Lady Bay Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and confident as they arrive at the pre-school. They know the routine well and settle to play with their friends with confidence. Children's behaviour is very good and they use their manners well.

They play cooperatively with each other and have a positive attitude towards learning. Parents feel very welcome. When they drop their child off, they can sit and read a story or play with their child for as long as they want.

The new manager and staff team work very well together and have worked extremely hard to turn the pre-school around since the last inspection. Parents comment very positively about al...l the changes they have seen. The manager and staff are all very passionate about the pre-school and know the children and families well.

Two member of staff are highly qualified and this supports teaching overall. The staff have high expectations for each child. The manager has clear aims for the pre-school and a strong ethos for the children to learn through play.

Staff listen and interact well with the children, supporting their vocabulary as they sing songs and talk with them. They provide a nurturing environment for children where they develop secure attachments to staff and show that they feel safe.

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

The staff team has implemented a new system of planning and monitoring children's development.

They all know how this works and are able to identify very quickly if a child is falling behind in an area of development. When setting the children's individual next steps, they identify the gaps and plan suitable activities for each child. This results in children making expected progress.

However, some of the older children, at times, are not being challenged to make the best possible progress that they can.Children know how to behave and play with each other well. When reading a story, the staff use positive methods to keep children's attention.

For example, they change the tone of their voice or just quietly mention a child's name. Children receive lots of positive praise. They help with the tidying away at the end of the session.

At times, children demonstrate excellent concentration levels for their age. For example, they concentrate well as they use screwdrivers to undo and re-fix things together.Staff encourage children to be independent, especially with their personal needs.

For example, steps are provided in the toilet areas. During mealtimes children tidy up after themselves. Staff remind children of how to sit safely on four legs of a chair, rather than two.

They have stories about keeping safe and talk to children about using a phone to dial 999, if ever needed. Children enjoy playing in the role-play area of a fire station and dressing up in outfits of people who help them.Children have healthy snacks and milk at snack time.

They follow good hygiene routines. Staff encourage parents to provide healthy lunch boxes. Children also have daily opportunities to play outdoors in the fresh air.

This ensures they learn about healthy lifestyles.The children attend a local community singing group for people in need. This helps children learn about people who are less fortunate than themselves.

The staff take the children out and about in the community to different places. For example, they take the children to the local duck pond to feed the ducks. This gives children the experience of seeing wildlife at first hand.

The manager has set up systems of supervision and support for the staff. She has changed arrangements so that staff do not have to take work home. This means a better work/life balance for the staff.

However, these systems are in the early stages of development. The manager has not looked closely enough at staff's training needs to further improve the quality of care and education for all children.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff have a thorough knowledge of child protection procedures. This includes identifying signs that children are at risk from extremist attitudes. Staff are vigilant and deployed well to make sure children play in a safe and secure environment.

Robust recruitment procedures are in place to ensure staff are suitable to work with children. This is followed by ongoing induction processes that support staff to have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: focus more closely on all the available opportunities within activities to challenge and extend older children's learning even further focus on supporting all staff in their professional development to raise the quality of care and teaching to a consistently high standard.