Crafthole Pre-School

Crafthole Pre-School

Unique reference number (URN): 102798 Address: Sheviock Memorial Hall, Crafthole, Torpoint, Cornwall, PL11 3DG Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 01/01/1991 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Crafthole Pre-School Committee

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Safeguarding standards not met

Leaders have not ensured that there is an open and positive culture around safeguarding. This puts children at significant risk of harm. The setting does have a written safeguarding policy that states the correct reporting procedures for safeguarding concerns. However, in practice staff do not know these. Leaders have not established a culture where staff understand their responsibility to safeguard children, and staff's safeguarding knowledge is inconsistent. There are no procedures embedded to ensure concerns about children's welfare are monitored, investigated and reported as needed. Leaders do not know how to monitor and develop safeguarding understanding of staff. Leaders do not ensure that staff receive effective and regular safeguarding training or check that they understand what to do should they be concerned about a child's welfare. Leaders do not ensure that staff and committee members understand how to whistleblow any concerns about adults working with

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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

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviours and attitudes to learning. They adapt these effectively to best support the independence and understanding of children at different ages and stages of development. Staff know children well, and children enjoy being in their company. Children show a real sense of belonging as they play and learn. Leaders have established daily routines and activities that give children confidence. Children respond swiftly when they hear staff clap a rhythm. They then group around a staff member and take part in rhythm activities before going to the carpet for registration time. Children are taught the importance of rules and boundaries that help keep them safe, such as asking a member of staff if they need to go to the toilet.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Staff model respectful relationships. They speak to each other with care. In turn, children copy this as they chat with their friends. Staff promote sharing and turn-taking and praise children as they do this readily in their play. Children show pride in their learning. As they create bird's nest collages, they eagerly share them with staff and beam as staff celebrate their efforts.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders promote the importance of regular attendance and have procedures in place to check on children's welfare should they not arrive when expected to do so. Children enjoy pre-school. They show this as they arrive. They are happy, enthusiastic and confident.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders and staff create a safe, welcoming environment. Children transition well from parents into the setting. There is a thorough handover between families and staff, and this promotes consistency in care. Staff greet children warmly and speak with them about their feelings. When children state they are tired, staff are sensitive in their response and support them to put their belongings away and choose an activity to play with.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff build relationships with children that are nurturing. Staff support children to develop healthy lifestyles. They provide snacks that support a balanced diet and ensure children have daily opportunities to be physically active and enjoy time in the fresh air. Staff promote safer eating. They ensure children remain seated when eating, and staff monitor children well as they enjoy their snack, providing regular reminders to finish eating what is in their mouths before taking another mouthful. Staff support children to develop an understanding of healthy habits. They offer milk or water to children to drink. They speak with them about milk helping bones and teeth to be strong, and children eagerly bare their teeth to demonstrate their strength.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff support children to manage their own personal hygiene. They ensure tissues are kept in a consistent place so children know where to access them as needed. Staff prompt children to place used tissues in the bin, and children have learned to sanitise their hands after doing so.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff encourage children to celebrate their achievements and those of others. For example, when a younger child rushes to the toilet and returns to the group beaming with pride at successfully toileting, children all give them a round of applause. Children learn to include all their friends in activities. As children greet each other during circle time, staff promote welcoming visitors and friends not seated in the group so all present at pre-school are included in the community.

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Achievement Needs attention

Teaching does not consistently promote progression for all children. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities do not have their learning constantly supported. They do not always receive enough support from staff to help them communicate their needs and wants swiftly. Children can become frustrated at this and disengage from learning. Some children are not consistently supported during activities to help them continually build on what they already know and can do. However, children do enjoy their time at the pre-school. Staff provide them with opportunities to form friendships and develop independence. Children enjoy group time activities where they join their friends in singing rhymes and songs. They learn about aspects of the weather and the different days of the week. However, scaffolding and support are not consistently effective in preparing children for their next stage of learning and development.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have planned a curriculum with clear intent. However, the curriculum children experience does not always reflect this. Learning and development are well supported in parts, but are mixed in their effectiveness. Not all areas of learning are as well considered; therefore, progress for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is not as well supported. Staff introduce children to new vocabulary, and, overall, children are quick to adopt these and use them as they play and learn.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

