Baston Pre-School Limited

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive in the morning with big smiles to adults who greet them at the door and welcome them into a calm, nurturing environment. They show that they are happy and secure in the setting by hanging things on their peg and saying goodbye to their carers.

They quickly settle into the rooms for the day. They follow familiar routines, such as self-registration and morning carpet time. They then explore freely while adults sit engaging with them, and talk to them about what they would like to do.

Staff form positive relationships with children and offer them encouragement and praise while responding to their needs.The... setting has two rooms catering for different age groups, which are presented in a way that helps children build the skills they need for future learning. They are well equipped and support children to learn through play in a fun and interesting way, across the different areas of learning.

The staff have high expectations of children, and many children have learned to write their own names and recognise sounds. Children have a positive attitude towards their learning and behave well. They enjoy playing outside, where they develop their physical coordination skills by running around happily with balls, push buggies and ride on scooters.

Staff help them learn about the world around them by offering them lots of hands-on experience, such as growing strawberries, runner beans and planting sunflowers.

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

Leaders have built a strong team, and they ensure all staff are suitable to work with children. They hold termly supervision and annual appraisals to ensure staff have all the skills they need to support all the children they work with.

Leaders are 'hands on', and spend time in the setting supporting their staff, children and their families. This is evident in the fact that many members of staff are long standing and work well together and say they feel well supported by the managers.Leaders have a clear vision for the setting and know what they want children to learn.

The curriculum is sequenced and planned to help children develop the skills they need for future learning. For example, children learn to recognise the letters in their own name by first finding it with a picture of themselves, and then just the name on its own.Overall, staff develop children's communication and language skills well through daily discussions, stories and rhymes.

However, they sometimes ask closed questions, meaning children are not always given the chance to develop their thinking skills and share their own ideas and thoughts about the things they are learning fully.Staff encourage children to be independent, which helps to prepare them for school. They learn how to use the toilet, wash their own hands and write their own names.

Staff develop children's social skills and confidence by spending lots of time with them and offering them lots of experiences, such as visits to the local library, taking part in assemblies, performances and sports day.Staff make accurate assessments and get to know children well by observing them as they play. They then discuss and use this information to plan future learning and experiences for children.

They identify gaps and any specific needs early, and use the support of outside agencies to ensure all children have the support they need to make good progress.Parents highly recommend the setting and the quality of education their children receive. They feel well informed about their child's progress and say that staff's attention to detail is excellent and very professional.

They feel the staff keep them well informed and that their children are making good progress in all areas, particularly in early reading and writing.The setting helps children understand British values by teaching them the importance of good manners. Staff support children's behaviour by reminding them of the routines and setting clear boundaries.

For example, they tell children not to run indoors and to use 'kind hands'. However, they sometimes do not offer children explanations to help them to understand and regulate their own behaviour.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff know and understand the signs and symptoms of abuse and who to go to if they a have concerns that a child may be at risk from harm. They have an awareness of safeguarding issues, such as the 'Prevent' duty and female genital mutilation. The setting has procedures and systems in place to ensure the setting is safe and secure for children to use.

They monitor the environment and make daily checks of the equipment and premises. Termly fire drills ensure that staff and children know what to do in the event of a fire.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: help children to deepen their understanding of how and why they need to follow familiar routines and rules nextend children's language and thinking skills by asking more open questions while they play.