Church House Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff in the pre-school foster friendships and cooperative play, ensuring children feel confident and secure in their interactions. For example, children help set up an obstacle course with ramps and take turns going round. Staff scaffold learning effectively through language, questions and interactive activities. For instance, during story time of the book 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears', children recall and can answer what happens next.

Activities such as litter picking and community engagement instil a sense of responsibility and environmental awareness in the children. This promotes good citizenship from an early age. The pre-school has a sensory focus with attention to planting and environment awareness through recycling and creative arts. For example, children re-use washed yogurt lids to create a poppy collage. Children engage in activities that enhance their large-muscle skills, for example riding bikes and composting tasks. Staff consider children's physical development well.

Staff provide encouragement and emotional support, for example assisting nervous children on slides, fostering resilience and confidence. Children are given choices, for example selecting tools for composting. They are involved in routine tasks, like putting on coats and wellies, which promote independence.

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

• Staff in the pre-school focus on key developmental goals, such as confidence building, resilience, cooperative play and school readiness. The curriculum is rich and varied, offering opportunities across all areas of learning with real-life experiences. For example, children enjoy changing, dressing and feeding babies. However, occasionally, staff do not always specifically focus children's attention on the intended learning aims, to consistently build on what they already know.
• Children demonstrate caring attitudes, for example carefully relocating a centipede during outdoor play, reflecting respect for living things. Children show positive attitudes towards their learning, independence and caring for others. For example, older children help set up cups and plates during snack time and pour drinks for younger children.
• The children enjoy playing with dough. They roll the dough into sausages and staff model language well. They introduce words, like 'tall, short, long, stretch, roll' and incorporate early mathematics skills. The older children are able to confidently estimate the number of balls without counting them. Staff support children's small-muscle development for later writing. Staff sometimes do not take into account the gap in language with younger children.
• Staff are effective in providing a nurturing, inclusive environment for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They tailor their focus on skills they have identified in a child's next steps. Individual educational plans are in place. Staff work with parents and professionals to meet the children's needs. Additional funding is used well to meet children's individual needs.
• Children have strong relationships with staff and feel secure and supported. All children have a key person, who helps them form secure bonds to promote their well-being. Respectful relationships between staff and children foster a positive learning environment. Parents are positive in their views and are confident that their children progress well during their time at the pre-school.
• Leaders undertake appropriate vetting and recruitment procedures, however, do not to keep clear records of checks made, including ongoing suitability of staff. Staff express how they are happy in the workplace and their well-being is considered by leaders. Although staff have supervisions, team meetings and training sessions, there are inconsistencies in documentation and supervision. Systems to ensure these are carried out regularly and used to strengthen and raise the quality of interactions by staff are still not embedded.
• The setting has failed to notify Ofsted of changes to committee members, as required. Leaders recognise the need for better control and training for committee roles.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• plan more effectively to support younger children's communication and language development
• improve record-keeping and implement a clear process for regularly checking staff suitability
• develop a regular system of supervision and training so the quality of practice continues to improve to even higher levels.