Kirkstall St Stephen's Pre-School

Inclusion: Needs attention

Children who require additional support, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do not consistently receive the help and support they need to enable them to participate fully in suitable learning experiences. This hinders the progress they make. Staff do not consistently use children's individual needs, identified strategies or next steps to plan activities, adapt their teaching or support children with SEND during daily routines. As a result, barriers to learning are not consistently removed and opportunities to extend children's learning, promote their communication and encourage their participation are frequently missed. For example, identified interventions to use objects of references, are rarely used by staff and whey they are used, they are not used appropriately. This does not support children's ability to make choices.

Leaders work with parents and external professionals to identify children's individual needs and develop individual support plans. Staff are provided with information about children's needs and the strategies intended to support them. However, leaders do not identify through monitoring that agreed strategies are not consistently implemented or take effective action to improve the quality of inclusive practice. Consequently, some children do not consistently receive the support they need to meet their needs or to access the curriculum successfully. For example, leaders have failed to identify that staff providing one-to-one support for children with SEND, tend to follow the children round, but do not use the targeted interventions within their support plans to promote their learning and development.

Curriculum and teaching: Needs attention

Children do not consistently experience learning that builds on what they already know and can do. Staff do not consistently use what they know about children's learning needs, next steps and support plans to plan learning that meets every child's needs and moves their learning forward. Planned experiences follow children's interests but do not build on children's learning needs, next steps and abilities. As a result, opportunities to develop children's knowledge and skills are frequently missed, and children are not supported to make progress across the curriculum.

Some staff do make use of the activities which have been set out to help children to develop their communication and language, mathematical understanding and physical skills. However, as the learning intent is based on children's interests, other staff are unfamiliar with children's specific next steps for learning and they therefore fail to support their ongoing learning and development. Children access play opportunities across all areas of the curriculum both indoors and outdoors. However, the quality of teaching is not consistently effective. Staff do not routinely adapt activities, interactions or teaching to respond to children's learning or build on what they already know and can do. Staff fail to recognise children who wander around. These children, while happy to play, do not receive quality interactions and support to promote their knowledge and skills. Consequently, staff do not provide opportunities to deepen children's understanding and move their learning forward.

Leaders do not identify these weaknesses in teaching through monitoring or take sufficiently effective action to ensure that the curriculum is implemented consistently. As a result, quieter children and those who require additional support do not consistently benefit from high-quality teaching that enables them to participate fully in learning or make the progress they are capable of.

Achievement: Needs attention

Children do not consistently achieve as well as they could. Weaknesses in the implementation of the curriculum result in staff not supporting children to develop knowledge and skills progressively over time. This is because learning does not routinely build on what they already know and can do. As a result, children are not well prepared for the next stages in their ongoing learning journey, in preparation for their eventual move on to school. This particularly affects quieter children and those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, who do not consistently benefit from teaching and interactions that help them achieve their potential.

Despite this, older children develop communication and language skills as they share stories, join in with familiar phrases and begin to think about characters' thoughts and feelings. Some younger children, when they engage, recall the different actions to songs. Some children use early mathematical knowledge to compare size, recognise patterns and solve simple problems during play. Children develop their physical skills as they climb, balance and explore outdoors with increasing confidence.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Needs attention

Children do not consistently receive the support they need to develop positive behaviours, attitudes to learning and self-regulation. Staff do not consistently reinforce expectations, explain why behaviours are expected or encourage good manners. When children do not respond to reminders, staff do not consistently adapt their approach to reflect children's age, stage of development or individual needs. As a result, opportunities to help children understand expectations, manage their own behaviour and develop positive attitudes to learning are frequently missed. This particularly affects quieter children and those who require additional support, who do not consistently receive the guidance they need to participate fully in learning and daily routines. For example, during group time, when children are fidgeting with resources and putting them into their mouths, staff asks them not to do this but do not explain why. As children continue to do this, staff then take the resources off them and offer no further explanations to help them to learn why this behaviour is unacceptable.

Despite this, children are happy and settled within the setting. They develop positive relationships with staff and their peers and generally behave well. Children follow familiar daily routines and enjoying participating in the activities on offer. Appropriate arrangements are in place to promote children's attendance and follow up absences where needed.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Needs attention

Children do not consistently benefit from the high-quality care and support they need to promote their health, safety and wellbeing. Arrangements to support children's safety and wellbeing are not effective. Staff do not consistently provide effective supervision to identify and respond to potential risks during everyday experiences. As a result, some children do not receive the support they need to remain safe, engaged and well supported throughout the day. For example, as children freely access breakfast, staff are around the area but as they are also doing other things, they do not effectively supervise them while they are eating. This does not protect children from the risk of silent choking.

Staff do not use opportunities to reinforce safe practices. This means that children's welfare is not promoted consistently across all aspects of daily practice. For example, when children climb up the slide, staff remove them but offer no guidance or explanation as to why they should not do this. This results in children continuing to repeat this action as staff do not support them to learn why this behaviour is unsafe and not appropriate,

Despite this, children develop warm and nurturing relationships with staff who know them well. They are happy and settled and demonstrate that they feel safe and secure within the setting. Staff respond warmly to children, helping some of them to build confidence and feel valued. Children are supported to develop their independence through everyday experiences, such as managing their personal care, making choices and taking responsibility for simple tasks. They begin to understand healthy lifestyles through daily routines and benefit from caring interactions that support their emotional wellbeing.

Leadership and governance: Needs attention

Leaders do not evaluate the quality of education and care accurately enough to identify where improvements are needed. Monitoring does not precisely identify weaknesses in teaching, staff interactions, children's experiences or the implementation of strategies intended to support individual children. Leaders do not recognise when planned experiences lack purpose, children are not meaningfully engaged in learning or staff practice is inconsistent.

Consequently, improvement actions are not sufficiently focused or effective to bring about the necessary improvements. Leaders have not ensured that staff consistently use assessment information, children's individual needs and next steps to inform teaching and support children's progress. Weaknesses in inclusive practice, behaviour support and arrangements to promote children's welfare have not been identified or addressed promptly. As a result, inconsistencies in practice remain and children do not consistently benefit from high-quality education, care and support.

Despite this, leaders work in partnership with parents and take steps to support staff wellbeing. Staff value the support they receive and feel supported in carrying out their roles. Leaders have reviewed their procedure for when anyone leaves the setting following an incident. They have strengthened their procedures to ensure the main playground gate is fully closed and secured when anyone now leaves the setting. This helps to keep children safe and secure.