Stanground St. John’s Pre-school

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Children eagerly arrive at the pre-school.

They demonstrate that they feel very safe in the care of the staff. Children grow in confidence and independence, which enables them to flourish. They eagerly explore the high-quality indoor and outdoor environments with curiosity, and use materials in creative, imaginative ways.

For example, children delight in making 'potions', using different scented teas, rose petals and water. Younger children become totally engrossed as they mould and manipulate dough, which effectively supports their developing small-muscle strength. Older children demonstrate great precision as ...they carefully place natural materials, such as rosemary and leaves, into their dough creations and use their language to express their ideas.

They show great pride in their achievements and eagerly show staff.Children enthusiastically chalk around staff and their peers, and confidently describe what features they need to add to their face and bodies. They enjoy painting activities, demonstrating growing precision as they handle the paint brushes.

Older children successfully form recognisable letters and can write their names. They read individual letters by saying the sounds of them. Older children confidently count in sequence and recognise the correct number of objects.

Children eagerly solve problems as they build wooden towers, balancing beams and chutes for the balls to roll down. They show great persistence and try again if their constructions are not initially successful.

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

Management and staff are extremely skilled at using the high-quality curriculum to enhance the experiences and opportunities available to all children.

They are dedicated and ensure children receive inclusive care and achieve their full potential during their time at the pre-school. There is a very strong team ethos. Staff highly praise the manager, who has actively supported the staff's well-being during the pandemic.

The manager is extremely proactive in ensuring the staff's continual professional development. For example, staff attendance at recent communication and language training has led to them broadening the range of vocabulary introduced to the children as they play. Staff have also enhanced the range of activities based on popular books and rhymes.

This has led to the children using their knowledge and imaginations to re-enact stories.Parents are extremely positive in their praise of the pre-school. Staff provided a wide range of activity ideas to support children's learning at home, including video recordings of stories during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Many story sacks, containing very good quality props, and themed activity learning bags to support different aspects of a child's development are also available to take home. There is an excellent two-way flow of information relating to the children's care and development.Staff know the children extremely well.

Children's individual needs are prioritised and, together with their interests, are used to guide and inform their development. Staff respond to children's interactions with genuine interest. They skilfully challenge children to think and problem solve for themselves, and adapt their teaching according to the children's needs.

Children demonstrate that they feel extremely secure, settled and very happy. They develop close, affectionate relationships with their key person and all staff members. This supports their emotional well-being exceptionally well.

Staff value every child as a unique individual and activities support children to appreciate and respect the diversity of others.Staff effectively support children who receive early years pupil premium. Additional funding has been used to purchase a wide range of additional equipment.

For example, a wooden tepee has been purchased to enable children to continue to enjoy their love of books under shelter in the outdoor environment. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive high levels of support. Staff work very closely with the child's family and other professionals.

Achievable targets are immediately set and swift adaptations are made to activities. This enables every child to take part and become fully engaged during their time at the pre-school.From a young age, children independently look at books, and thoroughly enjoy listening to stories.

They snuggle into staff, listen extremely well, point to the illustrations and enthusiastically answer questions. Children frequently engage in conversations and are introduced to new vocabulary as they play and during their snack. For example, when children taste the lemon on their pancakes they are introduced to words, such as 'juicy, sour' and 'bitter'.

Additionally, staff skilfully introduce language and associated actions to familiar rhymes and songs.The manager and staff place high priority on supporting children to manage their behaviours and feelings. They recognise the impact of the pandemic on some children's behaviours, such as their unwillingness to share the resources and wait their turn.

Nevertheless, minor issues are dealt with swiftly and skilfully by the staff. Children are routinely encouraged to behave well and are reminded about expectations and boundaries at the pre-school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The manager places high priority on ensuring safeguarding. Health and safety procedures are securely embedded across the pre-school. All staff are very confident about how to protect children's welfare.

A commitment to regular training and ongoing discussions ensures that staff are able to identify concerns and follow the pre-school procedures for recording and reporting any child protection issues. Robust recruitment procedures are followed to ensure the suitability of the staff. Staff complete thorough risk assessments of the environment.

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