Brook House Farm Pre-School Centre

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The calm, relaxed atmosphere helps to create an environment where all children are settled. Babies snuggle in for cuddles and enjoy the gentle caresses of their caring, sensitive staff.

Toddlers contentedly lounge on the carpet as their drive their small transport toys around. Others comfortably sit on staff knees to have their favourite books and stories read to them. Children's strong sense of safety helps them make the most of all the nursery has to offer.

They have many opportunities to explore and find things out for themselves. Children are also keen to join in with the many fascinating activities that staff prov...ide. Older children eagerly dig in the sand, persistently searching for items of hidden treasure, before counting out how many they have found.

Every child matters to the staff at the nursery, and there is a real sense that leaders want the best for them all. Children's personalities are nurtured. They are valued as unique individuals, so they grow in confidence and are self-assured.

Children interact with staff using humour. They are confident to make their needs known and to express their own ideas. Children's creative thinking is positively encouraged.

They sing and dance freely, design using a range of media and solve problems with imagination. Children are positively supported to develop the kinds of behaviours and attitudes that prepare them well for their future learning in school.

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

Following the previous inspection, leaders worked with local authority advisers and the staff team to consider the improvements needed.

Together, they have established a well-considered curriculum that supports children to progressively learn more and do more.The curriculum for communication and language has been given increased priority. Staff have worked hard to help children significantly reduce their need for dummies.

Specially chosen songs and stories for each age group helps build children's listening, understanding and speaking skills. Babies make animal sounds when singing 'Old McDonald' and they confidently do the actions to 'Miss Polly had a Dolly'. By the time they are in the pre-school room, children eagerly sing songs that introduce them to the sounds that represent letters.

Leaders have supported staff well-being through a significant period of change. Staff retention is high, which provides consistency for children and their families. Leaders are beginning to increase training opportunities to help keep staff's knowledge current.

However, they do not provide staff with the targeted support needed to help them to continually evaluate and improve the quality of their own teaching. Occasionally, the way staff deliver activities is overly complex, which means children do not learn as easily as possible.Children's personal development is given high priority.

Babies are supported to self-feed from an early stage. Toddlers fill and empty cups, making 'fruit tea' using jugs and chopped fruit in the water play. By the time they are in pre-school, children pour their own drinking water and spread their own butter on toast or crackers.

Children's independence is fostered very well.Staff implement a range of strategies that help children to behave well. Consistent timetables help children know what to expect.

Babies know when it is time to sit at the table for lunch and find their own bed when staff set them out for routine sleep time. Older children know the 'golden rules' and are taught how to be kind to their friends. The respect that staff continually model helps all children learn how to interact positively with each other.

Staff teach children about personal hygiene and make very good use of outside learning opportunities to provide physical exercise and lots of fresh air, which is necessary for their good health. However, the current sleeping arrangements for babies are not planned as carefully as possible to help all babies get a good quality of sleep. While leaders are currently improving the quality of equipment and reviewing safety arrangements for occasions when babies sleep in prams outside, babies are not consistently supported to rest or sleep without disturbance from others.

Leaders are beginning to implement wider assessment tools, to help identify potential gaps in children's development at an even earlier stage. They make good use of the local authority's 'graduated approach', to help provide children with any extra help they need. Staff make effective use of information from other professionals to them plan specific interventions to promote individual children's progress.

However, they do not consistently provide ways for parents to continue this targeted learning at home, to help to narrow any identified gaps in learning.Parents and carers have nothing but positive things to say about the nursery. From the start, staff work very closely with them to find out about their child and how staff can best meet their individual care and learning needs.

Children's transitions into and through nursery are smooth. Links with local teachers mean that children's learning continues when they move to school. Parents describe the care, love and education their children receive as 'second to none'.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding and receive regular training and updates. They understand how to spot and raise a concern about a child.

Leaders follow the local authority threshold guidance to decide when to involve external agencies. They keep abreast of potential challenges relevant to their local community. Staff meet children's medical needs and carefully scrutinise the nursery menu to help manage food allergies and feeding requirements.

Medicine procedures are safely managed. Parents have high levels of trust in the nursery's ability to keep their children safe.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: provide practitioners with highly focused and professional development opportunities that build their pedagogical knowledge and continually improves the teaching of the curriculum review the sleeping arrangements for babies, to help them rest or sleep in accordance with their own needs and as soundly as possible further enhance opportunities for parents to promote targeted learning at home and help all children to achieve as much as they can.