St Mary's Under 5's Preschool

St Mary's Under 5's Preschool St Mary's Under 5's Preschool, Recreation Ground, London Road, GREENHITHE, Kent DA9 9DQ

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Inspection date 3 July 2019 Previous inspection date 25 September 2013

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This inspection: Outstanding 1

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding 1 Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding 1 Outcomes for children Outstanding 1

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This provision is outstanding

n The manager has high expectations of the staff and implements a range of support and training, so they continuously improve their teaching skills. As a result, outcomes for children are exceptional. n Staff work extremely closely with outside agencies and other early years professionals to ensure that children receive first-class support for their next transition or move to school. n Partnership with parents is excellent. This means that staff and parents work very closely together to ensure that children's learning and development are accurately monitored and any gaps are quickly addressed. Parents describe the setting as 'brilliant' and 'very personal'. n Children's behaviour is exemplary. Staff are excellent role models and offer extremely caring, highly sensitive support to both children and their families. Children's emotional development is given a high priority. Staff ensure that children's well-being and

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This provision is outstanding

behaviour are at the forefront of their learning. n Teaching is of a consistently high standard. Staff provide an exciting range of experiences and activities to ensure that children make outstanding progress in their learning and development. n Staff are highly effective in building on children's interests to extend their learning. For example, children are extremely motivated and engaged as they hide objects and animals in play dough and try to guess each other's item. n Staff demonstrate extremely high levels of support for children who are learning English as an additional language. For instance, they have an abundance of visual prompts throughout the setting to offer support.

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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

n continue to build on the already outstanding provision by further enriching the outdoor learning experiences for children.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

n The inspector observed the quality of teaching, both indoors and outdoors, and its impact on the children's learning. n The inspector sampled a selection of children's learning journals and other relevant documents, including staff qualifications and the setting's policies. n The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager. n The inspector took account of the views of parents. n The inspector spoke to staff and children during the inspection. n The inspector held discussions with the manager, deputy and other members of staff.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

Safeguarding is effective. The manager and staff have an excellent understanding of safeguarding practice and procedures to follow to keep children safe. The manager uses regular supervision and discussions with staff to quickly identify and address training needs. The manager is highly skilled and qualified and is committed to continuously extending her own learning. Staff have used the recent Early Talk Boost programme highly successfully to support children's language development. Children now make rapid progress in this area. The manager evaluates extremely well, and this ensures that the outstanding practice is maintained. The manager receives excellent support from committee members. They constantly strive to raise funds to further enhance the excellent resources and experiences of the setting to aid in the learning and development of the children. They are highly involved in the setting improvement plan

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

and are gathering suggestions to develop the garden further.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

The staff have an extremely accurate understanding of the individual needs of the children. Through their experience and skills, they are able to plan exciting and challenging activities for the children which follow their interests. Staff challenge children's thinking through games where children have to think of clues to give to other children for them to guess what object they have. They also provide open-ended resources to give the children scope to use their imagination to be creative. For example, in the garden children use lots of loose parts to make different objects. One child said he had built an aeroplane to go to Butlins. Staff complete rigorous monitoring and assessment of children's progress. They make highly effective use of additional funding where appropriate. This helps all children make rapid progress from their starting points.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are outstanding

Staff develop extremely strong relationships with both children and families at the setting. The majority of the staff team have worked at the setting for many years and know the families exceptionally well. Staff quickly identify children who may find transitioning difficult. Their positive and caring relationships ensure that the transitions between rooms and to school are particularly smooth. Children's well-being and independence are promoted through their personal hygiene routines and self-selection of healthy snacks. Staff encourage high levels of self-esteem, for instance by consistently praising children's efforts.

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Outcomes for children are outstanding

All children are confident and highly engaged in their learning. Children are excited to learn. They join in with group activities and are highly skilled in their negotiations, taking turns and sharing resources. They develop a wealth of language. Children explore the environment with great enthusiasm and concentrate for long periods of time on activities. They have exceptional relationships with their key person and through these become confident to make the next step in readiness for school.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY420241 Local authority Kent Inspection number 10114924 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises Registers Early Years Register Day care type Sessional day care Age range of children 2 - 4 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 74 Name of registered person St Marys Under Fives Playgroup Committee

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 25 September 2013 Telephone number 01322275442

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reference number

St Mary's Under 5's Preschool registered in 1980. It is located in Greenhithe in Kent. The preschool is open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 3.15pm, term time only. The provider receives funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three and four years. There are 12 members of staff who work with the children, nine of whom hold relevant qualifications at level 3 or above. The manager has 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.ofsted.gov.uk . 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 and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, 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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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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