Cheshire Forest School

Cheshire Forest School

Unique reference number (URN): 2743659 Address: Dalefords Wood, Novia Scotia Lane, Marton, Cheshire, CW8 2BZ Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 24/08/2023 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Rogers, Caroline

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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.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

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

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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.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Generally, all children get along well and make friends during their time at the setting. However, staff do not consistently use routines effectively to actively promote social skills. For example, when children initially gather, staff tell them the rules for safety, but not each other's names or explain their expectations that children share and be kind to each other. Children choose their own initial activities. This can lead to quieter children playing alone and staff not realising early in the day which children may need more support with their social skills.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour, which children typically meet. Staff use their secure understanding of child development to ensure these expectations are fair and realistic. Staff build trusting relationships with children, which gives them the confidence to ask for help. When children find social situations difficult, they seek out staff to support them in resolving any issues. Staff recognise when children are kind to others and tell them they are being a good friend. Children follow instructions given by staff, which helps to keep them safe.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders monitor children's punctuality and help families to understand how this helps children engage in daily routines. Staff promote positive behaviour by praising children when they try hard. This encourages children's resilience when practising new skills, such as balancing on a rope suspended between trees.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Key persons form secure attachments with children. Staff respond warmly to children's needs, helping them to name and manage their emotions. For example, when children feel tired, they help them to snuggle up on a beanbag as they share a book. Staff recognise that sometimes children need rest as part of their busy day. Staff promote children's independence. Children are encouraged to ask for the help they need when they have tried to manage tasks themselves, such as storing their belongings and changing their clothing.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Care routines are respectful and support children at their stage of development. Staff help children to use the composting toilet safely and privately. They support children to change into dry or warmer clothes sensitively and with dignity.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff ensure that children keep themselves healthy by ensuring they wash their hands thoroughly after using the toilet and before eating. However, staff do not consistently help children to understand how they can keep themselves healthy through diet and hydration. For example, they do not always encourage children to make healthy food choices to give them energy or drink water, despite being physically active throughout the day.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders gather information about how to support children most effectively. They ask parents and carers about any barriers to their children's learning or wellbeing. Staff then consider how they can provide children with the right support and supervision to ensure they enjoy their time in the setting and remain safe.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders aim to recruit experienced staff and ensure that regular training supports staff to be knowledgeable about how to support individual children. Staff adapt the support they offer based on the individual needs of children. For example, staff recognise when children find it difficult to regulate their emotions.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Staff establish effective relationships with children, which ensures children feel safe and secure. They speak to children calmly and with kindness, which promotes mutual respect. Leaders and staff are knowledgeable about how to meet the needs of children with special educational needs and disabilities by working closely with parents and carers.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Staff help children to follow their own interests and engage in shared thinking with them according to their age and stage of development. For example, older children spend a large amount of time focusing on how they can make a ball run using large pieces of guttering, with staff asking questions that help to develop their problem-solving skills.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have created an inspiring environment for children to explore freely. They think about how the physical environment can be used to meet the needs of all children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Leaders manage resources effectively. They consider the environment and the sustainability of the products they use in order to maintain the ethos of the setting. Children enjoy using natural resources, such as wood, flowers and bark, to make models and art.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Typically, leaders are reflective about their provision. They seek feedback from children and their families about what they have enjoyed doing. Leaders respond positively to feedback and seek to constantly improve the provision in order to offer a wide range of experiences that meet children's individual needs. However, their systems of reflection are not yet fully embedded to precisely identify areas for improvement in practice.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders manage staff effectively to ensure that children's needs are met. Staff supervise children closely to ensure they are safe, including during mealtimes. The experienced staff have regular training and understand how to follow the setting's policies and procedures. Leaders work with parents and carers effectively to ensure they are able to support children in partnership. They seek information about children's individual needs, likes and dislikes in order to tailor the care they provide.

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Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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Voluntary Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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

Children arrive eager to begin their day. Leaders ask parents and carers about how they can best support their children to enjoy their time at the setting and incorporate this into their plans. For example, children share that they enjoy creative activities, but are not keen on spiders, so staff help them to explore this as they build a bug hotel.

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

Staff ensure that everyone is safe as they make their way through the woods. Children stop to jump in puddles and compare the squirrel-nibbled pine cones they find. When children arrive at the forest school site, staff gather children to help them understand the rules that

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About this setting

Unique reference number (URN): 2743659 keep them safe. Children understand not to cross the middle of the circle where there may later be a campfire and how to return to base at the sound of a whistle. They learn how to use a composting toilet and wash their hands using a water tank afterwards.

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About this setting

Children enjoy the freedom to choose how they spend their time. They dash away to different areas, keen to explore the mud kitchen and the fairy garden or swing in the hammocks. Staff are deployed effectively to supervise children's play. They ensure they are on hand if children need help with their ambitious woodland plans. Staff are ready to find spades for digging, books to identify fungi and the right shade of red to paint a wooden robin.

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About this setting

Throughout the day, children begin to make friends. They play cooperatively in small groups or work towards a shared goal, such as balancing their weight on the log see-saw. Children delight in sensory experiences, such as hearing the thud the wood makes as it lands on the woodland floor, watching the tractor in the adjacent field and mixing the right consistency of mud for a mud cake.

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Next steps

Leaders should establish effective routines to further support children's social development. Leaders should help children to understand how to keep themselves healthy by promoting the positive effects of a healthy diet, hydration and physical activity.

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About this inspection

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

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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.

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Address:

Dalefords Wood Novia Scotia Lane Marton Cheshire CW8 2BZ

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 09:00 - 15:30

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Address:

Local authority: Cheshire West and Chester

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Facts and figures used on inspection

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

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Exceptional

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

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Strong standard

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

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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.

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Needs attention

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

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Urgent improvement

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

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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.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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

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