Little Deers Pre-School

Inclusion: Urgent improvement

Leaders and staff do not ensure that concerns about children are referred immediately so that they receive intervention and essential specialist support swiftly. This means that some children with barriers to learning and development do not have their needs met in a timely manner. Barriers to children's learning are not always identified correctly, particularly when children are experiencing, or may be at risk of, harm. As a result, not all children's needs are fully understood or supported and this affects their safety and the progress they make.

That being said, leaders and staff work with parents and outside agencies, who are already working with children with special education needs and/or disabilities. For example, they work with local speech and language specialists and collaborate on how best to use funding for the children it is intended for.

Curriculum and teaching: Needs attention

Children are not able to access the full curriculum at all times, particularly children with barriers to their learning. For example, issues that children experience in fully accessing the curriculum are not always identified correctly and therefore their needs are not fully understood or supported. Staff do not identify children's emotional barriers and do not effectively support children's behaviour. This impacts on how well children access the curriculum and their educational outcomes.

Leaders and staff have tried to put a curriculum in place that builds on what children can already do and what they need to do next. Staff understand how some children are developing. For instance, they know how to promote some children's speech, language and communication skills. They repeat words back to younger children and model pronunciation. For some older children, they extend their speech by asking questions and encouraging them to use more complex language to explain their thinking, using clear and organised sentences. Staff focus on building children's confidence to select their own resources and lead their own learning. Overall, most children are focused in their play and benefit from the activities.

Achievement: Needs attention

Children who experience barriers to their learning are not prepared well enough for school. While some children achieve well, others do not receive the support they need swiftly enough and are not making the progress they could. For example, not all children build the social and emotional skills required for starting school, such as being able to share their feelings and tell adults what they want and need.

Despite this, some children learn to wash their own hands and attend to their own toileting needs. They build positive early reading habits, which staff promote through the provision of enticing areas for reading. Children of all ages frequently choose to look at books by themselves and with their friends.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Urgent improvement

Breaches to statutory requirements mean that leaders do not have effective systems in place to identify concerns in order to support all children. Staff fail to recognise that when children struggle to regulate their behaviour, this causes a barrier to their learning. Although staff identify when children's behaviour requires additional support, they fail to make timely referrals to seek specialist support. This means staff do not adapt their practice accordingly and this impacts some children's ability to regulate and display positive behaviours and attitudes to learning.

Staff support children's focus and engagement. For example, staff have improved how they support children to wait for their turn and remain focused in planned daily group sessions, in preparation to start school. Staff support children to know is happening next. For instance, they use bells to tell children when they are moving on to another activity and to give them warnings. Staff support children who struggle with transitions to count down how many minutes they have remaining before they change activity. This promotes their understanding of how to follow routines.

Attendance is supported. For example, leaders and staff have procedures to contact parents in the morning if children do not arrive. They monitor absences to identify patterns and trends and discuss these with parents to support attendance.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Urgent improvement

Leaders do not ensure that policies and procedures are implemented effectively, to ensure that all children, and particularly those who face barriers to their learning, wellbeing and welfare, are supported. Essential support is not put in place swiftly enough to support children to understand their emotions and how to express themselves appropriately. This means some children make slower progress due to their needs not being supported.

Generally, children build positive relationships with the staff. They develop secure attachments with their key person. Staff promote children's sense of belonging and confidence. For instance, they welcome children to the table when they want to join in a play dough activity and model kindness by offering them some dough. Most children are excited and focused in their play and display confidence.

Staff support children's understanding of healthy foods and build positive eating habits. For instance, they offer nutritional foods at snack time and sit with children when they eat. They talk about which foods they are eating and how these foods keep us healthy. Older children learn how to brush their teeth and ways to promote oral health. Staff use mealtimes to support children's developing manners and social skills. For example, they teach children how to say 'please' and 'thank you' when they are helped, or if there is something they need.

Leadership and governance: Urgent improvement

Leaders do not ensure that effective safeguarding procedures are in place. For example, they do not make referrals to the local safeguarding board as soon as they are aware of concerns about the safety of a child. They do not keep effective oversight of concerns staff have about children in their care. As a result, they are unable to swiftly identify patterns of concern. Leaders fail to support staff to identify barriers to children's learning, and do not provide effective support for staff to manage children's behaviour successfully. This limits the progress these children make as they do not receive the targeted support they need.

Despite this, staff feel supported and that they can go to leaders for any help they need. They feel their wellbeing and workload is supported. For example, leaders offer a later start time for staff who have to rely on buses to get to work. Staff enjoy working at the pre-school. Leaders also ensure staff are suitable to work with children. For example, they conduct thorough interviews and checks on staff. They also monitor their ongoing suitability each year to ensure they remain safe to work with children.

Leaders work with parents to support children's transitions, and with outside agencies for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities that are already identified.