Our Lady's First Steps Pre-School

Inspection of Our Lady's First Steps Pre-School Clincton View, Widnes, Cheshire WA8 8JN

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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 Requires improvement

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The provision is good

Babies and children settle quickly and demonstrate strong bonds with staff. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress from their starting points. Additional funding is used appropriately to meet children's individual learning needs. For example, the manager identifies and buys resources that match children's interests to engage them in learning. Overall, children behave well. Expectations, including the use of kind hands and indoor voices, are displayed, and children are reminded of them. Staff encourage children to talk about how they feel and to consider the needs of others. For example, children talk about different emotions on World Health Day.

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The provision is good

Children exercise in the fresh air every day. While outdoors, they also learn about nature, such as when collecting sticks and leaves in woodland or talking about the animals they can see on the local farmland. Throughout the day, children enjoy many opportunities that help them to develop good speaking and early reading and writing skills. Staff encourage babies to copy animal sounds as they play imaginatively with the farm set and sing songs about animals. Children develop a range of skills through well-linked activities themed around stories. During the inspection, staff read a well-known book, 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt'. Following this, children excitedly recalled the story as they played imaginatively with props. They searched for bears in the garden using binoculars they had made.

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need to do better?

n Since the last inspection, the manager and staff have made the required improvements. The manager has begun to meet with each staff member to discuss their practice. She is beginning to allocate time when she is not covering staff-to-child ratios to observe and review practice in each room. Changes to involve committee members more in the evaluation of practice are also being made. n There is a clear curriculum and, overall, staff organise activities well. However, at times, staff do not focus sufficiently on what they want two-year-old children to learn or how they will deploy themselves best to support children. Consequently, during whole-group activities, some two-year-old children lose interest, walk away and do not fully access the intended learning. n Staff are making good use of what they learned during training in the care of babies and how babies' brains develop. Staff play with babies as they push

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need to do better?

buttons on toys to activate sound and light. Activities such as these help babies to develop their attention, hand-to-eye coordination and their understanding of technology. n Following training on mathematics, staff increasingly provide opportunities for children to see, recognise and use numbers and shapes as they play. Children

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need to do better?

11 October 2023 look closely at the patterns on animals and recreate them using paint. They carefully match toy dinosaur bones to pictures of dinosaur skeletons. They count in order as they jump on each number on a number line. n Due to concerns about children's speech development following the COVID-19 pandemic, many staff have received training on how to assess children's early language skills. This enables them to identify children whose speech and language may be delayed and seek timely support to help them catch up. n Children develop a keen interest in literacy. They choose to look at books, and staff help children to understand new words and to use them as they play. Children freely draw with chunky chalks and crayons, and they make marks with sticks in sand and with brushes and water on chalkboards. n Children's daily access to images, toys and books that reflect diversity is steadily improving. Children point to members of their family on displayed photographs

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need to do better?

of different family groups. Some activities introduce children to the traditions and celebrations of different countries, cultures and faiths. For example, children have recently explored the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, in a range of age- appropriate ways. They ate apples dipped in honey and printed with apples in paint. n Staff exchange information with parents in a variety of ways. They talk to parents daily, and babies also take diary sheets home with information about their day. Parents of pre-school children comment that they find the monthly newsletters informative. They feel well informed about their child's progress through daily talks and regular written assessments. They enjoy attending stay- and-play sessions, where they speak to staff and join in activities with their children.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff check regularly for hazards to keep indoor and outdoor spaces safe and secure. They assess risks in the garden before using it and ensure that children are aware of the risk assessment. For example, they place cones on the wooden slide steps and balancing beam when they are wet. This reminds everyone that they are slippery and cannot be used until they are dry. Staff carefully sequence opportunities for physical development to build safely on each child's prior learning. For example, babies crawl in a soft-play area and progress to crawling over soft- play shapes before using low-level wooden climbing equipment. Staff regularly renew their safeguarding training and know how to report any concerns about children and families.

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should:

11 October 2023 n build on the supervision of staff arrangements and ensure they receive relevant support, coaching and training to make them fully effective in their role n focus more carefully when planning what two-year-old children are to learn and the best group size to support their learning even more effectively.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY244150 Local authority Halton Inspection number 10262220 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 105 Number of children on roll 188 Name of registered person Our Lady's First Steps Pre-School Committee

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reference number

Telephone number 0151 424 5500 Date of previous inspection 18 October 2022

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Information about this early years setting

Our Lady's First Steps Pre-School registered in 2004. The nursery employs 31 members of childcare staff. Of these, three hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2, 22 at level 3, one at level 4 and one at level 5. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm, all year. The nursery is in receipt of funding for early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector discussed any continued 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. n A joint observation was carried out by the inspector and the nursery manager. n The inspector held discussions with staff, children, parents and grandparents at appropriate times during the inspection and took account of their views. n The inspector looked at a sample of documentation, including evidence about staff suitability and training.

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Inspection activities

11 October 2023 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

11 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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