Stonesfield Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The pre-school is full of happy children who clearly enjoy being there.

Children are quick to enter, and settle to play supported by warm and nurturing staff. Children show a very positive attitude towards their play and learning. They are keen and inquisitive, finding the environment and resources exciting and stimulating.

For example, children eagerly join in creating firework pictures using a range of sensory materials. Children are well mannered, polite and welcoming to visitors. Children clearly feel safe and secure.

This helps them to become confident learners.Children benefit from a range of exciting pl...ay opportunities that help them to make good progress in their learning and development. They have a positive attitude to learning and are eager to explore.

All children are inquisitive as they develop a sense of the world around them. For instance, when children are preparing to attend a local forest school site, they are keen to share what they know about keeping themselves safe and exploring the environment on offer.Children benefit from a curriculum that is broad and interesting.

There is a strong focus on developing personal, social and communication skills. Children take part in a range of well-planned experiences that promote these aspects of their development effectively. For example, while exploring real pumpkins in the outdoor home corner, the children eagerly recall stories that have previously been read to them.

Children make friends, talk confidently and develop good levels of independence.Children generally behave well and demonstrate that they understand the rules and routines of the setting. For example, they line up in pairs, ready to go to the forest school site, and remind each other of their values, such as 'kind hands'.

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

Partnership working with parents is effective. The manager and staff work with parents of new children to find out about their needs and to help them settle in. Parents can see staff's observations of their children on the online portal.

They have the opportunity for discussions about their child's development in meetings, and through sharing information during child focus weeks. Parents share their positive views of the setting and what staff do with their children. Parents comment that the pre-school has been extremely beneficial for their children's development.

Children generally make good progress because staff have clear expectations of what they can achieve. This includes children who receive additional funding, those who speak English as an additional language and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.Children are encouraged to prepare for life in modern Britain through a variety of ways.

For example, children are encouraged to vote on stories and puzzles, as well as understand the values of being kind and respecting their friends. Overall, children behave well, and staff support them to resolve their own conflicts. However, on occasions, some staff do not always support children to regulate their behaviour and follow the behaviour expectations in place.

Children have lots of opportunities to be outside in the garden and also access the local school's forest school site. This enables children to develop their physical skills and understanding of nature and produce. For example, children confidently talk about why the leaves have changed colour and fallen to the ground.

They enjoy exploring the site and playing hide and seek with the staff. Children understand rules and expectations within the forest school site. Staff support children to understand about road safety, talking about stopping and listening to what they can hear.

Overall, staff promote children's communication and language well, introducing new words and concepts during activities and play. For example, they engage children in discussion and model words clearly to help build on their speech and language skills, such as 'pop', 'bang' and 'explode'. However, sometimes, there are inconsistencies in teaching.

On occasion, some staff do not allow children time to follow through their own ideas, to help build on their thinking and problem-solving skills even further.Leaders and managers have effective and robust recruitment processes in place to ensure all adults working with children are suitable. Staff are encouraged to develop professionally through a range of courses and in-house training.

The manager and leaders have a clear vision for the setting and talk confidently about what they wish children to learn. The pre-school is well resourced. However, staff do not provide a wide range of opportunities for children to explore everyday technology, to help further develop their understanding of the modern world.

Staff support children's mathematical skills well. For example, children count how many children are in the line and join in enthusiastically with number songs and rhymes. They have a good understanding of shape and space.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have a broad knowledge of child protection issues. They can identify the signs and symptoms that may indicate that a child is at risk of harm.

Staff know who to contact if they have concerns about a child's safety and welfare. The manager ensures that all staff frequently attend safeguarding training to update their knowledge. Staff are fully aware of their roles and responsibilities around safeguarding, including broader safeguarding issues.

Staff maintain a safe environment for children. They complete thorough risk assessments to help ensure that the areas of the premises children access, and outings off site, are safe and suitable, such as trips to forest school.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff to develop a more consistent approach to helping all children understand expectations and behave well strengthen staff's understanding of how to make more use of opportunities to challenge and extend children's thinking and reasoning skills nextend opportunities for children to build on their awareness of the uses of everyday technology, to enhance their understanding of the world.