White Rabbit Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff support children's emotional well-being from the moment children enter the pre-school. Children are greeted with genuine beaming smiles and a cheery welcome from all staff. Children new to the pre-school are sensitively encouraged to separate from their parents and engage in their chosen play.

Staff talk with confidence about individual children's interests and plans for their future learning. This helps children to make good progress from their starting points. Staff follow children's lead and help to extend their play.

For instance, children's interest in dinosaurs is further supported as they notice the crayon...s they are using for mark making are egg shaped. Staff and children work together to collect leaves and sticks to build nests for the egg-shaped crayons. Children are determined to achieve and to extend their independence skills.

For instance, at snack time, they are absolutely focused as they carefully pour their own milk into beakers. Younger children are eager to join other children with puddle jumping, and staff encourage them to pull on their own wellington boots. Staff are very understanding of the needs of younger children and show high levels of skill as they explain to children about sharing and taking turns.

Staff have high expectations for all children, and children behave well.

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

Staff recognise the importance of outdoor play for children's learning and have developed their outdoor space with vision and creativity. Children explore this environment with confidence, enjoyment and enthusiasm.

Children demonstrate high levels of self-assurance as they manoeuvre themselves around obstacles and carry resources from one area to another to extend their chosen play.Children's communication and language skills are well supported. Staff get down to children's level, speak clearly and give children time to respond.

Staff naturally extend children's vocabulary as they introduce new words as children play. For instance, they talk about the fir cones children are holding as being 'prickly'.Children demonstrate an understanding of the natural world as they talk about their recent visit to a local woodland area.

They discuss how the conkers they are using have blown down from the tress onto the ground.Staff provide children with a wealth of opportunities to develop their mark-making skills. Children enthusiastically engage in drawing with pencils, crayons and mixing paints together to create their own colours.

Children's literacy skills are fostered as they take their favourite books to adults for the stories to be read. Staff further encourage children's love of books as they create opportunities for children to link activities to stories. For instance, children mix porridge oats with water to make breakfast for the family of 'bears'.

Children respond with pleasure to the very genuine praise that they receive when staff celebrate their achievements. Children demonstrate good self-care skills as they routinely wash their hands before eating.Children show a clear understanding of the need to respect others as they welcome children into play already taking place and encourage them to share in the resources.

Staff provide children with opportunities to develop some mathematical skills. However, they do not always maximise these opportunities to extend children's understanding of counting.Children show high levels of imagination and memory recall as they act out real-life experiences.

For instance, children pretend to crack eggs to make a birthday cake and talk about the cake they made the previous day.The management team follows effective recruitment and vetting procedures to ensure that staff working with children are suitable to do so. New staff receive a detailed induction to help them become familiar with the nursery's policies and procedures.

Performance management systems help the management team to identify any training needs and review the quality of the provision. The management team regularly checks on the progress children are making.The management team recognises the benefits of working with other professionals to ensure a consistent approach to children's care and learning.

There are strong links with local schools to enable a smooth transition for children's future learning.Parents are very complimentary about the pre-school and the care and support staff offer. Information about children's learning and care routines is shared with parents daily.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have a secure understanding of their responsibilities to protect children. They know the procedures to follow if they have concerns about a child's welfare, including protecting children from extremist views.

The management team and staff ensure the premises are secure at all times and any potential hazards to children's safety are identified and minimised. Robust policies and regular staff training strengthen all aspects of safeguarding practice.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: make increased use of activities and routines to extend children's understanding and enjoyment of early mathematics and further strengthen their knowledge of numbers and counting.