Milnrow pre-school CIC

Milnrow pre-school CIC

Unique reference number (URN): 2742133 Address: Milnrow Pre School, Charles Lane, Milnrow, Rochdale, OL16 3NZ Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 07/08/2023 Registers: EYR Registered person: Milnrow pre-school CIC

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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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Achievement Expected standard

Children develop the knowledge and skills they need for their move to school. Children demonstrate increasing independence in managing their own self-care, such as using the toilet, washing their hands and putting on their outdoor clothing.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children communicate effectively with adults and their peers. They use new vocabulary with growing confidence and enjoy recalling familiar stories, including inventing playful 'alien' words during group reading sessions. Children follow instructions well and are developing early literacy skills, such as holding pencils with control and recognising initial sounds.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children's mathematical understanding is developing well. They identify and continue patterns during focused activities, showing care and precision as they cut out images and extend sequences.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff meet children's individual care needs effectively. They understand each child well and respond quickly when children need comfort, reassurance or additional support. Staff provide targeted small-group and one-to-one interactions for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They remain alert to the needs of children, for example those known to social care and those who face wider barriers to learning or wellbeing.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children show confidence with familiar adults and seek them out for support, even when their key person is not present. This demonstrates that staff establish consistent and responsive attachments across the team.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff teach children how to keep themselves healthy and safe. They show children when to wash their hands, offer nutritious food choices at snack time and ensure children drink water throughout the day. Staff take children outdoors daily, where they climb, run and explore. This helps them understand how physical activity supports their wellbeing.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff help to promote children's emotional development. They use stories, visual prompts and shared language to help children recognise, label and express their feelings. Children generally tell staff how they feel and use familiar resources, such as the 'Colour Monster' characters, to communicate their emotions.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have an accurate understanding of the curriculum and the quality of teaching. They use assessment information well to identify weaknesses and take decisive action. For example, when mathematics emerged as an area requiring support, leaders strengthened the curriculum sequence and ensured that staff delivered focused teaching aspects, such as number, pattern and early problem-solving. This is evident in what is being taught. Practitioners prioritise children's communication and language development. They model precise vocabulary, introduce new language in context and use stories, songs and small- group sessions to extend children's speaking, listening and understanding.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Children's physical development is promoted well through regular opportunities to strengthen fine and gross motor skills. For example, staff provide children with cooked spaghetti and tweezers, which they use to collect and fill their bowls during play. Children enjoy the outdoor mud kitchen where they fill and empty containers with water and mud, helping to build on their strength and coordination.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff support children's personal, social and emotional development effectively. They help children to recognise, label and talk about their feelings. For example, they use the 'Colour Monster' storybook to help children recognise a range of feelings that the characters represent.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those known to social care, make sustained progress from their individual starting points. They are fully included in all aspects of the setting, and staff skilfully adapt activities and routines so that every child can participate and succeed. For example, they plan to include characters that children have a special interest in to help them engage in activities.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders identify children's individual needs promptly. They use assessment tools effectively to spot emerging delays and ensure staff target children's gaps in learning quickly. For example, they use assessment tools to identify children who are not meeting age-related expectations with regards to communication and language and initiate swift interventions to help them to progress.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders work in partnership with external professionals. They act on their advice to shape children's support, opportunities and experiences. For example, they seek guidance and support from physiotherapists to purchase additional resources to support children's physical skills, where needed. This has been effective in helping children to achieve their next steps.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders use additional funding purposefully. They invest in targeted resources and interventions that improve children's outcomes. For example, they have introduced a dedicated sensory room. Leaders use the space specifically to help children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to ensure that they have a quiet space to explore freely.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders maintain a strong focus on children known to social care. They ensure that staff understand their circumstances and provide consistent, sensitive support that promotes their emotional wellbeing. For example, staff use stories that focus on emotions and encourage children to express their feelings during difficult circumstances.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention

