Little Acorns Pre-School

Little Acorns Pre-School Highfield Church Centre, Highfield Lane, SOUTHAMPTON, SO17 1RL

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 15 July 2015 6 December 2010

p.1

This inspection: Outstanding 1

Previous inspection: Good 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend Outstanding 1

p.1

This inspection: Outstanding 1

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

p.1

This inspection: Outstanding 1

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

p.1

This inspection: Outstanding 1

The setting meets legal requirements for early years settings

p.1

This provision is outstanding

 The pre-school celebrates its diversity extremely well. All children are respected and valued and staff are sensitive to children's individual needs. Children form strong attachments to staff, which helps them develop confidence and self-esteem that help them learn.  The quality of teaching throughout the pre-school is excellent. Staff ensure children, including those who speak English as an additional language, make exceptional progress in their learning.  The manager and staff monitor the educational programmes and children's progress thoroughly. This ensures children have access to a wide range of learning experiences that help them make excellent progress across all areas.  The manager and the staff team work extremely well together. They have an excellent understanding of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They have a strong commitment to promoting high-quality provision and achieving excellence in all

p.1

This provision is outstanding

areas.  Children benefit hugely from the highly successful partnership between the staff and parents who share key information effectively between them. Therefore, children receive continuity in their care and learning.  Staff prepare children with less experience and confidence, when they begin pre- school, extremely well for the next stage in their learning.  The experienced manager has an excellent understanding of safeguarding and monitors her staff's ongoing suitability. Staff keep children safe and are very clear about their roles and responsibilities.

p.1

What the setting needs to do to improve further

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

p.2

What the setting needs to do to improve further

 enhance further the opportunities for children to learn about the lives and experiences of others in their community and wider world.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector held a meeting with the manager and spoke to children and staff at appropriate times during the inspection.  The inspector looked at children's assessment records and sampled other documentation, including safeguarding information.  The inspector observed staff's interactions with children and the quality of teaching in the indoor and the outdoor learning environments.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to during the inspection.

p.2

who attend. This is outstanding

Children relish their time at pre-school and are very happy and relaxed. Staff provide a wide range of exciting activities that stimulate and motivate children to become active learners. Children are very enthusiastic and develop a highly positive attitude to their learning. This prepares them well for school. Children develop very good communication skills and are extremely confident talkers due to the very effective techniques used by the staff. For example, staff asked skilled questions that stretched children's thinking as the children took part in a water play activity and joined in a rhyming story. Children develop excellent counting skills as they are encouraged to count during everyday activities. For example, they counted how many candles were on the cake and how many pieces of fruit they took for snack. The quality of planning for all children is excellent. Each child receives an exceedingly enjoyable, challenging experience across all areas of learning.

p.3

outstanding

Children are welcomed into an extremely warm and friendly environment. The staff meet the children's physical and learning needs with great success. Children build very strong emotional and trusting relationships with staff, which supports their emotional development well. The pre-school provides an excellent range of accessible resources, which promotes children's independence. The children benefit from lots of opportunities to learn and explore in the outside environment. The staff fully promote the children's health and safety. Children behave extremely well because staff have very high expectations of them. They learn to share and take turns and play very well together. They develop excellent relationships with each other, and interact extremely well together. Children are exceptionally well prepared for their progression to school.

p.3

provision is outstanding

The management team is committed to providing provision of the highest quality. There are very effective systems to check and evaluate staff practice and to identify ongoing and specific individual training needs. Staff undertake training to increase their teaching skills and are encouraged to gain further qualifications. This has an excellent effect on the quality of children's learning experiences. There are thorough methods of evaluating the pre-school's service. The manager has identified accurately the need to enhance further children's understanding of the wider world. Partnerships with other settings the children attend are excellent. Staff liaise extremely well with the other providers of the Early Years Foundation Stage where children attend other settings. This results in a fully shared approach to children's care and learning.

p.3

Setting details

Unique reference number EY359829 Local authority Southampton Inspection number 835422 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 17 Number of children on roll 41 Name of provider Carol Romilly Date of previous inspection 6 December 2010 Telephone number 02380 554 829

p.4

Setting details

Little Acorns Pre-school first opened in 1991 and re-registered in 2007. The group is privately owned and operates from a room in a church centre in the Highfield area of Southampton. The pre-school is in receipt of funding for early education for children aged two, three and four years. Sessions are from 9.15am to 11.45am each weekday and from12.30pm to 3pm on Mondays and Wednesdays, term time only. There are four members of staff working with children, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications.

p.4

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.

p.4

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.

p.4

Setting details

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

p.5

Setting details

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

p.5