St Matthias Pre-School & Childcare Centre

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents

This provision is good • The manager and staff have formed excellent links with the local community.

For example, children visit the nearby residential home where planned activities purposefully bring together different generations to share positive experiences. • Staff provide children with strong opportunities to develop their learning outdoors. Children benefit from 'forest school' activities.

For instance, staff teach them how to use real tools and actively encourage children to investigate their environment independently. • Children enjoy a variety of creative activities. Staff teach children how to use a selection of tools, such as sponges, combs and brushes to mak...e large-scale paintings, helping to support their early writing skills effectively.

• The manager monitors children's progress well, identifying any gaps in different groups of children, for example between boys and girls. She uses this information effectively to support children's development to help improve their outcomes. • Children learn effectively about healthy lifestyles.

Staff talk to children about wholesome foods and visiting the dentist, to help them understand how good food and personal hygiene benefit the body. • Staff do not make the most of opportunities to help children learn about different cultures and languages, to further support their understanding of the wider world. • Staff are not always using effective strategies with parents to fully support children's learning at home.