Yaxley & Mellis Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents

This provision is good • Parents speak highly of the welcoming, friendly and professional staff.

Staff genuinely care for the children and give them lots of individual care and attention. As a result, children settle well at the pre-school and show good levels of emotional well-being. • Staff make the most of the well-planned outside area.

They offer lots of free-flow access to the outside. Children show high levels of motivation and engagement. Some children particularly enjoy collecting rainwater to give to the plants and vegetables, while others enjoy climbing on the rope ladder and blowing bubbles with their friends.

• The manager is able to accurately evalu...ate the quality of teaching. She uses knowledge gained from her level 6 qualification to plan well-focused improvements to drive the ongoing development of the pre-school. The manager works well in partnership with the local authority to provide training and guidance to staff.

• Thorough tracking procedures are in place to monitor children's learning. These show that all children are meeting expected milestones for their ages. If the manager identifies gaps in children's development, she works well with staff to enhance the pre-school environment and the activities on offer, to help gaps to quickly close.

• Children benefit from many well-planned activities to enhance children's reading skills. For instance, children enthusiastically take part in rhymes about food that is 'yummy for my tummy'. They have many opportunities to join in with songs.

Children concentrate as they listen and join in with favourite stories. • At times, staff miss opportunities to encourage children to fully develop their independence and take responsibility for routine tasks. • Opportunities for older children to practise their developing writing skills are not consistently promoted during child-led play activities.

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