A PRE-SCHOOL which caters for some of the most deprived families in Swindon has been rated good across all three areas in its latest Ofsted report.
The education watchdog visited Seven Fields Pre-School, which is based at Seven Fields Primary School in Penhill, on April 20 and inspectors particularly praised the youngsters’ progress and communication development, as well as the friendly and nurturing environment of the facility.
With 49 two-year-olds on the roll, the Leigh Road pre-school is one of the largest pre-schools in Swindon and inspectors only gave them one improvement to make before they could be considered an outstanding provision, which was to share best practice.
Zita McCormick, headteacher at Seven Fields, said: “We were of course pleased with the findings in the report, and I am especially pleased for the staff because they deserve it.
“We work hard to make sure that the pre-school is a friendly and welcoming environment for children and we have one adult to every three children, which is far lower than the average numbers.
“Some of these children come from some of the most deprived families in the country, making it all the more important to support them." Many of them come with very under-developed language skills, and we work hard to develop these.
“We’re a charity, and the money provided from the Government is insufficient to run the provision the way we’d like to, so we do subsidies the preschool from the school budget. That’s because the children who go to the preschool tend to come to the primary school, and so it make sense to give them a good foundation in the preschool.”
In the report inspectors particularly praised children’s progress and staff monitoring.
It said: “Children are confident and effective communicators. They express themselves freely to adults and their friends. The high level of staff involvement in activities encourages children’s opinions, vocabulary and language skills. Staff use their secure understanding of how children learn by commenting and asking questions, which make children think. As a result, they are well prepared for school.
“Children move freely around all areas of the pre-school, displaying confidence and a real sense of belonging.
“Staff use effective strategies with children to promote kindness and respect for each other and communicate clearly about safety and behaviour. This means that children become familiar with the expectations for managing their own safety and following the group rules.
“Senior leaders are dedicated to improving the pre-school provision and children’s attainment. Staff share management’s drive and enthusiasm.”
But inspectors did recommend one particular improvement for the provision. The report said: “Although staff achieve outstanding aspects of practice occasionally, these are inconsistent. Staff do not consistently share or model their practice, or observe one another to enhance good teaching further.”
Mrs McCormick said plans had already been put in place to make the necessary improvements.
She said: “We were a bit disappointed that we had that as an improvement because we do share best practice as much as we are able to.
“What We are going to try and do is make better use of technology to help staff share best practice, so we have started thinking about how we can improve on that level.”
To read the report for yourself, visit reports.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/CARE/EY435354.
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