A Derby pre-school where children feel “safe and secure” and staff “demonstrate a genuine interest in each individual child” has been graded “good” across all four of the areas assessed. Shelton Lock Pre-School was inspected by Ofsted last November – previously the pre-school was graded “good” overall when it was visited in 2019.
Ali Lancaster, who has completed the inspection report, wrote: “Staff ensure that children have lots of opportunities to express themselves creatively. For example, children enjoy regular music and movement sessions. Staff encourage children to move in lots of ways, such as marching, tiptoeing, jumping, running and making large movements with their hands.
“Children squeal with delight as they sing along and re-enact the ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ song. Staff read the bear hunt book with expression to children to support their love of stories.”
The report also said that the 25 children, aged two to four, who attend the pre-school, which meets in the West End room in St Edmund’s, King’s Croft, “are eager to join in and help one another during tidy-up time when they hear the ‘tidy-up song’. Staff use effective techniques to manage behaviour. They offer praise and encouragement, building on children’s self-esteem.”
What does the pre-school do well?
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Leaders and staff use assessment well to check what children know and can do to inform teaching. They gather information from parents prior to the child joining the setting. They use this information, along with their observations and assessments of children’s learning, to help identify what they need to learn next.
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Staff support children to be independent. Children pour their own drinks and put on their own coats and dressing-up clothes. Younger children are given just the right amount of support to help them to learn the independence skills they need.
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Children’s oral hygiene is supported well. They carry out daily, supervised toothbrushing, and staff teach them about the importance of cleaning teeth.
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Children enjoy being active in the outdoor area, developing their physical skills. They run and ride tricycles, and staff teach children how to play basketball.
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Parent partnerships are good, and parents speak highly about staff. They appreciate how approachable and caring staff are. Staff inform parents regularly about their children’s development through daily handovers and an online app. Parents are invited in for stay-and-play sessions to gain an insight to their child’s time at the pre-school.
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Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is effective. Staff have a good understanding of their individual targets and implement these throughout the day.
In order to improve further, the pre-school has been told by Ofsted that staff need to understand how to teach children to take appropriate risks and meet challenges as they play and also to build on children’s understanding of number and counting.