Pre-school near Leighton Buzzard Requires Improvement according to latest Ofsted report

Cheddington Pre-school has been rated as requiring improvement in overall effectiveness, according to its latest Oftsed inspection.

It also requires improvement in four other categories including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and

leadership and management.

The school was previously rated as Good in overall effectiveness.

While inspectors reported children were happy and well behaved they found there were weaknesses in the staff's understanding of their role within the planned early years curriculum, reducing levels of support provided for children's learning.

It also stated staff did not always gain sufficient information from parents to help them plan for children to learn about a wider range of festivals that are meaningful to all families attending the pre-school.

The report also stated that those with governance of the pre-school do not monitor the setting well enough and do not always implement planned activities well enough.

It added that staff do not fully consider the needs of all children when implementing physical activities and communication and that information sharing between staff and parents was not always effective.

However it found staff support children to be independent at lunchtime, encourage children to express themselves in different ways, children with special education needs and/or disabilities are generally supported well and that staff support children's emotional needs well.

Inspectors also found arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage, the pre-school should:

> Improve staff's understanding of the implementation of the early years curriculum so they can target and support children's learning more effectively

> Provide details of the individuals associated with the organisation, so that suitability checks can be completed on all committee members

> Improve partnership with parents including how information is communicated and shared, such as daily care, developmental progress and home learning.

> To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should n extend children's understanding of the wider world by incorporating festivals and celebrations relevant to the children and families who attend the pre-school.

Cheddington Pre-school was registered in 2008 and is located within the grounds of Cheddington Combined School. The inspection was carried out in April.

Cheddington Pre-school has been approached for comment.