Metheringham Pre-School

Metheringham Pre-School
Unique reference number (URN): 253567
Address: The Village Hall, Fen Road, Metheringham, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN4 3AA
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 07/12/1992
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Metheringham Preschool Committee
Inspection report: 14 May 2026
Exceptional
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
Urgent improvement
Safeguarding standards met
The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for
governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open
culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively
identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.
How we evaluate safeguarding
When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:
Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding.
Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all
legal requirements are met.

Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
Children are developing their language and communication skills well. For example, children
eagerly join group singing time with their friends. They join in with the actions,
enthusiastically singing along with the familiar words. Children take turns to choose a friend
to dance with in the centre of the circle, while their friends clap and sing to them. Other
children enjoy looking at books with their friends. They sit together to compare pictures they
have found and name the animals they can see.
Overall, children achieve well from their starting points and gain skills that will prepare them
for their move on to school. Children enjoy engaging with the well-considered resources that
staff have provided. They remain deeply focused while they create buildings from clicking
different-coloured shapes together and when connecting long lines of cubes together. That
said, at these times, children receive less purposeful interaction from staff than at other
times. This means children are not consistently building on what they already know and can
do.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Staff have built positive relationships with the children in their care. As a result, children
arrive at pre-school eager to engage with the activities on offer. Children are keen to help
staff. They busy themselves during tidy-up time, putting resources away in the correct
places. Staff praise children for their help. Children are full of pride as they receive stickers
for their hard work. Staff know that some children need additional support to manage their
emotions. They use strategies such as distraction techniques and calming corners to help
children regulate their feelings. This helps children return to their play quickly.
Staff support children to take turns, share resources, use their manners and follow pre-
school rules. Children enjoy playing games with their friends, with staff providing guidance to
help children follow the rules. When children demonstrate unwanted behaviour, staff
intervene swiftly, but they do not always help children understand what is expected of them.
For example, when children push others, staff ask them to stop but do not explain why. This
does not help children learn the impact of their actions on others.
Leaders have a clear process in place to monitor attendance. They work with parents to
help them understand the importance of regular attendance and how it may affect their
child's development.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Children build secure attachments with their key person. Staff recognise that some children
are learning to manage their emotions. When children become distressed during their play
or when taking part in daily routines, staff swiftly intervene and help children to calm down
and settle. Leaders have identified that children need support to manage these emotions

more effectively themselves. While this has not yet been fully embedded in practice, staff
are starting to work with parents and children to better manage this.
Leaders understand the importance of supporting children's health and wellbeing. For
example, all children have daily access to outdoor play, staff work with parents to ensure
children have access to healthy lunches, and staff provide children with nutritious snacks
and fresh drinking water. Staff support children to wash their hands before meals to help
them develop positive hand hygiene practices.
Leaders and staff encourage children's early independence skills, which are embedded in
daily routines. Children set up chairs at the lunch table and get their coat from their peg in
readiness for outdoor play. In addition, children wipe their nose and put their used tissue in
the bin, and they know to wash their hands after messy play. This helps children recognise
their self-care needs.
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Leaders work with staff to identify the most important areas of learning for the children in
their care. They have developed a broad curriculum based on children's interests, with
appropriate next steps embedded within children's play. Staff adapt activities for children
with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This enables all children to take
part in the daily routines and join in activities with their friends.
Staff use mealtimes to help children develop their early social skills. Children excitedly tell
their friends and staff about what they have had for breakfast. They listen to their friends and
are supported by staff to share their own experiences. Staff support children to use their
manners as they share the fruit platter, passing it helpfully around the group. This supports
children to develop their conversational skills and positively interact with others.
Leaders and staff provide a well-considered learning environment within the pre-school.
Children benefit from a balance of child-led play and adult-initiated activities indoors. This
includes those children with SEND and those who face barriers to their learning. However,
staff do not always plan and provide the same level of rich learning experiences outdoors.
This means that some children do not fully engage in outdoor play.
Inclusion Expected standard
Leaders and staff know the children in their care well, including what makes them unique.
They assess children's development and achievements to determine appropriate next steps,
which are embedded within children's play. Leaders and staff work with external
professionals to make sure that children receive the support they need to ensure they make
steady progress from their starting points.
Leaders use funding effectively to support children. For example, targeted funding is used to
purchase appropriate resources to support one-to-one interventions. Staff monitor and
review the impact this has on children's learning to ensure that it helps to improve outcomes
for them.

