Wootton Playgroup

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children feel safe and secure in this friendly pre-school. Staff know the children and families well. They greet them personally as they enter and children are eager to join their friends and engage in play.

Children's emotional well-being is supported well. Staff's calm and nurturing ethos supports children to recognise and celebrate what makes them unique. Children are happy and demonstrate that they feel valued and listened to.

Children are confident to go to staff if they need reassurance or just want a cuddle.Staff are ambitious and have high expectations of what children can achieve. They are dedicated and highly... committed to providing an inclusive environment for all children.

Staff work closely with other agencies to ensure that children receive the help and support they need. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress. Staff work as a team to provide activities that capture children's imagination and inspire their desire to learn.

Staff act as positive role models for the children. They provide them with consistent messages to support their positive behaviour. Children are beginning to understand boundaries, such as using their 'walking feet' and 'indoor voices'.

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

Children demonstrate positive attitudes to their play and learning. Staff plan the environment and curriculum well. They meet regularly to discuss the activities they provide and how these promote children's individual development.

Staff have a good understanding of what children need to learn next. They monitor children's progress effectively and use their good knowledge of them to plan experiences based around their interests.The pre-school is a valuable asset to the local community.

Staff provide children with opportunities that they may not have experienced before. They offer children exciting experiences to help them broaden their knowledge. For example, staff take the children on visits to the theatre and promote their physical skills through trips to the local park.

Staff prioritise developing children's language, communication and literacy skills. Children show a love of books and reading. They cuddle up with staff to share stories.

Children show their excitement as they follow the story and make predictions about what will happen next. Staff engage children in meaningful conversations at every opportunity.Staff support children to share and cooperate during play.

They provide children with lots of praise and encouragement. As a result, children behave well and are beginning to do things independently. For instance, children recognise their name card when they sit down for snack and tidy away their dirty plates when they have finished.

However, staff do not always teach children about why making healthy food choices is important to their overall well-being.Staff have established successful partnerships with parents and the local school. They keep parents well informed of their children's progress through daily conversations and parents' meetings.

Staff meet with teachers at the school and share relevant information to support children's smooth transition to school. Parents speak highly of the staff and the good-quality education they provide for children.Children's mathematical development is promoted well.

For example, children take part in team games where they take turns to count and recognise coloured shapes. However, staff do not always manage the change between whole-group activities effectively to maintain all children's continued concentration.The manager, staff and the committee work well together as a team.

They evaluate the provision and reflect on where further improvements could be made. The manager provides staff with regular opportunities to discuss any concerns, and reflects on their knowledge and teaching skills. Although she encourages staff to access training, she does not sharply focus on specific areas to further improve individual development.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have a good understanding of their responsibility to keep children safe. They are confident in recognising and reporting any signs that may indicate a child is at risk of harm or neglect.

They access regular safeguarding training to keep their knowledge and skills up to date. Staff are familiar with wider safeguarding matters and know how to identify and respond to these. The manager follows thorough recruitment processes to ensure any new staff are suitable to work with children.

Staff are deployed well. They carry out regular risk assessments to help keep children safe and ensure that the premises are secure.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: plan changes between whole-group activities more effectively to ensure that children remain interested and engaged make the most of opportunities to further develop children's understanding of healthy eating and the importance of making positive food choices nenhance the systems in place for evaluating staff's practice and identify more precisely areas for development to help raise the quality of teaching and skills to the highest level.