Holy Trinity Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy, confident and keen to access the range of resources on offer.

They remain engaged in their play for long periods of time. They behave well and staff are particularly sensitive when dealing with new children who are settling in. Staff help younger children to learn about sharing and taking turns.

Higher than required staffing ratios enable children to have more support and attention from staff.Children feel safe and secure. They have visits from a railway guard and discuss train and road safety as part of a theme looking at how to keep themselves safe.

Older children are encouraged to be ind...ependent. They beam with pride as they successfully put on their coats before going out to play. They tidy up the bricks eagerly, unprompted by staff.

The manager and staff provide a well-thought-through curriculum that builds on children's interests and what children already know and can do. They have high expectations of what individual children can achieve and aim to equip children with a range of key skills to be ready for school. Older children learn how to form recognisable letters as they start to write their name.

They begin to become familiar with the meaning of words as they find their name on arrival on their coat peg and drawer.

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

Children enjoy playing in the refurbished outdoor area. They learn to balance as they step on the blocks and test their coordination skills as they ride the wheeled toys.

Children use magnifying glasses to hunt for bugs and watch with interest as they find spiders and wood lice behind the wooden plank. They plant vegetables and tend and nurture these, so learning to care for living things.Staff interact well with children and respond well to their needs.

Children look at the different colours of objects in the home area and count the number of people present at circle time. However, staff do not always adapt their teaching to challenge older children at the highest level. For example, older children easily name the different colours and can count confidently how many people are present.

Partnerships with parents and carers are good. Staff offer 'wow' sheets to parents so they can record children's achievements at home. They invite parents' views.

Many parents comment on staff's friendliness and how they feel they can approach staff to talk with them if they have any issues. Staff offer curriculum sheets to parents so they are aware of the focus of the week. This helps parents to complement and build on what children are learning at pre-school.

Staff also encourage parents to read with children to develop their enjoyment of books.Staff are sensitive in dealing with children, particularly those who are new to the pre-school and settling in. They help younger children to begin to manage their own strong feelings and emotions.

However, younger children become a little unsettled at times of change. For example, staff do not give clear enough explanations about what is happening next as children move from one room to another or get their coats on to go outdoors.Staff feel well supported by the manager and are given time to access training courses.

They take part in supervision sessions regularly where training needs are identified. Staff have attended a speech and language course as the manager found that staff were asking children too many questions. Information gained from the course helped staff to talk to children and extend their language without asking too many questions.

Staff are now able to support children's early language development effectively.Older children gain the key skills needed to be ready and confident for school. They enjoy singing familiar songs and rhymes and count to seven as they clap their hands.

They begin to recognise numerals as they watch the manager record numbers on the white board.Staff offer healthy food options at snack time and consider the dietary needs of individual children. Children gain a sense of responsibility as they offer a plate of fruit to their peers.

Staff work well with outside agencies. They have attended specific training to enable them, in consultation with parents, to screen children so they can make a referral to the speech and language therapist, if needed. This helps to close any gaps in children's communication and language skills swiftly.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have a good knowledge of child protection and the signs to be concerned about in relation to children's welfare. They know what procedures to follow if they are worried.

Staff complete regular safeguarding training to help to ensure that their knowledge is kept up to date. At staff meetings, they are given safeguarding scenarios to help them to test out what they would do in certain situations and to keep their knowledge current.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff more effectively to extend older children's learning at the highest level provide clear explanations to children about what is happening next so children know what to expect, particularly at times of transition.