The development of children's understanding of the world is well supported. Children enjoy learning about various kinds of birds, their nests and their eggs. Staff support children to solve problems as they construct LEGO nests for their pretend eggs. Staff encourage children to develop an understanding of cause and effect as they pretend the weather is windy and the nests are being blown around. They ask children, 'Are your eggs safe and secure?' Children wave their nests around above their heads and declare, 'Oh no,' as their eggs tumble to the floor. Children confidently declare, 'The sides of the nest need to be taller!' Children show focus and engagement in this active learning experience.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Staff typically support children's communication and language development as they read books and ask children questions about the content to assess their understanding, but these questions are closed and do not always offer a challenge to children. As children play, staff praise the kindness they show to their friends. When children share well, staff recognise their thoughtfulness.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders do not adapt practice effectively to reduce barriers to learning for all children. This impacts on some children's engagement levels and motivation to learn. For example, as children are taking part in a group time, some children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) play independently, lacking staff interactions to promote their progress and engagement.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders are working with parents and outside agencies to promote consistency in children's care. However, this is not yet embedded to enable all children to achieve well. Leaders do not always deploy staff to best support the progress of children with SEND.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Staff know children's characters and interests well and have built trusting, caring relationships with them. However, leaders do not consistently develop parent partnerships to ensure a shared understanding of children's needs and to agree all support strategies. Leaders use additional funding to purchase resources to help develop sensory play opportunities and plan activities such as 'in touch with music' for targeted children.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

There are breaches of the requirements of registration that impact children's safety and progress. Leaders do not fulfil their role of disseminating expectations of the early years foundation stage, leading to some failures in meeting statutory requirements. Leaders ensure staff complete mandatory training. Staff training, however, is ineffective in building knowledge and understanding of staff so they can fulfil their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Leaders care for their staff. Staff feel well supported by leaders and feel they are a happy team. They receive regular supervision and opportunities to discuss their workloads. These, however, do not focus on building knowledge of targeted teaching to help all children to achieve, including those who may face barriers to their learning.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Leaders have built good working relationships with families. Communication between key persons and parents is regular, and they share information about the activities children have enjoyed each day.

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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

Leaders, staff and those responsible for governance do not know and carry out their safeguarding responsibilities. Staff do not understand their responsibilities to safeguard children. They do not know how to report any concerns they may have about children's welfare or about adults working with children. Leaders do not provide staff with regular safeguarding training. This compromises children's safety. The curriculum children experience is well planned but varies in quality in practice. Children do not always benefit from planned and purposeful teaching that helps them to build on what they know and can do. Learning and development experiences do not build effectively on what children already know and can do.

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

Children enjoy their time at pre-school and arrive happy, eager to chat and play with their friends. They confidently separate from parents/carers and are familiar with the well- established routines. Children show pride in placing their belongings on their peg and registering their presence. Staff greet children warmly. Children excitedly take their friends' hands and select activities to enjoy together. Staff promote sharing and turn-taking. They praise effort and encourage children to solve problems for themselves as they play. Children confidently approach staff for reassurance or support. For example, as children enjoy creating pictures and cards, they decide they would like to place them in an envelope and ask staff if they can get some from the cupboard. Children show independence as they take their completed cards to their bags for safe keeping. They enjoy telling visitors they will give them to mummy at home time.

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

Leaders and staff have high expectations of children's behaviour and participation, and children respond positively to these. Staff model respectful interactions with each other, and children follow this example as they interact with their friends.

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Next steps

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

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Action Completion Date

ensure that staff receive training so that they understand and are confident to implement the setting's safeguarding policies and procedures 16/02/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure there are appropriate whistleblowing procedures in place for all staff and committee members to understand how to raise concerns about poor or unsafe practice 16/02/2026

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Action Completion Date

improve the monitoring of staff practice and implement targeted training, coaching and support to raise the quality of teaching to a consistently high standard 04/03/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure staff understand and implement the curriculum effectively so that children make progress in their learning and development and gain the skills they need for the next stage in their education 04/03/2026

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners and the special educational needs 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.

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Address:

Sheviock Memorial Hall Crafthole Torpoint Cornwall PL11 3DG

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Crafthole Pre-School Committee

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Address:

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

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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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