Newmarket early learners’ group The A1 Fun Club maintains good Ofsted

A Newmarket pre-school group has maintained its status as good in all categories following a recent Ofsted inspection.

The A1 Fun Club, which is based at Foley House, takes children from babies up to four-year-olds all of whom take part in age-appropriate play as well as in mixed groups which enable the older children to nurture and care for the younger ones, who in turn build their confidence and social skills by interacting with older playmates.

Children were encouraged to behave positively, to share with each other and to develop positive attitudes towards learning.

The report continued: “Children from a variety of backgrounds receive the support they need to make good progress with learning and development.”

Inspector Tracy Joyce said children also made good physical progress.

“In the baby room, children roll and squeeze play dough. Outside, they enjoy using ride-on toys. They balance on beams and play hide and seek with staff. They are helped to develop their manipulative skills with a range of creative activities such as collages and painting. Staff in the toddler room extend children’s understanding of shape and colour as they play with construction toys.”

Ms Joyce said good support was provided for communication and language. At story time, staff helped children identify what characters in a book were feeling and begin to share how they were feeling.

“They get thoroughly engaged in their learning and play,” reported Ms Joyce. “However, group times can be noisy and staff do not always take opportunities to remind children of the rules and expectations for their behaviour. This means quiet children’s voices are not always heard,” she added.