Little Acorns Preschool

Little Acorns Preschool 13 Parkhills Road, BURY, Lancashire, BL9 9AU

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 23 March 2018 15 January 2014

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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 staff work extremely closely together and share the same drive, passion and enthusiasm for the pre-school. They all actively contribute to driving standards and maintain the highest levels of aspiration for all children in their care.  The quality of teaching is exemplary. It is highly motivating for children and significantly enhances all aspects of their learning and development. Staff are highly skilled and follow children's interests superbly. All children make excellent progress.  Staff support children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and who speak English as an additional language extremely well. First-class partnerships are in place with a range of professionals to fully support children's individual needs.  There is an excellent key-person system in place and staff are superb role models for children. They have a deep understanding of children's needs and are excellent at

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This provision is outstanding

nurturing children to reach their individual maximum potential.  The management team constantly evaluates their service and is committed to driving further improvements. They welcome the views of children, parents and professionals.  Partnerships with parents are excellent. Parents highly value the care and nurture that staff provide for children and are fully involved with home learning and processes of assessment. Parents contribute their time to enrich learning experiences for 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 strengthen the already excellent tracking systems in place to assess children's progress from an even wider range of groups.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the quality of teaching during indoor and outdoor activities and assessed the impact this has on children's learning.  The inspector spoke with children, staff, parents and the management team during the inspection.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector held a meeting with the senior management team. She looked at documentation, such as children's development records, processes of assessment, a sample of policies and procedures, training records and the suitability of staff.  The inspector spoke to a number of parents during the inspection to take account of their views.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is outstanding

Safeguarding is effective. Staff demonstrate excellent safeguarding knowledge and practice. The manager is passionate about continuous professional development for all staff. Training has a direct impact on children. For example, staff have recently attended training to support children to understand phonics and develop their communication and language skills. Staff are supported through staff meetings, mentoring, observations of teaching and supervision meetings. All staff are assigned designated roles which support their natural strengths as an early years practitioner. Staff regularly meet with other professionals. For example, they attend multi-agency meetings with parents and invite staff from local schools into pre-school as children prepare to leave for school. Staff continually track children's progress to identify any gaps in their learning, these are swiftly addressed. Children are extremely well prepared for future learning.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

Staff are excellent teachers that engage children in learning through dynamic activities. They skilfully support children's learning. For example, children enjoy searching for 'dinosaur bones' in a large tub of soil and discuss the job of a palaeontologist. Staff provide a range of investigative and problem-solving opportunities. For example, children work together to explore directions on a programmable resource and investigate how the properties of eggs change as they are immersed in four types of liquid. Staff ensure all activities motivate children to learn and they continually observe children as they play to maximise learning opportunities. For example, children are spellbound during a circle time session as they consider how to pronounce letters correctly and blend sounds to make words. Staff are considering further ways to enhance assessment processes.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are outstanding

The pre-school has a very strong family feel which nurtures children's well-being exceptionally well. Staff play alongside children and help them to understand changes, such as the arrival of a new sibling. Children's behaviour is exemplary. They share resources, consider the needs of others and are supported to negotiate their own resolutions with one another if they want to use the same resource. Children learn about the wider world through visiting the local farm and growing their own produce which they eat. Parents are invited into pre-school to share their experiences. For example, bilingual parents read to children in their home language and share food from around the world as children learn about different festivals from other cultures.

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Outcomes for children are outstanding

All children make excellent progress in their learning and development. They are extremely confident and self-assured and have a thirst for learning and exploration. They are encouraged to make decisions, be independent and collaboratively work alongside others. They are highly motivated and are prepared with the key skills they will need for school and future learning.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 316842 Local authority Bury Inspection number 1101837 Type of provision Sessional provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register Age range of children 2 - 4 Total number of places 24 Number of children on roll 25 Name of registered person Metro Christian Centre, Bury

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 15 January 2014 Telephone number 0161 761 6942

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reference number

Little Acorns Preschool registered in September 2000. The pre-school employs five members of childcare staff. Of these one holds qualified teacher status, one holds an appropriate early years qualification at level 6, one holds a qualification at level 4 and two staff hold qualifications at level 3. The pre-school is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9am to 3.30pm, and Monday and Friday from 9am to 1pm, term time only. It provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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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

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

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