Busy Bees Pre-School

Inspection of Busy Bees Pre-School The Scout Hut, Strokins Road, Kingsclere, Newbury, Berkshire RG20 5RH

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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 Good

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The provision is good

Children play in a safe, welcoming and engaging environment. They walk in happily and are ready to learn. Staff provide enjoyable and exciting activities for children to choose from. Children learn to share, take turns and respect each other. For example, staff reinforce children's understanding of turn taking with the use of a sand timer. Children wait patiently for the sand to reach the bottom and know it is their turn.

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The provision is good

Staff know children well and build secure bonds with them to promote their emotional well-being. They have high expectations of children's behaviour and set clear boundaries, which the children readily respond to. Children show high levels of curiosity. They have lots of opportunities to learn about the world around them, such as a farm visit, where they fed and petted the different animals.

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The provision is good

Staff help children to understand and adopt a healthy lifestyle. Children enjoy the pre-school's garden and keep physically active. For example, they competently use balance bicycles as they manoeuvre around the open space. Children talk about the need for healthy food in their lunch boxes.

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The provision is good

Children are good communicators. They are also taught Makaton to further enhance their interactions with each other. For instance, children confidently use the signs for 'good morning', 'please' and 'thank you'.

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need to do better?

n Leaders have identified the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's learning and development. They recognise that children's personal, social and emotional needs as well as their communication and language skills need additional support. Staff have a specific focus on these areas so that children continue to make good progress. n Leaders have worked hard to improve the quality of the outdoor provision. Children benefit from the well-resourced area, such as the mud kitchen. For example, they use a range of herbs to make mud pies. This supports children's skills to identify different herbs in their play. n Staff have systems in place to observe and monitor children's progress. They act swiftly to close any gaps in learning and ensure that all children develop well. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities as well as those who receive additional funding. Staff also seek advice from other

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need to do better?

professionals to help to promote children's continuity of care and learning. n Staff make the most of opportunities to develop children's mathematical knowledge and understanding. Children count accurately in sequence and can recognise some numerals. Some children go further and instantly say the

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need to do better?

7 March 2022 number of objects in a small group without counting. This demonstrates that children understand the value of a number. n Children use a variety of natural resources to create their own play. They share ideas to solve a problem. For example, children try to construct a den with small branches of a tree. They try out different ways to make it stable and successfully use the back of a bench. n Staff are suitably qualified and know how children learn. They are supportive of each other and work well as a team. However, leaders do not sufficiently provide training opportunities to strengthen individual staff's professional development to further enhance their teaching. n Parents and staff have a strong and effective partnership. Parents speak highly of the care and how well their children progress through the pre-school. They are particularly impressed with the pre-school's well-established lines of

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need to do better?

communication, which includes ideas to support their children at home. This keeps the parents well informed of their children's daily experiences and achievements over time. Parents comment on how confident and independent their children have become during their time at the pre-school. n Staff gather detailed information from parents, which helps to provide a better understanding of what children can and cannot do. However, at times, staff do not purposefully plan the next steps for children to take their learning to a higher level. n Children are well prepared for their move to school. They learn to use their knowledge of letters and sounds to recognise simple words. Older children recognise their name. Leaders and staff follow a programme of activities that enable children to become familiar with their new school. For instance, they organise visits to the school to see the children at work.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff demonstrate a suitable understanding of their duty to protect children from the risk of harm. They receive regular updates of safeguarding information at staff meetings. They recognise the potential signs and symptoms of abuse and understand the local procedures to follow if they need to seek further help or to report any concerns. Staff have appropriate knowledge of wider safeguarding matters, such as the risks posed to children by extremist views and behaviours. Leaders have appropriate procedures in place to check that staff are suitable to work with children. They carry out regular risk assessments of the environment to identify and minimise risks to children's safety.

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should:

7 March 2022 n enhance individual staff training needs to strengthen their teaching in order to provide further opportunities to extend children's learning n focus sharply on planning to consistently include children's next steps for learning to enable them to make even greater progress.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 511310 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 10228310 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register Day care type Full day care

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inspection

Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 21 Name of registered person Busy Bees Playgroup (Kingsclere) Committee

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reference number

Telephone number 01635299566 Date of previous inspection 29 September 2016

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Information about this early years setting

Busy Bees Pre-School registered in 1976 and is located in the scout hut in Kingsclere, Berkshire. The pre-school employs five members of staff, all of whom hold a relevant childcare qualification at level 3 or above. The pre-school is open from Monday to Friday during term time only. Sessions are from 8.30am to 3pm. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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Inspection activities

n This was the first routine inspection the pre-school 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 pre-school. n The inspector viewed the provision and discussed the safety and suitability of the premises. n The manager joined the inspector on a learning walk and talked to the inspector about their curriculum and what they want the children to learn. n Children communicated with the inspector during the inspection. n The inspector talked to staff at appropriate times during the inspection and took account of their views. n The special educational needs coordinator spoke to the inspector about how they support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. n The inspector observed the quality of education being provided, indoors and outdoors, and assessed the impact on children's learning.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector carried out a joint observation of a communication and language activity with the manager. n The inspector spoke to several parents during the inspection and took account of their views. n The inspector looked at relevant documentation and reviewed evidence of the suitability of staff working in the pre-school.

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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

7 March 2022 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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