St Michaels Nursery & Preschool

St Michaels Nursery & Preschool

Unique reference number (URN): 2816724 Address: St. Michaels Church & Pastoral Centre, Lower Church Road, Sandhurst, GU47 8HN Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 24/01/2025 Registers: EYR Registered person: St Michaels Nursery & Pre School Ltd

p.1

Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

p.1

How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

p.1

How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

p.1

Achievement Expected standard

All children, including those in receipt of additional funding, make age-appropriate progress through the curriculum, helping them build strong foundations for future learning. Babies show enthusiasm for exploring their environment as staff support them to develop confidence in their early physical skills, such as crawling and walking. They begin to babble and develop early language as staff model sounds and words through warm, back-and-forth interactions.

p.2

Achievement Expected standard

Older children develop their thinking and communication skills as staff ask purposeful questions and give them time to consider and share their ideas. For example, during group time, children reflect on what day it might be today if yesterday was Monday. As a result of this well-planned support, children are well prepared for the next stage in their learning, including their eventual transition to school.

p.2

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders and staff create a welcoming environment for children. They develop relationships with families that enable regular and punctual attendance of all children through a thoughtfully considered settling-in process. The relationship between staff and babies is warm and caring. Staff use these close bonds at times when babies need reassurance. As a result, babies respond to staff, showing that bonds help them feel safe and secure.

p.2

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children follow the well-established routines with confidence. Kindness, care and courtesy are a strong ethos of the setting. Children learn about high expectations for positive behaviours from the outset. Staff use daily group times to talk about the importance of kind play in age-appropriate ways. For instance, children talk about it being important to walk indoors, so they do not slip or fall. Where children need additional help with collaborative play, staff help children with this. This helps to support positive attitudes to learning, including sharing and turn-taking in a fair and kind way. Staff use these opportunities to praise children to reinforce the social skills children learn. They focus on this area of children's learning well, and this helps children to develop secure friendships with others.

p.2

Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff working with babies get to know them and their families to understand their needs. Care routines, including those around sleep, are tailored to ensure that their needs are met throughout the day. For instance, as babies are weaning, staff work in partnership with parents to introduce finger foods. They sensitively reduce the amount of time babies use dummies to support their early communication skills. Staff encourage children to learn about feelings and emotions and how to express these. For example, children talk about what makes them happy or angry, as staff listen attentively to them, embedding their understanding of their own emotions. Overall, children are able to manage some age-appropriate activities for themselves. For instance, staff work with parents to toilet train children in readiness for school. They praise children as they use the toilet and teach them the importance of handwashing during these

p.2

Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

routines. However, there are times when staff do not consider how they can further encourage children's independence. For example, they do not always support children to independently wipe their own noses. Furthermore, they do not capture opportunities to help babies learn to feed themselves using age-appropriate cutlery during shared mealtimes. Staff tend to lead these routines and do not consistently use these opportunities to further children's independence and physical development.

p.3

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders provide a broad and well-structured curriculum that is carefully tailored and prioritises children's development across the areas of learning. They ensure that staff adapt teaching to meet the needs of all children in age-appropriate ways. Leaders and practitioners understand the needs of all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those where there are barriers to learning. Leaders regularly review children's progress and plan for their future learning. However, at times, they do not fully consider the precise learning intentions of activities, which means teaching is not always directed towards what children need to learn next. As a result, children occasionally lose interest in activities and are not consistently fully engaged.

p.3

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff working with babies place a keen emphasis on early language development, modelling words and sounds during planned activities and spontaneous play. They teach children specific physical skills and encourage them to practise these to build their skills. Leaders have a clear understanding of the learning priorities for older children. They have strengthened staff's practice as they continue the focus on language development. Staff make the most of opportunities to introduce new vocabulary through stories, group times and conversations that encourage children to think, reason and express their ideas clearly. The mathematics curriculum is still developing. Leaders recognise the need to refine it further so that staff can plan and teach mathematical concepts more consistently through daily routines and activities.

