Twinkle Tots Pre School

Inspection of Twinkle Tots Pre School Heelands Meeting Place, Glovers Lane, Heelands, MILTON KEYNES MK13 7PG

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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

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The provision requires improvement

Children do not benefit from equally well-planned learning opportunities. Overall, they enjoy the activities that staff provide and their behaviour and attitudes are good. However, staff do not consistently consider the knowledge and skills they want children to learn. This means that not all children are well prepared for the next stages in their learning.

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The provision requires improvement

Children demonstrate a strong sense of belonging. They build good relationships with their key person, who works closely with parents to ensure that they settle in well. Children arrive happily at pre-school. Their key person greets them and they quickly explore the playroom with their friends. This shows that children feel safe and secure.

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The provision requires improvement

Children are kind and considerate. For example, when approaching friends who are playing with the castle, they say 'Please can I play with that?'. Children welcome others into their play. They go on to play imaginatively together, varying their voices and pretending to be characters who live in the castle.

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The provision requires improvement

Children benefit from a range of experiences in pre-school that they may otherwise not receive. For example, they learn about animals during a farm visit, go for a trip on the bus an enjoy singing sessions with their friends.

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need to do better?

n Staff do not share a consistently good understanding of what they want children to learn and how to deliver this. At times, staff focus the curriculum on the activities that they can organise in response to children's interests. They are not consistently effective in planning the curriculum to focus on the skills and knowledge that they want children to learn. As a result, the curriculum is not planned and sequenced effectively for all children and it is not delivered well enough. The manager monitors staff practice. However, this is not fully effective, as she has not identified these weaknesses. n Members of the management team ensure that they use additional funding for vulnerable children effectively. They use funding, such as deprivation grants, to support individual families' different needs. For instance, they provide food parcels and use funds to enable families to access activities or resources to

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need to do better?

support children's development. n Staff promote positive behaviour well. They recognise when children need to learn what good behaviour looks like. Staff play alongside children, teaching them how to play alongside others. Children begin to learn how to share toys and take turns with others. Staff encourage them to celebrate their friend's achievements. For instance, when children count out dinosaurs correctly to

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need to do better?

21 October 2021 match numbers on the dice, they clap and give the thumbs up to their friends. n Staff work in partnership with parents well to support children's personal care needs. For example, they communicate with parents about children's developing interest in using the toilet. Staff mirror in pre-school the ways that children learn to use the toilet at home. This is helping children to begin to manage their self- care. Parents report that staff help their children to adapt to mealtime routines. This is helping their children to sit and eat with their family at home. n Staff provide good opportunities for children to learn about the differences between themselves and others. For example, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, children enjoyed 'Culture Day'. Children and their families came to pre-school in traditional clothing, bringing foods from other cultures for their friends to sample. They went on to share photos of their families and find countries on

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need to do better?

maps that their families come from. n The manager provides positive support for staff well-being. For instance, she has completed mental health first-aid training. This is helping her to engage in conversations with staff about their well-being and put procedures in place to support them. Staff report that they feel very well supported in their role and there are ways for them to request help if needed.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff follow secure procedures to keep children safe. For example, they track children's attendance well, following up on children's absence promptly. Staff respond to accidents and incidents swiftly and record these in line with requirements. Staff complete regular risk assessments and daily checks to ensure that the building is safe for children. They supervise children well as they use tools and equipment in their activities, for example when they use manual drills to make holes in pumpkins. All staff have a secure safeguarding knowledge. They are familiar with local safeguarding partnership procedures for reporting any potential concerns about children or adults.

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should:

n strengthen planning to ensure that the curriculum focuses on the skills and knowledge that children need to learn over time n develop staff support to help them understand how to deliver a well-sequenced curriculum n improve systems for monitoring and sharing best practice to help ensure that the quality of education is consistently good.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 141880 Local authority Milton Keynes Inspection number 10209752 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises Registers Early Years Register Day care type Sessional day care

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inspection

Total number of places 32 Number of children on roll 40 Name of registered person Twinkle Tots Pre School

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reference number

Telephone number 01908 311 911 Date of previous inspection 17 October 2016

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Information about this early years setting

Twinkle Tots Pre School registered in 2001. It is located in Heelands, Milton Keynes. The pre-school opens from Monday to Friday during term time only. Care is offered from 8.45am to 11.45am and from 12.15pm to 3.15pm, with the option for children to attend all day. A total of nine staff are employed. Of these, six hold qualifications at level 3.

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Inspection activities

n This was the first routine inspection the provider received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the provider and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the provider. n The manager and the inspector completed a learning walk together of all areas of the pre-school and discussed the curriculum. n The inspector talked to staff at appropriate times during the inspection and took account of their views. n The inspector carried out a joint observation of a group activity with the manager. n The inspector spoke to parents and considered their views.

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Inspection activities

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

21 October 2021 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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