Tollesbury Preschool

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The manager and staff provide a warm and well-prepared learning environment.

They enthusiastically welcome children and parents. Children are happy and eager to come into the pre-school. A well-established key-person system helps children form secure attachments and they develop positive relationships with staff.

This helps children to feel confident as their parents leave and they settle very quickly. Children confidently make choices from a good range of high-quality resources. Staff are calm and consistent in their approach to managing children's behaviour.

Children's behaviour is good and they take turns a...nd play cooperatively with each other.Parents are kept up to date about children's ongoing care and the progress they make. Staff build good relationships with parents.

Parents comment positively about the quality of the care and education their children receive. The manager provides an inclusive environment where all children and their families are welcomed. This means that all children, including those with special educational needs, receive the support they need to enjoy a positive learning experience at the pre-school.

Staff provide healthy snacks. Children develop good table manners as they sit together, and independently choose their food and pour their drinks from jugs. Children of all ages enjoy playing in the well-resourced garden.

Staff promote children's physical development well. For example, staff set up an obstacle course and encourage children to develop their skills to climb and balance.

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

The manager and staff have high expectations for every child.

They plan learning opportunities to follow children's interests and to support what they need to learn next. Staff obtain information from parents about children's abilities and interests before they start. Children make good progress from their starting points.

Staff monitor progress and complete assessments of children's learning. However, staff do not always track assessments as precisely as possible in order to help children make rapid progress at all times.Most of the time, staff use every opportunity to extend and challenge children's learning.

They adapt activities to support individual abilities. For example, during a threading activity, staff ask some children to name the coloured beads they thread, while others are challenged to make repeat patterns.Children are engaged and enthusiastic in their learning.

They explore the learning opportunities with curiosity and persevere to complete activities. Staff encourage older children to think independently and to test outcomes. For example, children are encouraged to use the numerals on a wall display to check their answers during a mathematics activity.

Children's communication and language skills are supported very well. The staff talk to the children and listen to their response. They model language and adapt what they say to support children's understanding.

Staff read stories with good expression and children remain engaged. Children can say what is happening in the books and predict what might happen next. Children learn new vocabulary.

Staff give age-appropriate explanations for the meaning of new words. Children and staff sing familiar songs together.Staff work hard to promote a positive self-image for each child.

They teach children to develop an understanding of what makes them unique. Children show respect and care for each other.The manager and her staff work well together as an enthusiastic and committed team.

Staff have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Staff turnover is extremely low. However, staff performance management reviews and ongoing supervisions are not strong enough to clearly identify how staff can consistently raise the quality of their teaching practice.

The manager has developed a good relationship with staff at the local school. She arranges for the teachers to visit the children in the pre-school to support their confidence. The manager shares the children's assessments to help support continuity in their learning.

Children are well prepared for moving on to school. For example, staff encourage children to be independent in their self-care and encourage them to recognise their names. They provide opportunities for the children to dress up in the school uniform in the role-play area.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and deputy attend regular training to ensure their knowledge of child protection remains current. Staff are trained to ensure that they know the local child protection procedures and how to identify children who may be at risk of harm.

Recruitment procedures ensure that all staff working with children are suitable. Staff complete regular checks on the environment to help them to identify and eliminate any risks.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: refine the system for tracking children's progress so that even more precise next steps for their learning are identified and planned for and the potential for all children to achieve rapid progress is increased develop a robust system of staff supervision and performance management to ensure that staff are supported in their professional development to raise the quality of their teaching to the highest level.