Our Lady of Ransom Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are extremely keen and active learners. They cheerfully enter the pre-school, where they are greeted by caring staff who help them to place their belongings on their peg. Once in the main pre-school hall, children choose activities from the exciting, well-presented and resourceful environment, which staff set out each morning. Some children head straight for the craft table where they express themselves creatively and imaginatively. They freely access the superb selection of ribbons, boxes, glue, paper, stickers and a wide range of other materials. Staff are on hand to expertly guide and support their learning. For example, they help children to find just the right junk-modelling item to use for legs on their well-considered dinosaur model. Children become engrossed in role play and make excellent use of the interesting clothes, hats and bags available to help them to use their imagination and express themselves.

Children enjoy learning outdoors in the exciting garden. They make very good use of resources to help to build on their physical skills, such as bicycles, tricycles and balancing resources. Children explore nature as they use a selection of bug-hunting equipment to seek out spiders, ants and worms. Staff help them to find and name the insects they find, using reference books and the internet to enhance the children's learning. Children freely access an exciting selection of books within the pre-school as well as borrowing their book of choice from the setting to share with their family at home. They have fun acting out their favourite stories.

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

• Since the last inspection, the committee and manager have improved their understanding of information and changes that need to be notified to Ofsted. Managers take swift action to review and implement effective changes when issues arise. For example, following a recent incident, the procedures for checking the garden at the end of every outdoor session have been strengthened to ensure that all children have returned to the pre-school hall before the door is closed.
• Parents speak extremely well of the pre-school manager and staff. They comment on the 'family feel' that they believe their children experience from the kind, caring and professional adults. Many parents comment on how effectively the manager and staff work to support any children with additional needs. Parents state that they appreciate the individual attention and dedication that the staff show the whole family, including attending specialist appointments when asked.
• The manager and staff have very effective systems in place to plan for and meet every child's needs. They use the advice and guidance from outside professionals and agencies to put learning support and care plans in place for every child. Staff use effective speech and language strategies to help to develop and promote individual children's communication skills.
• The manager has a clear understanding of the setting's curriculum and what she and her staff want children to learn. They plan effectively to put the curriculum in place and regularly review and evaluate its effectiveness. For example, during the summer term, they place emphasis on children developing their independence skills in preparation for their next stage of learning. While there are good opportunities for children to be independent, such as by using knives to cut fruit, the manager recognises that there is scope for some children to be challenged more in their play and learning.
• The manager and staff team work well together and have daily defined roles and responsibilities. They take time to evaluate how effective systems are, such as staff supervision. The manager is working on improving her monitoring of staff practice and managerial responsibilities to ensure that all aspects of the pre-school operate to a consistently high level.
• Children are interested in learning about new things. Staff make excellent use of the 'curiosity cube', a resource where items of interest are placed. Children are able to see, explore and discuss what is inside. They are currently exploring a bird's nest. Staff are on hand to listen to the children's discussions and ask clear and purposeful questions to help them to develop their knowledge and thinking skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance opportunities for children to further develop their independence
• review the arrangements for leaders to monitor all aspects of the pre-school to help to raise the quality of teaching and managerial procedures to the highest level.