Crestway Preschool

Crestway Preschool

Unique reference number (URN): 2825807 Address: The Community Centre, Stonecross Lea, Chatham, Kent, ME5 0BL Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 03/02/2025 Registers: EYR Registered person: Crestway Preschool LTD

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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 Strong standard

All children make secure and sustained progress from their starting points, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or barriers to their learning. They develop valuable skills for their future, including their move on to school. Children's speech and language are developing extremely well. They are using a wide range of vocabulary and engage in meaningful conversations with those around them. For example, children engage in meaningful discussions about the Winter Olympics and link their learning to personal experiences, such as ice skating.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children are independent in their personal care and care for others. They confidently manage routines throughout the day and make choices about their learning. As a result, all children leave the setting with the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to help them succeed in the future.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Leaders and staff have very high expectations for children's behaviour and use consistent approaches in helping children to understand rules and boundaries at the setting. Children are extremely kind, respectful and considerate to others. They very often, without prompting, tidy away resources, hold the door open for their friends, share and take turns during activities. Staff offer lots of praise and reassurance, which helps to build children's self- esteem.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children engage positively with their friends, developing a strong sense of belonging. Staff are positive role models and teach children the setting's ethos of play, learn, achieve and belong. As a result, children show kindness to their friends by celebrating each other's achievements during activities. Overall, children show strong attitudes to learning. They are motivated, engaged and keen to try new things. For example, children keep trying to cut up vegetables until they succeed.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Leaders closely monitor children's attendance and ensure they follow up on any unexplained absences. This helps them to identify any support that may be required to support children's early education.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children develop extremely close relationships with their key person and staff at this welcoming setting and develop a strong sense of belonging. Staff are remarkably thoughtful, kind and caring, providing a safe environment for all children. This ensures that children feel safe, secure and ready to learn. Staff successfully encourage all children to develop their independence skills, helping them to gain high levels of confidence in managing their own care needs. For example, children self-serve snacks, make choices in their play and manage personal tasks, such as wiping their nose, washing their hands and putting on their coats. This supports children's wellbeing effectively. Children learn key language around emotions. Staff talk to the children about how they are feeling and how their behaviour makes others feel. Children are learning about how to recognise, express and manage their emotions.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children benefit from many opportunities to access lots of fresh air and be physically active. Children explore natural materials in the forest area and learn to take manageable risks, keeping themselves and others safe in play. For example, children understand to keep spades down low when digging. These experiences support children's emotional and physical wellbeing.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Leaders and staff ensure that the curriculum is ambitious, inclusive and carefully sequenced to meet all children's individual needs. They provide many opportunities and support children in readiness for their next steps in learning. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make exceptional progress.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Staff use regular and precise assessment well. They skilfully build on what children already know and can do to extend their learning further. For example, they use children's previous experience of cooking and food tasting and provide meaningful opportunities for them to explore real food in the role-play area. Children use knives safely to cut food and investigate using their senses. For instance, children carefully peel back layers of an onion and describe the strong smell, noticing how it makes their eyes water. Staff use every opportunity to deepen children's understanding about why this happens. This helps to increase children's thinking skills.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Staff make good use of the forest area to promote all aspects of children's learning. They set out areas for plenty of exploration, physical and creative play. Staff deploy themselves well and provide genuine enthusiasm that excites children and encourages them to join in. Children excitedly use their imaginative ideas to create and act out their own stories. Staff skilfully model language, encourage turn-taking and celebrate cooperation. As a result, children behave exceptionally well and show exceptional confidence and physical abilities.

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Inclusion Strong standard

All children demonstrate a strong sense of belonging at this inclusive setting. Leaders and staff provide a highly supportive environment in which all children can learn, thrive and belong. They work closely with families to identify children's individual needs. When children join the setting, staff complete detailed assessments, which helps them to understand their starting points. Staff tailor the support children receive to help reduce barriers that may impact on their learning. This helps to ensure children make good progress within their capabilities. Staff support children who are unable to communicate verbally to use alternative ways of communicating. For example, they consistently use signs and key words to help children express their feelings and needs confidently. Children known or previously known to social care are fully included in the setting. Leaders and staff build positive relationships with parents and other professionals involved in children's care. This helps to

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Inclusion Strong standard

support their emotional wellbeing effectively.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders have extremely high expectations for the setting and place children's needs at the centre of everything they do. They consistently reflect on the care they provide and adapt to the changing needs of children and families. Overall, leaders are proactive in ensuring that children receive the very best experience at the setting.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders know their families exceptionally well and work in close partnership to support children's learning and development. They organise events for parents to participate and engage in their children's learning. Furthermore, they provide resources to support children's learning at home. Leaders use additional funding to enable children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing barriers to their learning to access a full curriculum and reach their full potential.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders prioritise staff's wellbeing and workload. Staff speak highly about the support they receive and feel they have ample opportunities for professional development. Training is carefully tailored to enhance staff's knowledge and skills, and is directly linked to the needs of children who attend. For example, staff attended training to support children's language skills further. This helps to promote positive outcomes for all children.

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

All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and barriers to their learning, thrive at this inspiring, nurturing and inclusive setting. Children confidently say goodbye to their parents and quickly become deeply absorbed in a range of activities that are on offer. The learning environment and curriculum are carefully tailored to spark children's curiosity, encourage independence and build on what children already know and can do. Children confidently explore and investigate freely while staff join in to help them stay engaged and learn through their play. For example, children enjoy lifting logs in the garden to search for insects, and staff encourage them to look for similarities and differences between insects. Overall, children show positive levels of wellbeing and engagement during their time at this setting.

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

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour and are excellent role models, always praising them for their efforts and contributions. As a result, children behave impeccably. They show kindness, respect and compassion and celebrate each other's successes. For example, children play harmoniously together, sharing their imaginative ideas and testing out new possibilities to keep their play going. Children flourish in spending time outdoors each day, where fresh air and open spaces give them freedom to be active and

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Address:

The Community Centre Stonecross Lea Chatham Kent ME5 0BL adventurous. Children develop their physical skills as they balance, jump, climb and dig, building their strength and coordination. Staff support children effectively to assess and manage risks well, enabling them to take controlled risks to help deepen their critical thinking skills. For example, children work together to lift wooden planks and decide on how to construct a ramp to climb on and off a boat structure.

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Address:

Leaders and staff work closely with parents to promote regular attendance so that all children can benefit fully from learning opportunities to support their early education.

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Next steps

Leaders and those responsible for governance should sustain their work to ensure continued improvement and high standards. They should focus on creating a transformational impact on the outcomes and experiences of disadvantaged learners, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who are known (or previously known) to children's social care, and those who may face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with parents, children, leaders, staff and the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator 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. Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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About this inspection

Registered person: Crestway Preschool LTD

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About this inspection

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:30 - 15:30

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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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