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07
Aug 2024
Scriven pre-school upgrades to ‘good’ Ofsted rating
Scriven Park Pre-school, near Knaresborough, has been rated ‘good’ by Ofsted.
The findings were published in a report yesterday, following an inspection in July. It comes after the pre-school, which admits children aged two to four, was graded ‘requires improvement’ last summer.
The pre-school was found to be ‘good’ in all four categories: quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development and leadership and management.
Government inspectors said they now feel the 19 children at the pre-school “settle happily” in the “nurturing” environment.
The report said “friendly staff” make sure all children’s care needs are met in a “warm, calm and productive atmosphere”, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
It added:
The team are passionate about providing a high-quality learning experience for all children.
Children are confident, independent and eager to participate in the stimulation activities on offer. This helps motivate children to learn and their emotional and physical well-being blossom.
Inspectors found children behave “very well” at the pre-school, while staff take every opportunity to praise children’s behaviour.
Children who are unable to “self-regulate” are given “wonderful support” to help them calm and learn how their behaviour affects others, the report adds.
It also praised the “highly committed” leadership staff and manager, who have a secure overview of the pre-school’s curriculum intent:
This has a strong focus on the social, communication and physical skills children need to learn before they leave pre-school.
Through training and good mentoring, this knowledge underpins the staff’s delivery of interesting and challenging activities, which staff tailor to meet children’s individual next steps in learning.
Children ‘squeal with joy’
Inspectors noted staff and volunteers recently renovated the outdoor area, which includes a story nook, bug hotel, fairy garden and mud kitchen.
They felt the areas enable children to explore a range of resources and experiences across the curriculum, adding children “squealed with joy” when a staff member peeled back a piece of artificial grass to uncover the worms and insects living underneath.
Older children count and compare them, the report says, while young children “learn not to squash them or they will die”.
Inspectors added staff support the children’s awareness of danger very well. For example, children remind each other that wet wood “might be slippy” when playing outside on a rainy day.
The report also said teaching is “consistently good” at the pre-school, and staff were praised for supporting children with literacy activities and maths.
Partnerships with parents are described as “strong”. Inspectors say parents are “very complimentary about the staff and the service they provide”.
The report adds:
They comment, ‘I have honestly never seen a child so excited to go to pre-school and enjoy their time there’.
There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children’s interests first, the report says.
Areas of improvement
Despite the glowing report, the pre-school did receive some criticism.
Inspectors praised the staff for the good progress children make, but added staff have “not fully considered" how to improve children’s exploration of how things work to help develop their skills even further.
They also encouraged staff to “sharpen the focus of observation and planning” to provide an even clearer picture of younger children’s progress, and further promote their next steps in learning.
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