Leaders have established appropriate expectations for children's behaviour. They introduce simple rules, such as not running indoors, which children understand. However, leaders do not ensure that staff respond to negative behaviour consistently. Although staff intervene when disagreements occur, they do not consistently help children to understand why their behaviour is unacceptable. This limits children's ability to learn from these situations. Staff model respectful interactions and encourage turn-taking and sharing. However, this practice is not applied consistently across the team, which sometimes leads to conflicts that are not fully resolved.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention

Staff build warm, trusting relationships with children. They greet them with genuine warmth, helping them to settle quickly and feel secure. Children arrive confidently, and overall they engage positively with staff throughout the session.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention

Leaders work effectively with families to promote children's regular attendance and punctuality. They offer flexible session arrangements and follow clear procedures, including welfare checks, when children do not attend. This helps to keep children safe.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention

Children respond well to established routines. For instance, they arrive and use self- registration as they proudly find their photo and place it on the board. They settle quickly into circle time and enjoy helping with tidy-up time. This contributes to a generally calm and well- organised environment.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Since the last inspection, leaders have taken purposeful action to address the weaknesses identified. They understand the setting's strengths and the areas that still require further support. Although they have improved many aspects of practice, staff use inconsistent behaviour management strategies, which leaders now need to address. Leaders have strengthened curriculum planning and delivery through training, coaching and supervision. However, they have not provided staff with enough guidance on how to respond to children's behaviour appropriately. This results in inconsistent messages for children and disputes that are not always resolved effectively.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders work positively with families. For example, they invite them to attend stay-and-play sessions and send regular group communications. However, they do not consistently share important information about individual children's care and learning. This limits parents' understanding of their child's daily experiences and progress.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders make decisions in the best interests of children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They use additional funding appropriately to ensure that children with SEND receive the support they need. Leaders also consider staff wellbeing and workload when making decisions. For example, they deploy more staff than legally required so that children benefit from increased one-to-one support. Staff report that leaders support them well and that they enjoy coming to work.

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

Children arrive eager, excited and motivated to begin their day in this inclusive and welcoming setting. They settle quickly into familiar routines and join in with the welcoming 'hello' song, happily greeting their friends. Staff provide a wide range of engaging opportunities that children thoroughly enjoy. Children move freely around the environment, both indoors and outdoors, selecting from activities that capture their interest and sustain their concentration.

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

Children generally understand the rules and expectations. However, at times, they struggle to manage their behaviour appropriately. Although staff respond calmly, strategies and messages are not always consistent. As a result, behaviour can occasionally escalate and impact the experiences of others. Despite this, children are generally kind and considerate. They respond well to specific praise and show thoughtful gestures, such as making cards for their friends.

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

Leaders enrich children's learning by providing opportunities to explore the local community. Children enjoy outings to places such as the park, which help them develop a sense of belonging and awareness of their surroundings. Leaders also broaden children's understanding of the wider world. They introduce children to festivals and cultural events, such as Chinese New Year, through stories, discussions and creative activities that deepen their knowledge of different traditions.

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

Children make suitable progress from their starting points. They are confident and self- assured and are developing the skills they need for the next stage in their learning. Children particularly enjoy key-person group times, where they learn new skills such as using scissors safely and effectively. They show determination and perseverance, continuing to try even when tasks are challenging.

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

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those known to social care are welcomed and well supported by leaders. Sessions are adapted to ensure children receive their full entitlement to early years funded places. Leaders work closely with families and carers to make appropriate adjustments so that all children can attend and participate fully.

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Address:

Milnrow Pre School Charles Lane, Milnrow Rochdale OL16 3NZ

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Next steps

To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage the provider must take the following actions by the assigned date:

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Action Completion Date

ensure that parents are informed about children's progress and care and are provided with support necessary to help to ensure consistency between home and the setting 13/03/2026

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Action Completion Date

provide staff with training to enable them to respond to and promote children's behaviour in a consistent way 13/03/2026

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Action Completion Date

put in place effective strategies to help to deal with children's behaviour. 13/03/2026

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners and parents 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. Registration date: 07/08/2023

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About this inspection

Registered person: Milnrow pre-school CIC

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About this inspection

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 17:00

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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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