw legs on a sausage to make a 'sausage dog'. Children make lines and staff add clouds to portray the rainy weather of the day.

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

Staff develop good partnership working.

They share information with parents through daily chats, entries in the pre-school's online system and during regular parents' meetings. They link closely with other settings that children attend, to ensure a consistent approach to the support children receive. They also have good links with local teachers to support children's move on to school.

Children develop a good sense of responsibility. Staff offer children clear explanations and prompt support to help them manage their emotions and take turns with resources. Children tidy away the toys and get their coats on to go outside.

Staff work with parents to celebrate children's achievements using the children's 'proud cloud', and help children build a positive attitude to developing their skills.Staff know children well. The team works together to observe children as they play.

Each child's key person tracks their achievements and undertakes regular assessments to help outline gaps in their development. The manager is working closely with staff to support and enhance these processes.The staff's 'morning welcome' introduces the children to the day well.

Children join in with the 'Hello' song and vote for their favourite fruit for snack. Occasionally, staff make last-minute changes to group activities, and this results in some children getting distracted, and they distract others. At other times, staff do not adapt their support to ensure the less confident and younger children are able to share their views during adult-led activities.

Outside, children build their physical skills well. They navigate obstacle courses and work together to challenge their skills with a skipping rope, travelling over and under this. They experiment with balls, exploring how these can travel; they enjoy using equipment to send them soaring in the air or catch them in a basket.

Children enjoy social mealtimes, sitting with their friends and staff, chatting happily. They have healthy fruit for their snack and pour their milk or water themselves. Staff work to develop children's understanding of healthy lifestyles.

They teach children how to care for their teeth, using a beneficial programme of practical activities created by the manager and her staff team and through links with local dentists.Parents, staff and committee members praise the work the manager does to lead the practice at the pre-school. She works with them all closely to continue to develop the provision.

She undertakes regular supervision meetings with staff. She has appropriately outlined aspects that individual staff and the team as a whole need to improve, and training has been undertaken. However, more support is needed to develop some staff skills further, ensuring they consistently plan suitable challenges for children so they make the best possible progress.

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: review and enhance the planning and support for group activities and extend children's confidence, involvement and learning further nincrease the outlined support for staff skills and help all staff more readily focus on and extend children's learning needs to higher levels.