Metheringham Pre-School

Inclusion: Expected standard

Leaders and staff know the children in their care well, including what makes them unique. They assess children's development and achievements to determine appropriate next steps, which are embedded within children's play. Leaders and staff work with external professionals to make sure that children receive the support they need to ensure they make steady progress from their starting points.

Leaders use funding effectively to support children. For example, targeted funding is used to purchase appropriate resources to support one-to-one interventions. Staff monitor and review the impact this has on children's learning to ensure that it helps to improve outcomes for them.

Staff understand that some children with special educational needs and/or disabilities find playing alongside others and taking part in daily routines a challenge. They are developing strategies to help children manage their own emotions and enabling them to join in with the activities on offer at their own pace. For example, some children find singing time too noisy. They are supported to move to a quiet space until they feel ready to rejoin the group.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders work with staff to identify the most important areas of learning for the children in their care. They have developed a broad curriculum based on children's interests, with appropriate next steps embedded within children's play. Staff adapt activities for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This enables all children to take part in the daily routines and join in activities with their friends.

Staff use mealtimes to help children develop their early social skills. Children excitedly tell their friends and staff about what they have had for breakfast. They listen to their friends and are supported by staff to share their own experiences. Staff support children to use their manners as they share the fruit platter, passing it helpfully around the group. This supports children to develop their conversational skills and positively interact with others.

Leaders and staff provide a well-considered learning environment within the pre-school. Children benefit from a balance of child-led play and adult-initiated activities indoors. This includes those children with SEND and those who face barriers to their learning. However, staff do not always plan and provide the same level of rich learning experiences outdoors. This means that some children do not fully engage in outdoor play.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children are developing their language and communication skills well. For example, children eagerly join group singing time with their friends. They join in with the actions, enthusiastically singing along with the familiar words. Children take turns to choose a friend to dance with in the centre of the circle, while their friends clap and sing to them. Other children enjoy looking at books with their friends. They sit together to compare pictures they have found and name the animals they can see.

Overall, children achieve well from their starting points and gain skills that will prepare them for their move on to school. Children enjoy engaging with the well-considered resources that staff have provided. They remain deeply focused while they create buildings from clicking different-coloured shapes together and when connecting long lines of cubes together. That said, at these times, children receive less purposeful interaction from staff than at other times. This means children are not consistently building on what they already know and can do.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Staff have built positive relationships with the children in their care. As a result, children arrive at pre-school eager to engage with the activities on offer. Children are keen to help staff. They busy themselves during tidy-up time, putting resources away in the correct places. Staff praise children for their help. Children are full of pride as they receive stickers for their hard work. Staff know that some children need additional support to manage their emotions. They use strategies such as distraction techniques and calming corners to help children regulate their feelings. This helps children return to their play quickly.

Staff support children to take turns, share resources, use their manners and follow pre-school rules. Children enjoy playing games with their friends, with staff providing guidance to help children follow the rules. When children demonstrate unwanted behaviour, staff intervene swiftly, but they do not always help children understand what is expected of them. For example, when children push others, staff ask them to stop but do not explain why. This does not help children learn the impact of their actions on others.

Leaders have a clear process in place to monitor attendance. They work with parents to help them understand the importance of regular attendance and how it may affect their child's development.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Children build secure attachments with their key person. Staff recognise that some children are learning to manage their emotions. When children become distressed during their play or when taking part in daily routines, staff swiftly intervene and help children to calm down and settle. Leaders have identified that children need support to manage these emotions more effectively themselves. While this has not yet been fully embedded in practice, staff are starting to work with parents and children to better manage this.

Leaders understand the importance of supporting children's health and wellbeing. For example, all children have daily access to outdoor play, staff work with parents to ensure children have access to healthy lunches, and staff provide children with nutritious snacks and fresh drinking water. Staff support children to wash their hands before meals to help them develop positive hand hygiene practices.

Leaders and staff encourage children's early independence skills, which are embedded in daily routines. Children set up chairs at the lunch table and get their coat from their peg in readiness for outdoor play. In addition, children wipe their nose and put their used tissue in the bin, and they know to wash their hands after messy play. This helps children recognise their self-care needs.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders have taken a positive approach to the actions raised at the last inspection. They have strengthened their procedures, ensuring concerns about children's safety and welfare are swiftly identified and referred to the relevant professional agency. In addition, they have further developed their systems to obtain information about children's medication needs. This assures children's safety and welfare while at the pre-school.

Leaders ensure all staff receive regular supervision and have dedicated time to access training opportunities to enhance the provision further. They fully consider staff's wellbeing and workload, ensuring that support is available when needed and expectations are realistic. This helps maintain a safe and positive environment for everyone.

Leaders and staff develop positive relationships with parents. Parents say their children are developing their early social skills and that staff share strategies with them to help support their children's progress at home. Leaders and staff communicate daily with parents regarding their children's progress at pre-school and are responsive to any parental concerns.

Leaders work closely with external professionals so children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their learning, receive appropriate and targeted support.