Oakley Preschool

Inspection of Oakley Preschool Oakley Combined School, Worminghall Road, Oakley, AYLESBURY, Buckinghamshire HP18 9QY

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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 have a wonderful time at this pre-school, which has a warm family feel. They demonstrate high levels of confidence as they kindly great visitors on arrival. Children have warm bonds with staff and snuggle up to them at story time. Furthermore, an effective key-person system ensures that all children are well supported and their individual needs are met. This helps children to feel safe and secure and gives them a strong sense of belonging.

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The provision is good

Leaders and staff have a clear vision of what they want children to learn and can explain how they put this into place. For example, they plan a curriculum based on children's ages and stages of development to support their individual needs and interests. As a result, children show positive attitudes to their learning and are deeply engaged in the activities on offer.

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The provision is good

Children benefit from fresh air and regular physical exercise. They enjoy outdoor play and have many opportunities to develop their physical skills. For example, children play in the pre-school garden with their friends and practise their coordination and balancing skills on ride-on toys and see-saws.

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The provision is good

Children behave very well and have developed close friendships with their peers, which supports their social skills and emotional well-being effectively. All children, including children with additional needs, make good progress from their starting points.

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need to do better?

n Staff thoroughly plan activities and provide resources to support children's ongoing learning and development. For example, children enjoy an abundance of activities that help to strengthen their small-muscle development, such as art and craft activities. Children learn to glue, stick and cut with scissors. This prepares them for their next move on to school successfully. n Following the COVID-19 pandemic, staff have identified that children benefit from additional support with their speech and language development. Children have regular small-group sessions, such as story and song time, to enhance their literacy skills. Staff skilfully ask children questions about the stories they are listening to and include all children to have an input. This helps children to become confident communicators and benefits their growing self-esteem and confidence. n Overall, staff want children to learn independence skills from an early age.

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need to do better?

Children wash their hands independently before mealtimes and put their belongings away on arrival. However, staff do not consistently embed routines across all aspects of children's independent learning. For example, they wipe

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need to do better?

4 October 2023 children's noses for them and do not consistently ensure that children tidy away toys and resources. This means that children do not fully understand the importance of managing their personal hygiene and how to keep their environment safe. n Staff provide children with healthy snacks and refreshments throughout the day. Nevertheless, staff do not make the most of these opportunities to teach children why it is important to hydrate and feed their growing bodies with nutrients. This means that children do not fully gain an understanding of the importance of making healthy choices. n Leaders and staff are very knowledgeable and know how to engage children skilfully in their mathematical learning. For example, when children play in the construction area and build tall towers, staff ask them to compare sizes. Children excitedly find other items they see in the setting, such as bookshelves and

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need to do better?

chairs. They measure them against their creations and learn to understand the concept of height. These important interactions help children to gain a good understanding of early mathematical learning and challenges their critical thinking successfully. n Parents speak highly of the staff at the setting. They report that their children have made good progress, in particular with their speech and language development and their social skills. Staff work collaboratively with parents to support children's development and learning, such as when children move on to school. Additionally, the manager works closely with the local schools that the children will transition to. This supports their ongoing learning and development effectively. n Staff report that they feel well supported by the manager. They have the opportunity to further develop their knowledge and expertise through ongoing professional training. This enables them to support the children at the pre-school

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need to do better?

effectively. Staff have regular supervisions and appraisals with the manager and feel that they can raise any concerns.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and staff at the pre-school are committed to safeguarding children. They display a good awareness of the signs and symptoms that might indicate that children are at risk of harm. Staff are familiar with procedures for reporting concerns about children's welfare. They are vigilant in keeping children safe. Ongoing training supports staff to continually refresh their good knowledge and skills. Managers follow robust recruitment procedures to check that staff are suitable, and remain suitable, to work with children. Staff carry out daily risk assessments of the premises to ensure that children can play and explore in a safe environment. Staff practise termly fire drill procedures with children to ensure the safety of all individuals on the premises.

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should:

n embed independence skills further to help children to understand the importance of managing their personal hygiene and to keep their environment safe n make further use of opportunities to teach children about healthy eating choices.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY269261 Local authority Buckinghamshire Inspection number 10307854 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 Sessional day care

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Total number of places

Number of children on roll 15 Name of registered person Oakley Pre School Group Committee

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reference number

Telephone number 07791 226473 Date of previous inspection 19 March 2018

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Information about this early years setting

Oakley Preschool is committee run and opened in 1966 on split sites in the village of Oakley. In 2008, the sites amalgamated and moved to accommodation within Oakley Combined Church of England School in Buckinghamshire. The pre-school is in receipt of funding to provide early education for children aged two, three and four years. The pre-school is open five days a week in term time, from 7.30am to 6pm. The pre-school employs five staff members, of whom, two hold relevant childcare qualifications at level 3 and one holds a qualified teacher status qualification at level 6.

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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 her evaluation of the provider. n Staff talked to the inspector about how they plan activities and what they do to support children's learning and development. They also explained the procedures that they follow to keep children safe. n A joint observation was carried out by the inspector and the deputy manager of an activity. n The inspector went on a learning walk with the manager. n The inspector spoke to children and viewed their activities. She 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

4 October 2023 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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