Cherhill Preschool

Inclusion: Expected standard

Staff clearly know the children and their individual needs very well. They know what children's interests are and use these effectively to engage children in their learning and to build on their knowledge and what they can do. All children, including those children learning English as an additional language, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those with barriers to their learning, make steady progress in their learning and development.

Support for children learning English as an additional language is effective in helping them to develop their English language skills and their confidence in forming relationships with their peers. Staff provide focused interventions that help children develop their language as well as their ability to communicate through other methods. This promotes children's confidence and ability to make friends.

Staff monitor children's development effectively and are quick to identify any areas where children may need additional support. They liaise with parents and seek outside support to help children catch up. This includes children learning English as an additional language, those where there are gaps in their development and those who have barriers to their learning.

Additional funding is used well to support specific aspects of children's development. For example, when children find it difficult to work in a group with other children, staff buy resources to use to encourage this. This means those less confident children become more sociable as a result.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Staff use a range of strategies to support children's communication and language in the pre-school. The environment is language rich with conversations flowing throughout the day. Children sing lots of songs and join in with actions songs that help them develop their language skills. Interventions are in place for those children who need additional support to develop their speech and language skills. Children engage in story time and enjoy listening to the story and joining in with repeated refrains. As a result, children are confident and fluent speakers who develop positive language skills in readiness for school.

Staff promote children's early mathematical skills. They encourage children to count objects and select the correct numeral. For example, children collect some toy cows, count them and find the correct corresponding numeral. When playing with water, children pour and fill various containers and use mathematical language such as 'full', 'empty' and 'half full'.

Children have regular opportunities to play outside in the fresh air and to develop their physical skills. Children pull themselves up a hill using a rope and climb up using the tyre steps. This supports them to develop their core-physical skills and to take managed risks. Children use tricycles and negotiate space confidently. Other children practise balancing on wooden bricks.

Staff provide opportunities for children to learn about the similarities and differences between themselves and others. They invite parents in to share their cultural celebrations if they wish, to help share and celebrate the children's backgrounds. Staff encourage children to talk about their personal lives and families and to share what they do at home.

Achievement: Expected standard

Typically, all children achieve well from their varying starting points. Gaps in children's learning, including for those children learning English as an additional language and those who face barriers to their learning, close over time. Children develop the key skills they will need for starting school. They develop confidence in their physical skills, including climbing, balancing and their core-muscle strength. Children have lots of opportunities to strengthen their hand muscles and develop their hand-eye coordination, such as through drawing, scooping, filling and pouring.

Children learn to express themselves well and engage in conversations when they talk about their personal lives and recall prior learning. They are interested and engaged in the activities, including the youngest children. Children enjoy listening to stories, joining in with action songs and rhymes, which supports their communication and language skills. Older children draw intricate pictures and hold their pens with confidence. They demonstrate they are developing their early literacy skills effectively. This prepares children well for school.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Children's behaviour is exemplary, including the youngest children and those who need additional support. They play cooperatively with their friends and show care and concern for them. For example, children pass others the coloured pen they wish to use, showing they can share and wait their turn. Staff praise them for their kindness, which reinforces their positive interactions with others. Staff are very good role models and are calm and sensitive to the children's needs. This helps create an environment that is conducive to the children's learning.

Children play cooperatively and work together. When building a concertina out of wooden blocks, they help one another balance the blocks and then wait their turn to push the first one over. They celebrate their achievements together when they are successful.

Staff place a strong focus on helping build on children's emotional and social skills, particularly when they identify children need extra support with this. They help them participate in small-group activities, so they form positive relationships with other children. This means children's social skills develop quickly and they learn to be resilient. They develop the key skills they will need for school.

Leaders help parents understand the importance of regular attendance and in helping their children establish firm relationships with other children and routines in readiness for them starting school. They also monitor attendance for safeguarding purposes.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Children show they know the routines to help keep themselves healthy, such as washing their hands before snack. Older children confidently take themselves off to the toilet, showing they have developed key skills in readiness for school.

Staff are very tuned in to children's emotional needs. For example, they discreetly invite children away from the group when they tune in to children's cues that they are uncomfortable or unsure. This helps children understand their feelings and means that group activities are not interrupted for the other children.

Staff allow the children to take managed risks as they climb up hills and over uneven ground. They remind the children how to negotiate the steps up the hill and how to hold onto the rope to walk up the steep slope, helping the children learn how to manage these obstacles safely. Children, including the youngest, respond positively to this guidance and demonstrate they are confident in their own physical abilities.

Staff promote some aspects of children's self-care skills well, such as toileting and getting ready to go outside. However, at times, they do things for the children that they could do for themselves. For example, they serve children's snacks and drinks when children could do this for themselves. This does not fully support their independence.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders provide staff with a wide range of training that has had a positive impact on the provision for children, including those children learning English as an additional language and those with additional barriers to their learning. For example, they implement strategies to help children communicate more effectively, such as through pictorial cards and reducing noise levels in the pre-school. This has had a positive impact on children's communication and language development.

Staff report they feel supported in the pre-school. They say leaders are approachable and they feel confident to discuss any queries or concerns they may have. This has a positive impact on their morale.

Parents report that they are extremely pleased with the care and education their children receive. They are very pleased with the progress their children are making. Parents are involved in the decisions regarding what they need to learn next, including for those children who require some additional support. Parents say staff offer them ideas on how they can support their children's learning at home.

Staff can review their performance alongside management and request training they are interested in. However, supervision does not fully focus on monitoring and developing staff's teaching practice further. For example, although leaders are focusing on improving mathematics, they do not check on how well staff are delivering this to identify any further training needs.