Noah's Ark Pre-School

Noah's Ark Pre-School Townhill Farm Community Centre, Townhill Way, West End, Southampton, SO18 3RA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 3 May 2017 7 December 2012

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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

 The manager uses her exceptional childcare knowledge to coach staff and evaluate and influence the extremely high-quality pre-school. Teachers and staff in other early years provisions visit the pre-school to observe examples of exemplary practice.  Teaching practice is exceptional. Staff skilfully capture children's interest in learning and support them to make excellent progress from their starting points. They make superb use of what children can already do, to assess, support and challenge their learning. Staff provide children with an exceptionally exciting, stimulating and challenging learning environment, both indoors and outdoors.  Children are extremely motivated, independent and confident in their play. Under close staff supervision, children thoroughly enjoy learning to use tools safely. For instance, they use an electric mixer whilst making cakes and use screwdrivers, hammers and saws during woodwork activities.

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This provision is outstanding

 Staff provide outstanding role models for children to copy, particularly in the way they communicate with others in a polite and respectful way. Children are exceptionally well behaved, happy and settled and form close relationships with staff and other children. They thoroughly enjoy the involvement of other children in their play.  Partnerships with parents are extremely effective in meeting children's individual needs, including children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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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

 consider ways to involve parents in self-evaluation to enhance the excellent quality of the pre-school further.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed indoor and outdoor activities.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the pre-school manager.  The inspector talked with staff, children and the manager at appropriate times throughout the inspection.  The inspector looked at a sample of documentation.  The inspector spoke to parents and took account of their views.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is outstanding

Safeguarding is effective. The manager works very effectively with staff and the local authority to implement high quality safeguarding practice. Extremely robust staff recruitment and induction procedures ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. Staff are supported extremely effectively to continually improve their excellent teaching practice and professional development. For example, last year, the manager took the whole staff team to a conference about excellence learning. This has significantly improved how staff monitor and support children's development. The premises are extremely safe and secure. Required adult-to-child ratios are met at all times. Staff are exceptionally well deployed to meet children's individual needs and keep them safe.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

Staff provide children with an outstanding range of planned activities and opportunities to develop and practise new skills. Children explore and use resources with immense enthusiasm. Staff talk with children in an exceptionally encouraging and positive way. They embrace their ideas, ask questions, guide them and skilfully extend their learning. For example, when children decide to make a unicorn cake, staff suggest they use books to look up recipes. Children do this with great enthusiasm and excitement and independently select the ingredients from the low-level shelves. Children concentrate and persist extremely well and develop exceptional control of their movements. For example, they carefully ride wooden trucks across low-level blocks in the outdoor play area.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are outstanding

Staff are outstanding role models. For example, they patiently and continually build children's ability to do things for themselves. They provide excellent support and supervision that enables children to use the resources safely and independently. For instance, children wash glass bowls which they use for preparing and mixing paint. Children carefully judge risks for themselves. For example, during Forest School activities they help others to avoid tripping over tree roots. The premises are very safe and secure. Staff support children's good health exceptionally well. They provide a thoroughly exciting learning environment that inspires children to be active and energetic learners.

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Outcomes for children are outstanding

Children develop a wealth of skills that prepare them extremely well for starting school. For example, they eagerly find and use cards to independently write their names. They learn to write letters in dried couscous, on tablets and on their artwork. Children learn about numbers and use mathematical language with great enthusiasm, for example, while measuring the height of vegetables they plant in the pre-school garden.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 110006 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 1097459 Type of provision Full-time provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register Age range of children 2 - 4 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 44 Name of registered person Noah's Ark Pre-School (Chartwell Green) Committee

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 7 December 2012 Telephone number 0788 7623981

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reference number

Noah's Ark Pre-School registered in 1990. It is located in Southampton, Hampshire. The pre-school receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. It opens Monday to Friday, during term time, from 8.30am to 3.30pm. The pre-school employs four members of staff, all of whom hold appropriate childcare qualifications at level 3 or above. 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

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reference number

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reference number

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