Aylesford Pre-School

Inspection of Aylesford Pre-School Aylesford Pavilion, Forstal Road, Aylesford, Kent ME20 7AU

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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 Not applicable

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The provision is good

Children happily come into pre-school and engage in play straight away. Staff lay out activities which they know will interest and settle all children. The pre-school provides a small, family feel to support children's emotional well-being. Children thrive here, while freely exploring their surroundings, and regularly seek cuddles from staff. They enjoy watching staff intently while stories are read to them. They jump and clap with delight and then sit close, smile and engage with the story.

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The provision is good

Children demonstrate good behaviour and an understanding of the rules and routines. They take turns on the rope swing and climbing around the apparatus. They enjoy helping each other with tasks, such as measuring out the ingredients for play dough. They show kindness when helping a lost bug find a suitable home.

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The provision is good

Staff provide a range of exciting activities to captivate all children. These include water exploration, with added tweezers and bugs, and weighing different foods using scales. Staff have high expectations for all children and are good at involving everyone, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The curriculum is skilfully planned to build on what children already know. For example, children explore different animals and vegetables because they have visited the farm and grown their own food in the allotments. This prepares children well for the next stage in their learning.

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need to do better?

n Staff provide a curriculum that is well planned, structured and delivered successfully. It builds on children's prior learning and knowledge. Staff use assessment and observation well to identify gaps and track progress. This supports all children to make good progress across the curriculum. n Staff have high ambitions for all children, including those with SEND. Staff use funding well. For example, they purchase resources to support children's concentration and mobility, and organise training to develop staff's knowledge of supporting language development. Songs are used to support children's understanding. Children's faces light up with pure joy as they can follow signs and words to sing with their peers. n Staff skilfully extend children's learning and provide them with suitable challenges. For example, they ask them to use tweezers to find a certain number of bugs or certain letters in the water. Staff also ask children to show and

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need to do better?

instruct them on how to make play dough animals. This supports all children to develop a greater breadth of learning and knowledge and feel confident and proud. n All staff are consistently good at supporting children to develop language. For example, staff introduce the words 'grainy' and lentils' when exploring the

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need to do better?

24 June 2022 animal play dough, and 'heavier', 'lighter', 'sink' and 'float' when investigating water. This supports all children to develop a greater breadth of language. n All staff read clearly and in an exciting, engaging way. Children frequently ask for stories and listen intently. They thoroughly enjoy finishing familiar story sentences and acting out 'The Tiger Who Came To Tea'. This helps children build a love of reading and encourages them to have a positive attitude to learning. n Staff promote independence, resilience and confidence in all children. Staff consistently encourage children to have a go and they model new skills to them. Then they allow children the time to do it themselves, highly praising them when they succeed. This supports children to feel confident and develop a 'can-do' attitude to learning. n Staff support children learning English as an additional language well and their

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need to do better?

language skills develop quickly. However, staff are less strong at supporting children to understand different cultures. This does not support children so well to understand the similarities and differences between each other and to develop a sense of self. n Leaders have a clear vision for providing high-quality, inclusive care and education to all children. They support staff to develop their own skills well through training, and staff feel valued as part of a team. This results in them working well together to provide the best outcomes for children. n Leaders have maintained good relationships with all families throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting them when the pre-school was shut. Parents speak very highly of the setting. They say that 'all teachers are amazing, caring and understanding', and that they 'have a real love and passion for looking after and supporting our little ones'.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All staff have a clear understanding of child protection issues and their roles in safeguarding all children. All staff complete regular training to update and expand their knowledge. Staff are clear about the importance of making prompt referrals should they have any concerns about a child. Staff undertake effective risk assessments of the pre-school environment, which helps to reduce and minimise any potential hazards. The manager follows safer recruitment procedures to make sure that staff are suitable to work with children.

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should:

n strengthen staff's understanding of different cultures and how to support children to celebrate these, to provide children with a more in-depth knowledge of similarities and differences.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 2537754 Local authority Kent Inspection number 10215252 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 20 Number of children on roll 43 Name of registered person Aylesford Pre-School Ltd

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reference number

Telephone number 07561175400 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

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Information about this early years setting

Aylesford Pre-School registered in 2019. The pre-school operates from Aylesford football pavilion. The pre-school is open each weekday, term time only. Sessions are from 8.45am to 3.15pm. The pre-school is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. There are six members of staff, of whom two hold level 6 qualifications, two hold qualifications at level 3 and two are unqualified.

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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 and discussed the curriculum. n The inspector spoke with staff, interacted with children and viewed appropriate documentation. n The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager. n Parents shared their views about the setting with the inspector.

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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

24 June 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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