Staff understand that some children with special educational needs and/or disabilities find
playing alongside others and taking part in daily routines a challenge. They are developing
strategies to help children manage their own emotions and enabling them to join in with the
activities on offer at their own pace. For example, some children find singing time too noisy.
They are supported to move to a quiet space until they feel ready to rejoin the group.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
Leaders have taken a positive approach to the actions raised at the last inspection. They
have strengthened their procedures, ensuring concerns about children's safety and welfare
are swiftly identified and referred to the relevant professional agency. In addition, they have
further developed their systems to obtain information about children's medication needs.
This assures children's safety and welfare while at the pre-school.
Leaders ensure all staff receive regular supervision and have dedicated time to access
training opportunities to enhance the provision further. They fully consider staff's wellbeing
and workload, ensuring that support is available when needed and expectations are
realistic. This helps maintain a safe and positive environment for everyone.
Leaders and staff develop positive relationships with parents. Parents say their children are
developing their early social skills and that staff share strategies with them to help support
their children's progress at home. Leaders and staff communicate daily with parents
regarding their children's progress at pre-school and are responsive to any parental
concerns.
Leaders work closely with external professionals so children, including those with special
educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their learning, receive
appropriate and targeted support.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children enjoy their time at this welcoming pre-school. All children build secure attachments
with the consistent and familiar staff team, helping them settle quickly and feel safe and
secure. For example, the environment is full of laughter and chatter as children arrive. They
confidently leave their parents and quickly settle with their chosen activity and play with their
friends.

Inspector:
Susan Hyatt
About this setting
Leaders promote an inclusive environment for all children. Staff set out a varied range of
activities that reflect children's interests and abilities, closely aligning them with their next
steps. As a result, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or
disabilities, make good progress from their starting points.
Children enjoy outdoor play. They follow staff instruction as they bend and stretch to warm
up their muscles. Children are eager to take part in walking races while balancing beanbags
on their heads. Indoors, older children kindly hold younger children's hands as they walk
carefully across stepping stones, while others push themselves along on ride-on toys. This
helps children develop their physical skills.
Children are supported to develop their growing independence skills and take part in the
daily routines. For example, during snack time, children peel fruit, put their leftovers in the
bin and place their used plates in the sink. This helps children to do as much for themselves
as possible. When children want water, staff suggest how they could politely ask for the jug.
Children use their manners, thanking their friends for sharing. This helps children develop
their social skills.
Next steps
Leaders should further develop and implement consistent behaviour management
strategies that build on children's understanding of behaviour expectations.
Leaders should strengthen planning for the outdoor provision to ensure that it consistently
meets the individual needs of all children.
Leaders should support staff to use high-quality interactions, including encouraging
children to think and explore ideas, to deepen children's learning during their play.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners, parents and children during the inspection.
We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the
quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The
registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for
children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

Unique reference number (URN): 253567
Address:
The Village Hall
Fen Road, Metheringham
Lincoln
Lincolnshire
LN4 3AA
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 07/12/1992
Registered person: Metheringham Preschool Committee
Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 09:00 - 15:00
Local authority: Lincolnshire
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 14 May 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
2 to 4
Total number of places
40
Our grades explained
Exceptional
Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

Strong standard
The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of
them.
Expected standard
The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are
following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional
standards expected of them.
Needs attention
The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary
improvements.
Urgent improvement
The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of
education and/or care.
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspects
services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects
and regulates services that care for children and young people.
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