The Corner Pre-School

Inspection of The Corner Pre-School St Cuthberts Trust, Lichfield Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO3 6DE

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Outstanding

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The provision is good

The staff team is well qualified and dedicated to providing a good learning environment for children. There is a strong ethos of enabling children to benefit from high-quality experiences. Staff plan activities which interest and challenge children. They provide a broad curriculum across all areas of learning, placing a good focus on building children's mathematical skills. Children are keen to learn and develop good attitudes to learning. They concentrate well in activities that interest them and are able to apply new knowledge in different situations. For instance, children learn about circles and semi-circles and then use this new knowledge to talk about the shapes of fruits they eat.

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The provision is good

Children are happy, safe and behave well. Staff place a strong focus on helping children to be independent. They encourage the children to learn to manage some self-care activities for themselves. Children confidently manage to wash their hands before they sit to eat. They enjoy threading their fruit snacks onto skewers and learn how to put on and fasten their coats before going outdoors. Staff work closely with the children and their families to promote a good transition into the pre-school. This contributes to children gaining skills in readiness for their future learning, including school.

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need to do better?

n Staff weave opportunities to broaden children's understanding of shapes and numbers into activities well. For instance, children learn about cubes and cuboids, count the sides on hexagons and recognise the circle shape of their eyes. Staff consistently help children well to learn to count, recognise numbers and apply knowledge they gain. n Children gain good listening and attention skills, both in small-group and in larger-group activities. Staff understand how to adapt teaching to gain children's attention and to maintain this for an appropriate length of time, depending on children's ages. This helps children to learn about expected behaviour boundaries to promote their good social skills throughout the pre-school. n Staff get to know their key children well. They make regular observations and assessments of what children know and can do from the outset. However, some assessments of children's development are not accurate to enable staff to

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need to do better?

meticulously plan and extend children's learning to the highest level. n Children benefit from an environment rich in language. Staff talk to children and listen to their ideas and views to build on their language skills. For instance, one child explains to a member of staff how to use the cameras to take 'rainbow pictures'. However, for some children, including those who speak English as an additional language and those who are less confident talkers, teaching and learning opportunities are not consistently tailored to help them gain targeted

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need to do better?

22 October 2019 speaking skills. n Children have a wide range of experiences to learn about the wider world and community they live in. For instance, children enjoy sharing pictures of their visit to the farm. They visit theatres, and, annually, they help to send 'Christmas boxes' to charity organisations. This contributes to children learning about different people, families and communities beyond their own. n The committee, manager and staff work well together. They create a safe and happy environment for children. Staff feel valued and well supported by the manager. Effective staff supervision and coaching is used to continue to develop staff teaching skills. Staff talk about training initiatives, such as how they have used new skills to understand the benefits of sensory play for children. n Children gain good physical skills through a range of interesting activities. For instance, children enjoy music and movement time as they gain good

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need to do better?

coordination skills, moving parts of their bodies. Children enjoy using the outside play area to practise climbing steps to the slide and take turns on the see-saw to see who can go higher. n Parents speak very highly of the pre-school. They value the welcoming environment that staff provide for children and their families. Parents say staff are friendly, helpful and provide care that helps children to settle into new routines well. When children start, staff gain a good range of information about children's care needs and use this knowledge to build strong bonds with children. This has been very beneficial to help ensure children's early experiences of education are good.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The committee, manager and staff are committed to providing a safe and secure environment for children to play and learn. Staff supervise children well. They risk assess and take action to minimise any risks to children swiftly. The manager implements regular safeguarding training for all staff. This helps staff to understand their roles and responsibilities to keep children safe. Staff know how to identify concerns about children that indicate they are at risk of harm. They understand how to report all concerns, following local safeguarding procedures. This helps to promote children's welfare effectively.

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should:

n strengthen staff's focus on ensuring accurate assessment of children's development to precisely identify how to help children achieve the next steps in their learning n strengthen how teaching and learning opportunities are tailored to support

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should:

22 October 2019 children who are learning to speak English as an additional language and also for less confident communicators, to help them gain targeted speaking skills.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY308683 Local authority Portsmouth Inspection number 10108607 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises Registers Early Years Register Day care type Full day care Age range of children 2 to 4 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 37 Name of registered person The Corner Pre-School Committee

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reference number

Telephone number 077480 64829 Date of previous inspection 30 April 2015

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Information about this early years setting

The Corner Pre-School registered in 2007 and is based in the St Cuthberts Trust Centre, in Portsmouth. The setting is open Monday to Thursday, from 9am to 3.45pm and on Friday from 9am to 3pm, during term time only. The setting is funded to provide free early education to children aged two, three and four years. The setting employs eight staff, seven of whom hold recognised early years qualifications at level 2 and above.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector spoke to the provider, the manager, staff and children at convenient times during the inspection. n The manager and inspector completed a joint observation and discussed the impact of teaching on children's learning. n Parents and children shared their views of the pre-school through discussions with the inspector and through written views. The inspector took account of these views. n The inspector observed children engaged in activities in the indoor and outdoor environment.

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Inspection activities

22 October 2019 We carried out this inspection 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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Inspection activities

22 October 2019 regulates and inspects to 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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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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