Ugborough and Bittaford Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive at the setting and are warmly greeted by the staff. Children are pleased to see their friends and are excited to learn.

Older school children who attend before and after school are secure in the setting with staff that they know well. Staff ensure that children have interesting activities to access, such as plastic building bricks, and they enjoy choosing from a range of creative resources. Staff ensure that they make correct risk assessments for resources for the different age groups.

Parents value the setting, which works closely with the neighbouring school. Staff emphasise the importance of the sett...ing being part of the local community. Children enjoy walking around the church and the village, learning about the place and people that live there.

Older children learn about the 'lichen' on the tree branches while younger children enjoy spotting the Christmas trees around the village square and delight in the festive lights they see. Staff help children learn about being safe near the road; the children hold hands together, and they listen carefully to the adults before checking for any vehicles on the road as they cross over.Pre-school children develop good hand-eye coordination as they practise using hammers to find small creatures frozen in ice, and they are excited to share their discoveries with each other.

Staff encourage children to become independent as they learn to peel and chop fruit for a snack and dress themselves to go outside. Children learn to use numbers as they count out the correct number of cups needed for the group to have a drink.

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

Leaders ensure that staff develop new skills in order to further enrich the children's learning experiences.

Staff attend training around outdoor learning for children and subsequently develop forest school opportunities on the school site, which the children attend weekly. Children enjoy developing their larger muscles as they climb on a frame inside and then practise their riding skills using bikes on the playground next door. They regularly take walks out from the pre-school together, and staff help children to learn to be safe as they climb up and down the church steps, holding onto the hand rail.

Staff identify the importance of supporting children's communication skills. They focus on engaging children in stories to further enhance their language skills. Staff provide bags for children to borrow books to share at home and they encourage parents to read and talk more with their children.

Staff use props to help children engage with books; everyone chooses a hat to wear as they listen with concentration to a story about a hat blowing about on a windy day.Children develop curiosity as they use magnifying glasses to explore some natural objects inside. Children are excited to find insects living in the branches and learn about habitats as they return the insect outside into nature.

Staff are attentive, listening carefully to children and developing conversations about the things children are interested in. Children enjoy being outside. Staff encourage the children to notice shapes in the windows on the walk around the village square, and children practise recalling the names of the shapes they know.

Staff identify where children need support with their learning and understand how to refer to professionals, such as the speech and language therapist. They assess children's development and work closely with families to identify children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Overall, staff work in partnership with other settings where children also attend.

They liaise regularly with the nearby school, inviting teachers to visit to get to know the children and join in shared events such as the harvest festival. On occasion, staff do not liaise with other professionals to help inform the progress check at age two and to identify gaps in children's learning.Staff carefully consider the needs of the younger children in the setting.

They engage with families and ensure that each child is supported to settle into the setting at their own pace. Staff adapt learning to take account of children's development. For example, as staff hold the hands of younger children while they practise standing on one leg, they talk to children about how it feels wobbly.

They praise and encourage all the children as they learn to enjoy being part of a group, such as at snack time. Staff introduce the word 'segment' as older children peel their oranges. However, occasionally, staff do not focus on strategies to help younger children develop key vocabulary in order to build on their language skills.

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: strengthen further the partnerships with health professionals in order to share information about children's development further develop the skills of staff in supporting younger children to acquire the key vocabulary they need to develop their communication skills more rapidly.