Widcombe Acorns Pre-School and Forest School

Widcombe Acorns Pre- School St Marks Community Centre, St Marks Road,Widcombe, Bath, BA2 4PA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 16 December 2015 25 September 2009

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This inspection: Outstanding 1

Effectiveness of the leadership and management Outstanding 1

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This inspection: Outstanding 1

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding 1

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This inspection: Outstanding 1

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Staff are exceptionally good role models to children. They provide them with reminders about positive behaviour and effective strategies for them to use. Children learn to respect and value others, take turns and consider the feelings of others. They are well prepared socially for future life and the next stage in learning.  Staff support children's personal, social and emotional skills exceptionally well. For example, they speak to children about their home lives to help them develop an excellent sense of their own identity and respect differences between themselves and others.  Staff form excellent partnerships with parents. Parents are extremely well informed, support their children's learning at home and take an active role in the pre-school.  The highly qualified and experienced provider is committed to providing children with excellent care and education. The provider uses self-evaluation extremely well to

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This provision is outstanding

identify and maintain high-quality improvements. She supports staff to do high-quality training to maintain excellent knowledge and practice.  Staff have an excellent knowledge of how young children learn. They plan activities tailored to the individual needs of each child and support everyone to make very good progress from their starting points.

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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

 find even more inspiring ways to improve the already excellent teaching at storytimes to maintain children's attention and support their literacy and early reading skills even further.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with the provider at appropriate times during the inspection and in a scheduled meeting.  The inspector observed children's activities and staff teaching, inside and outside.  The inspector looked at documentation including a sample of children's records, planning and assessment records, and the suitability of the committee and staff to work with children.  The inspector took account of the views of children, staff, and parents spoken to on the day of the inspection, and of the provider's self-evaluation.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the provider.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is outstanding

The provider is very effective in setting ambitious goals. The staff team are passionate and demonstrate a drive for constant improvement. Team morale is high. The manager reviews staff practice thoroughly. The leaders' checking of children's progress focuses sharply on identifying gaps as soon as they appear. This enables them to implement effective support quickly and close any gaps promptly. Safeguarding is effective. Staff have robust knowledge and understanding of their responsibilities, in particular child protection and safeguarding procedures, to protect children from harm.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

Staff make activities extremely exciting and motivating for all children. They focus children's attention exceptionally well by using a range of teaching strategies. This includes singing, using signs and symbols, and being highly enthusiastic. This helps children to develop excellent concentration skills, think creatively and extend their language skills exceptionally well. This very high-quality teaching promotes children's love of stories and books, which is valuable for school. However, staff miss the occasionally opportunity to consistently capture every child's enthusiasm. Staff ensure children have plenty of time to explore their own thoughts and ideas. They extend these by challenging children to solve problems and think more deeply. Staff ensure children have extensive opportunities to be imaginative. This very high-quality teaching helps children's creativity.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are outstanding

The well-qualified staff know children extremely well as individuals. They provide an excellent learning environment with a wide range of high-quality toys and equipment. Staff provide extremely sensitive support for children's emotional development. Children are very independent and confident to explore and experiment. Children form very caring bonds with their key person. They show respect and work well with friends. Children are very settled and extremely happy. Staff demonstrate a sharp focus on developing children's knowledge of their own safety. For example, children recognise stinging nettles and know that they are not safe to touch. Children benefit from an excellent range of highly-stimulating activities and opportunities to play outdoors, learn about nature and enjoy exercise and fresh air. Children develop excellent physical skills, which helps promote their health, confidence and self-esteem very well.

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Outcomes for children are outstanding

All children make fast progress in their learning and development. They enjoy fantastic play and learning opportunities tailored to their needs. Staff use precise assessments to ensure they challenge every child and prepare them exceptionally well for school.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 133108 Local authority Bath & NE Somerset Inspection number 825549 Type of provision Full-time provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 25 Number of children on roll 42 Name of provider Widcombe Acorns Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 25 September 2009 Telephone number 01225 445446

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Setting details

Widcombe Acorns Pre-school registered in 1975 and operates in Bath. The pre-school is open each weekday from Monday to Friday from 9am to 3.30pm during term time. There are nine members of staff, of whom two, including the manager, have a relevant degree level qualification and four hold relevant early years qualifications at level 3. The setting is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years.

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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

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Setting details

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