Caldecote Preschool

Inspection of Caldecote Preschool C/O Caldecote Primary School, Highfields Road, Highfields Caldecote, Cambridge CB23 7NX

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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 are sociable, confident explorers, who enjoy their time in the warm and welcoming pre-school. They enthusiastically follow their interests and are keen to build on what they already know and understand. Children listen to the explanations staff provide, helping them find out about the world around them. While they listen to staff and their friends, children find new words to help them expand their vocabularies. Children who speak English as an additional language are delighted to hear words in the language they use at home, through an electronic device. This helps them feel valued in the pre-school. Staff use visual aids to help children settle and become familiar with the routines of the day. This contributes to children's growing confidence. Children's emotional well-being is central to the well planned curriculum the manager and her team facilitate for all children.

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The provision is good

Children gravitate to the inviting activities and areas that staff carefully position. Staff use their skills to introduce different aspects of the curriculum to children. For example, children lay under a clear water tray, watching the reflections created by the sun. They emerge, motivated to move the water with their hands. Staff encourage them to find coloured numerals in the tray, asking them if they recognise the numbers. When children are unsure, staff hold up their fingers relating to the number, allowing children to count and make links with the numeral. This helps to support children's mathematical skills.

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need to do better?

n Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are very well supported. Staff maintain strong working relationships with other professionals and organisations who also work with the children. Between them, they share information and individual plans to help support children's development and education. Dedicated members of staff help to ensure that children play and learn in ways that suit their levels of development. They spend time helping children repeat favoured activities, while introducing new words and concepts that build on what children already know. n Managers spend any additional funding they receive for individual children appropriately. They take into account the immediate needs of the children to help meet their unique learning and developmental needs. As a result, all children make good progress. n Parents speak very highly of the manager and her team. They feel that staff

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need to do better?

listen to them and are supportive, giving them advice and information to support the whole family. Parents say they are confident that children make good progress in the pre-school. n The dedicated staff are supported to develop their own knowledge through

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need to do better?

8 May 2024 continued professional development. They share ideas and information they gather through training courses and workshops with their colleagues during team meetings. This helps to maintain a consistently good quality of education throughout the pre-school. Trustees, who have a leadership responsibility, regularly meet with the manager. This helps to ensure that all statutory requirements are met. n Children behave well. They quickly learn that they can independently use resources, such as sand timers, to help them resolve minor disputes around sharing and taking turns. Staff give children gentle reminders about the simple rules, such as where they can safely run. This contributes to the generally harmonious environment in which children thrive. n Through their observations of children, staff identify interests and themes they can build on to help support children's learning. For example, children look at

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need to do better?

books about pirates after they have dressed up in costumes and rummaged for treasure in sand. Children's interests trigger their desire to find out more and build on what they already know and understand. However, at times staff do not effectively identify when to add more challenge to children's self-chosen play to help to move learning to a new level. As a result, older children sometimes become distracted and less engaged with purposeful activity. n Staff work well with parents. They share information about children's learning, giving them ideas for activities they can do at home to help support children's progress. When children first start in the pre-school, staff find out about children's likes, routines and key information, such as allergies and general health. However, staff do not gather sufficient information about what children can already do or know to help plan the next steps in children's learning right

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

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should:

n support staff to identify when and how to add more focused challenge to children's self-chosen play and explorations to help maintain children's engagement in purposeful activity n gather even more initial information about what children already know and understand to help identify next steps in learning right from the start.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 2671272 Local authority Cambridgeshire Inspection number 10344273 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 28 Number of children on roll 35 Name of registered person Caldecote Preschool CIO

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reference number

Telephone number 01954210857 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

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Information about this early years setting

Caldecote Preschool registered in 2022. It is run by a committee and operates from the grounds of Caldecote Primary School in Cambridgeshire. It is open from 8am until 3pm, Monday to Friday, term time only. The pre-school employs eight members of childcare staff, of whom six hold relevent qualifications at level 2 and above. 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 provider received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the manager and has taken that into account in her evaluation of the provision. n The manager and the inspector went on a learning walk around the pre-school. The manager described the curriculum that has been put into place. n The inspector observed activities in the group room and in the garden. She spoke to staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection. n Documents, including the evidence of the continued suitability checks for staff and trustees, was seen by the inspector. n The manager and inspector carried out a joint observation. n The inspector held a meeting with a trustee and the manager. n A small number of parents spoke to the inspector. She also read emails and letters sent in to her from parents. The inspector took parent's views into

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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

8 May 2024 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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