Medstead Pre-school and Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive eager to learn and are happy to share their thoughts with adults who they are clearly at ease with.

They talk freely with staff and follow their good example of how to treat others with respect. Staff use strategies such as a 'kindness tree' to recognise and praise kind behaviours. Key-person systems support children's emotional development and sense of security effectively.

Since the previous inspection, staff have worked hard to provide activities to develop children's understanding of people's similarities and differences in the wider world. For example, children thoroughly enjoyed learning the tradi...tional Hindi dance of 'Bollywood'.Experienced staff are skilled at making learning exciting, which helps to motivate children's desire to learn and discover.

Staff plan a rich curriculum that builds on children's interests and their next steps in learning. For instance, a weekly forest school learning experience encourages children to explore and use the natural environment to develop high levels of confidence, creativity and independence. During these experiences, children have the opportunity to develop an understanding about boundaries of behaviour.

Staff have high expectations for all children. For instance, they cater very well for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They adopt different approaches, such as providing structured language groups.

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

Staff are warm and gentle in their approach. They skilfully support and nurture children's emotional well-being. Children thrive in the caring and inclusive environment staff carefully create.

Staff implement a wide range of strategies to help children explore their feelings and develop a positive self-image. They offer frequent praise to children, which helps them to respond positively to new challenges. For example, younger children show extreme delight as they successfully balance on stilts and pedal bicycles around the outdoor area.

Staff plan a wide range of activities to engage children. This is illustrated as children eagerly demonstrate how they crush wheat using a pestle and mortar to make 'flour'. They use words such as 'squishing' and 'crunching' to describe what they are doing.

Staff introduce new words such as 'yeast' and 'dough', which helps to support children's developing language skills.The manager makes effective use of additional funding to help narrow any gaps in children's learning. For example, funding has previously been used to provide one-to-one support and for purchasing resources to help children deal with their emotions.

The manager understands the importance of providing extracurricular activities to enhance children's experiences. For example, children benefit from attending weekly yoga classes, French lessons and sports coaching sessions.Partnerships with parents are well established.

Parents are regularly informed about their children's progress and achievements. Staff work well with other settings that children attend. This approach helps to provide consistency for children's care and development.

Older children are very well prepared for school. They develop confident social skills and are keen to talk to visitors about their learning. Staff have listened carefully to feedback from local schools and provide a wide range of opportunities for children to develop their independence.

For instance, mealtimes offer children opportunities to be independent and develop self-care skills, such as opening packets and pouring drinks.Staff encourage children effectively to enjoy the benefits of a healthy and active lifestyle. Children enjoy spending time outdoors where there is plenty of space to run and play energetically.

They climb confidently and negotiate space successfully. Children learn to keep themselves safe. For example, they are able to explain the rules that they need to follow when taking part in forest school sessions and why these are important to their safety and that of other children.

The manager gathers the views of parents, staff and children and uses these effectively to drive forward improvements to the service she provides. Staff attend regular training to enhance their knowledge and skills. However, staff monitoring and supervision are not highly effective in ensuring that the quality of teaching and learning is consistently improving to the highest possible level.

For example, staff sometimes miss opportunities to challenge children and support them to develop their own ideas.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff have a good understanding of the signs and indicators that may raise a concern about the safety and welfare of a child in their care.

They know the procedures to follow if they have any concerns about the welfare of a child. The manager checks staff's knowledge through quizzes and safeguarding scenarios. This has had a positive impact on staff's knowledge of safeguarding procedures and their role in keeping children safe.

Staff recruitment is thorough. Recruitment and induction procedures are effective in checking staff's initial and ongoing suitability.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: build on the programme of staff training, coaching and supervision to ensure that the quality of teaching and learning is constantly improving to the highest level.

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