p.3

Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders and staff recognise the importance of inclusion for all children and their families. They demonstrate an understanding of children's unique needs and changing circumstances. Staff and leaders use their observations and assessments effectively to identify where children may need additional support. This helps them access appropriate support for all children, when this is required. From the outset, leaders and staff work closely with families to create a two-way flow of information about each child's needs.

p.3

Inclusion Expected standard

Staff undertake suitable training and are supported to take the time to understand how they can best support every child. They know how to observe, assess and plan for children's learning and how to target any areas of their development, where appropriate. Leaders and staff build focused relationships with other professionals and the local authority. These further enhance the support in place for families. When children receive additional funding, leaders use it purposefully to target the areas where children need it most. For example, they provide a shared library to ensure that all children have equal access to their favourite books. Families enjoy borrowing these books to share stories at home, giving every child the same opportunity to develop their language skills while fostering an early love of reading.

p.3

Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders and staff share a clear vision for children: to achieve, belong and thrive. Leaders have a strong understanding of their community and recognise the strengths and priorities for the babies and children in their care. They reflect carefully on their provision to ensure that decisions about improvement directly benefit all children. Parents speak highly of the setting. They comment on the high-quality care their children receive and value the advice and support offered. This helps them continue learning at home. Partnerships within the community, particularly with the local school, help shape children's readiness for school. For instance, children develop a love of books through the focus that leaders have on this area of their learning. Leaders recognise how this can help lay good foundations for future learning.

p.4

Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders prioritise staff's wellbeing, ensuring that workloads are manageable and that staff feel valued and supported in their roles. Staff benefit from professional development that builds on their knowledge and skills. For example, they explain that leaders' mentoring enables them to put theories of child development into practice during daily routines.

p.4

What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children develop a strong sense of belonging through the caring relationships they build with staff. Older children develop friendships with their peers and relish opportunities to play and learn. Babies benefit from close relationships with staff who know their individual personalities and care needs well. Cuddles and reassurance help children to feel safe, secure and confident. Leaders and staff understand how their focus on children's personal, social and emotional development benefits children from the outset. They encourage good manners, and children learn how to be polite, courteous and kind with adults and other children. For example, at snack time, older children learn how to say 'please' and 'thank you' as friends pass water jugs and offer bowls to each other, gaining some independence. Leaders and staff focus on embedding children's personal, social and emotional development, which helps to prepare children for their next stage in learning, including

p.4

Address:

St. Michaels Church & Pastoral Centre Lower Church Road Children enjoy learning as staff plan and provide activities that ignite their curiosity. For instance, babies explore coloured rice, feeling its different texture and noticing what happens as rice falls to the tray. Older children learn about days of the week, as staff teach them rhymes to remember them in order. Children develop age-appropriate knowledge across the curriculum. Where children may face barriers to learning, leaders and staff work closely together to target these. This has a positive impact for children, particularly where there are gaps in development in some areas of learning. Children's consistent attendance enables them to benefit from the learning opportunities the setting provides. Staff share with parents the importance of prompt and regular attendance to ensure that children benefit from continuity.

p.5

Next steps

Leaders should enhance the mathematics curriculum by creating more opportunities for children to build their knowledge and understanding through play and everyday routines. Leaders should support staff to implement precise learning intentions of activities more effectively so that children remain fully engaged in their learning. Leaders should support staff to recognise when children are able to do things independently and understand how to help them build on and strengthen their independence skills.

p.5

About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners, children and parents during the inspection.

p.5

About this inspection

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. Sandhurst GU47 8HN Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

p.5

About this inspection

Registered person: St Michaels Nursery & Pre School Ltd

p.6

About this inspection

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 17:30

p.6

Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

p.6

Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

p.6

Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

p.6

Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

p.7

Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

p.7

Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

p.7

Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

p.7

Urgent improvement

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.7

Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

Urgent improvement

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7