Red Barn Community Preschool

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are very happy, settled and confident in this highly nurturing pre-school. The ambitious manager and staff get to know every child closely and focus heavily on supporting their individual interests and needs.

They provide an adventurous environment, both indoors and outside, and children busily explore the wide range of experiences on offer. Children are inquisitive, motivated and eager learners and quickly gain the skills needed for the next stage in their education.The pre-school is a very positive, inclusive and loving environment.

The special educational needs coordinator is extremely passionate, dedicated... and knowledgeable of the children she supports. Together with the staff team she identifies children who need additional support early. They work closely with outside professionals, such as speech and language therapists, and support children very well to catch up in their learning.

Overall, staff have high expectations for children and join in with their play very well to guide and extend their learning. However, some staff miss opportunities during their interactions to fully challenge children. Children show how secure they feel as they giggle, smile and joke with their friends and staff.

They confidently know how to use challenging climbing equipment safely outdoors. Some children are less secure in their understanding of certain safety rules indoors.

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

The manager is highly qualified, experienced and reflective.

She supports her staff very well and, as a team, they make continuous improvements to children's experiences. Professional development is given top priority and all staff benefit from a wide range of support and training to develop their practice. They have recently focused on children's emotions and have introduced new sensory toys and stories.

This is significantly helping children to identify and manage their own feelings.Staff assess children's development precisely and confidently know the progress they are making. They know what children need to learn next and provide an exciting, broad and engaging curriculum.

Children enjoy varied experiences, such as growing their own vegetables, observing and collecting tadpoles and exploring the inside of pumpkins. They discover, explore and engage well with all areas of learning.Staff support children's language and literacy skills particularly well and this is a strength of the setting.

They show a genuine interest in children's lives, consistently encourage exciting conversation and speak very clearly. Children develop a love of books and delight in discussing what might happen next. They eagerly take home book bags with their new favourites and parents are encouraged to support this further at home.

Staff develop strong and trusting bonds with children and act as positive and nurturing role models. Children learn to behave well and show good consideration for the needs and feelings of others. For example, they kindly pass each other modelling dough to make sure they have enough and enthusiastically praise each other's creations.

Although staff support children's behaviour well, they do not consistently stop children when they run indoors and teach them why this can be dangerous.Children thoroughly enjoy exploring the very well-resourced outdoor area. They show strong physical skills, balance and coordination as they ride scooters and use wheelbarrows to transport their toys.

Staff interact with children very well outside and children show strong motivation as they build sandcastles, sweep the floor and count pumpkin seeds.All staff are engaging teachers and respond well to children's ideas. They support children's early writing skills successfully and children are learning to recognise and write their name with support.

Children pay good attention to detail as they draw, paint, model and build, and staff support their creativity and imagination enthusiastically. At times, some staff do not make full use of their interactions with children to offer further challenge and extend their learning to the highest levels.Partnerships with parents and schools are excellent.

The manager has built strong links with the attached school and children benefit from thorough support to ease their move. For example, they attend 'transition Fridays' where they link up with Reception teachers and pupils to take part in fun activities to help school readiness. Parents are very appreciative of the dedicated staff and the high levels of support they receive.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff regularly update their safeguarding knowledge through training, discussion and staff meetings. They know the signs to look out for that children's welfare may be at risk from abuse, including neglect and extreme views.

Staff know who to contact should they have a concern and understand the importance of working together to monitor attendance and changes of behaviour. They vigilantly provide a safe and secure environment for all children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: make the most of all staff interactions with children to offer further challenge where appropriate and extend children's learning fully noffer more consistent support for children to help them fully understand why safety rules, such as walking indoors, are important.

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