St Nicolas Pre-School and Playgroup

St Nicolas Pre-School and Playgroup St. Nicolas C of E Primary School, Boxhill Walk, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1HB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 9 June 2015 13 January 2009

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This inspection: Outstanding 1

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend Outstanding 1

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This inspection: Outstanding 1

The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children Outstanding 1

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This inspection: Outstanding 1

The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision Outstanding 1

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This inspection: Outstanding 1

The setting meets legal requirements for early years settings

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This provision is outstanding

 The quality of teaching across the pre-school staff is outstanding. Staff provide an excellent range of high-quality learning experiences for children. As a result, children are highly motivated, eager to explore and develop a curiosity for learning.  Staff support children's growing independence extremely well through challenge and motivational learning opportunities. As a result, children are confident and self-assured.  Highly effective and frequent communication with parents ensures that children's learning needs are identified from the beginning, and are supported throughout their time at pre-school.  The staff have a strong and caring ethos that puts children at the centre of everything they do. Consequently, children behave well and follow the rules and boundaries for acceptable behaviour throughout the day.  The highly inspirational manager has a strong drive for maintaining the highest levels of

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This provision is outstanding

achievement. She ensures self-evaluation is rigorous in monitoring practice and includes the views of staff, parents and children when evaluating the practice.  Safeguarding arrangements are extremely well-established to protect children. Staff all understand the procedures to follow should they have any concerns about children, which supports children's welfare and well-being well.  Children learning English as an additional language are exceptionally well supported. Staff work in partnership with parents to use words in the child's home language to greet and praise them, and increase their sense of belonging.  Robust recruitment and induction procedures are rigorously followed to safeguard children.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

 continue to enhance the outside area so that it provides children with even greater experiences and opportunities to explore resources and activities.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed and spoke to staff and children in both the indoor and outdoor areas.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector took account of the views of the parents spoken to on the day of the inspection and through written comments.  The inspector spoke to members of staff and children at appropriate times during the inspection and held meetings with the leadership and management team.  The inspector looked at children's records and planning documentation, checked evidence of staff's suitability and a range of other documentation, including policies and procedures to safeguard children's welfare.

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who attend. This is outstanding

Staff's quality of teaching is consistently high across all areas of learning. Effective deployment of skilled and motivated staff means that children are highly engaged during play activities. Staff effectively observe, assess and plan for children's individual needs and their next stage of development. Planning is highly effective and always relates to the interests and needs of individual children. As a result, children make exceptional progress in their learning and development. Children's speaking and listening skills are superbly supported. Children enjoy time attentively listening to stories. They contribute to stories by discussing what is happening and predicting what might happen next. Children with a range of abilities and needs, including special educational needs and/or disabilities, receive superb support and, as a result, make excellent progress and enjoy their play. Children participate in a varied range of physical activities. They look forward to a weekly exercise

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who attend. This is outstanding

class where they hop, jump, swing their arms and clap to the rhythm of the music.

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outstanding

Children form close, positive and excellent relationships with their key person and the other staff. Children feel very secure because staff work closely in partnership with parents to ensure they receive continuity in their care and learning. Children learn very good personal hygiene routines that help them to be independent in their self-care when they move on to school. Staff carry out robust risk assessments to ensure children are kept safe and secure. As a result, they give children's safety a high priority without restricting their independent exploration. Staff effectively support children's physical development and understanding of leading healthy lifestyles at every opportunity. They ensure children have as much access as possible to the outdoor environment. The opportunities indoors are slightly more inspiring than those outdoors. However, this area is being redeveloped.

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provision is outstanding

The excellent leadership and management play a key role in ensuring that staff practice is of the highest quality. Staff are extremely well supported through weekly team meetings, individual supervisions and appraisals. The manager closely monitors staff practice and provides them with regular opportunities for training and professional development. Incisive self-evaluation is embedded in practice and identifies how continual improvements are being made. Detailed analysis of groups of children means that any delays or gaps are swiftly identified and closed. Extremely effective partnerships are in place with a range of outside agencies, local schools and education providers to ensure children's individual needs are met as well as possible.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 153062 Local authority Oxfordshire Inspection number 826003 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 24 Number of children on roll 41 Name of provider St Nicolas Pre-School & Playgroup Committee Date of previous inspection 13 January 2009 Telephone number 01235 536061

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Setting details

St Nicolas Pre-School and Playgroup registered in 1982 and is managed by a committee of parents and members of the community. It is located in Abingdon, in Oxfordshire. The pre-school is open Monday to Friday, during term time only, from 8.40am to 11.40am and from 12.15pm to 3.15pm. There are nine members of staff who work with the children. Of these, seven have appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 and above. The nursery receives funding to provide free early education for children aged three and four.

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Setting details

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

procedures set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Setting details

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Setting details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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