Early Steps Preschool

Early Steps Preschool Waterlea Adventure Playground, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 6SP

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 15 September 2016 Not applicable

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This inspection: Good 2

Effectiveness of the leadership and management Good 2

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This inspection: Good 2

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good 2

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This inspection: Good 2

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding 1

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This provision is good

 Management and staff understand how children learn and develop. They provide a wide range of stimulating and challenging activities that children explore with confidence. All children make good progress from their initial starting points.  Staff support children's language and communication skills well. Children, including those who speak English as an additional language, develop these skills quickly.  Staff give a high priority to children who have special educational needs or disability. They work exceptionally well with parents and other professionals to provide good support to address children's specific needs.  Children's behaviour is exemplary. Children are exceptionally polite and respectful to each other. They demonstrate excellent care and consideration for each other and share their toys extremely well, considering their young age.  Management and staff use self-evaluation effectively and identify weaknesses to

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This provision is good

maintain consistent improvements. They consider the views of parents, staff and children and plan appropriate developments successfully.

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It is not yet outstanding because:

 Staff do not consistently consider the organisation of some resources to enable children to have enough room to participate fully.  Staff occasionally miss opportunities to further support parents and build on children's learning at home.

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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

 review the play areas to make sure that children have enough room to comfortably participate in their chosen activities  build on the good opportunities to support parents even further, to help extend their children's learning at home.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the quality of teaching during activities indoors and outdoors, and assessed the impact this has on children's learning.  The inspector spoke with members of staff and children at appropriate times during the inspection and held meetings with the manager.  The inspector sampled a range of documents, including children's development records, records of staff suitability checks and qualifications, and safeguarding procedures.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector took into account the views of parents spoken to on the day of the inspection and looked at parents' written questionnaires.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is good

The pre-school is led by an ambitious provider and manager who are committed to providing a high quality service. Safeguarding is effective. Staff have a good awareness of the procedures in place to protect children and maintain their welfare. There are stringent procedures in place to check the suitability of staff and to help them understand their roles and responsibilities. Effective risk assessments help to enable staff to ensure that children can play safely. The management team supports and guides staff effectively to provide good quality teaching, and to develop their professional knowledge even further. This has a positive impact on children's learning and development.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

Staff take the time to get to know children and they use what they know about children's interests to plan activities that excite and engage them. All children, including those who have special educational needs or disability, are supported well. They are all extremely eager to play and explore. Children have good opportunities to enjoy books. They listen to stories regularly and respond well to questions about what they have heard in the story. This helps to encourage children to think and to share their thoughts, and supports their language and communication development. Staff make good use of their assessments to highlight areas where individual or groups of children need more support. For instance, they introduce letters and sounds to support children's early literacy skills. Children enjoy being physically active. They climb, roll and jump, and enjoy woodland walks, searching for bugs and exploring nature.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are outstanding

Staff know children extremely well and they develop exceptionally warm relationships which help children feel safe and secure while at pre-school. Children show great pride in having responsibility at a young age. Even the youngest children take part in setting up their places at snack time, serve themselves and clear their bowls away. Staff support children exceptionally well and praise their achievements, which helps to support children's self-esteem and emotional well-being. Staff support children's awareness of their local community extremely well. For example, children became fully engrossed in learning about firefighting equipment located on a fire engine and about how to stay safe.

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Outcomes for children are good

All children make good progress from their unique starting points. Children develop the skills needed for writing. For example, they enjoy mark making activities in the outdoor play area. Children are well motivated and remain engrossed and engaged in purposeful activities for long periods. For example, they explore the wide range of real fruits and vegetables during pretend play. Children are well prepared for their future learning.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY485912 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 1006175 Type of provision Sessional provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register Age range of children 2 - 4 Total number of places 32 Number of children on roll 23 Name of registered person Thomas Christopher George Hilton-Lee

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reference number

Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 01293544513

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reference number

Early Steps Preschool was registered in February 2015. It operates from a single-storey building in the grounds of Waterlea Adventure Playground, Furnace Green, Crawley, West Sussex. The pre-school is open each weekday from 8.45am until 2.45pm. It receives funding to provide free early education for children aged three and four years. The pre- school employs seven staff; of these, five have appropriate early years qualifications. The manager holds early years professional status.

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reference number

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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reference number

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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reference number

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 reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/, write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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reference number

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reference number

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

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