Newton Park Pre School

Inspection of Newton Park Pre School Newton CP School, Kingsway West, Chester, Cheshire CH2 2LA

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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

Children thrive and flourish in this friendly pre-school setting. Kind and nurturing staff invest time and effort in getting to know new children and families at the beginning of the academic year. Settling-in procedures are gradual and plenty of time is spent getting to know each other. Children respond very well to these robust and flexible admission systems. All children, including those who have only attended for a short time, are happy, settled and content. Children of all ages behave well. They are helpful and polite. Children help to keep the pre-school tidy, returning toys to baskets after playing. They look after their belongings and are respectful of the space. Staff use a number of simple and effective techniques to promote positive behaviour. For instance, they offer children praise and clap to celebrate children's achievements. This animated and continual encouragement helps to promote positive behaviour and self-esteem.

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The provision is good

Children are free to select where they wish to play and choose toys to ignite their curiosity. Children make decisions to play indoors or outside and move around the play space with purpose and engagement. Children's self-chosen play helps to foster their independence. Staff join in children's games and their participation in play is used effectively to extend children's learning. For instance, staff encourage children to mix different paint, predicting how the colours will change when mixed. This helps to extend children's critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Children enjoy a 'physical hour' every day where they are encouraged to practice new physical skills. Children run and chase bubbles, jumping to reach up high. They balance on wooden blocks, carefully walking along slopes. This requires physical precision and coordination. An external sports coach visits the setting weekly to enhance the physical curriculum even more. Children enjoy books. They benefit

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The provision is good

from a lending library, enabling them to continue their enjoyment of reading at home. Children begin to learn that print carries meaning and story time successfully helps to extend children's early language skills. This is a vibrant, well- organised and fun setting, in turn, children are happy and engaged in their learning.

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need to do better?

n Collectively staff and leaders have made significant improvements to address weaknesses identified at the last inspection. The role of the key worker has been revised and positive relationships are now a successful cornerstone to children's emotional well-being. The manager routinely monitors the quality of staff interactions and provides quick feedback on their practice. The quality of this provision is good and there is a real thirst amongst the staff and leaders to continue to improve. n Staff, leaders and committee members fully understand their responsibility to

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need to do better?

18 September 2024 keep children safe. They understand how to identify and respond to concerns about children's welfare should these arise. A detailed policy is understood by all staff who have a collective ownership of safeguarding. n Staff frequently observe children and make use of this knowledge to provide children with activities linked to their interests and development stage. The curriculum is varied and engaging, covering all areas of development. However, there are fewer opportunities for children to extend their counting and understanding of number sequences as they play. n The setting benefits from a very confident staff team who support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities extremely well. They recognise the importance of working with other professional to benefit children. n Children are well prepared to move on to school when the time eventually comes. They are independent and have key skills in readiness for school. For

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need to do better?

instance, children can take care of their personal care needs, ask for help when needed and confidently assert their opinions. Links with local primary schools are established which helps children to make a smooth transition to school. n Partnerships with parents are good. Parents are actively involved in the setting. For instance, they are regularly invited into the setting for 'stay and play' sessions. Parents praise the staff for their open communication and the friendly, warm atmosphere they experience. n Children grow a range of fruit and vegetables and learn where their food comes from in practical hands-on ways. They harvest a successful crop of strawberries, enjoying new flavours and developing a good attitude towards healthy eating. n Children benefit from quality teaching, and adult interactions are focused on children's next steps to help them narrow gaps in their learning. However, sometimes, during group activities, staff do not share their attention or time

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need to do better?

equally among all children. As such, some children lose interest during group tasks and move away to play elsewhere.

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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 extend children's counting and numeracy skills as they play to help them make even more progress in their mathematics development n improve staff awareness of sharing their time and attention among all children during group activities so everyone benefits from the high quality teaching provided.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY348505 Local authority Cheshire West and Chester Inspection number 10324578 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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inspection

Total number of places 24 Number of children on roll 39 Name of registered person Newton Park Pre-School Committee

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reference number

Telephone number 01244 314271 Date of previous inspection 21 November 2023

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Information about this early years setting

Newton Park Pre School registered in 2007. The pre-school employs seven members of childcare staff. Of these, six hold an appropriate early years qualification at level 3 or above. The pre-school opens from Monday to Friday during term time. Sessions are from 9am to 3pm. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector viewed all areas of the setting and considered the organisation and safety of the environment. During this learning walk, the manager talked about the curriculum and what children who attend the setting will learn. n The inspector observed activities both inside and outside. The inspector witnessed interactions between staff and children and evaluated the impact of teaching on children's learning. n The manager showed the inspector documentation upon request, including suitability checks for all staff and online safety policies. n The inspector spoke with parents, children and staff and considered their views and comments.

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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

18 September 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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