Yeadon Town Hall Pre-school

Yeadon Town Hall Pre-school

Inspection report for early years provision

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Yeadon Town Hall Pre-school

Unique Reference Number EY314916 Inspection date 06 April 2006 Inspector Ingrid Szczerban

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Yeadon Town Hall Pre-school

Setting Address Yeadon Town Hall, High Street, Yeadon, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS19 7PP Telephone number 0113 3910431

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E-mail

Registered person Anne Elizabeth Speight Type of inspection Integrated Type of care Sessional care

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E-mail

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality of childcare and, if applicable, of nursery education. The inspection was carried out under Part XA Children Act 1989 as introduced by the Care Standards Act 2000 and, where nursery education is provided, under Schedule 26 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004; the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding; and, where nursery education is provided, the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. The report includes information on any complaints about the childcare provision which Ofsted has received since the last inspection or registration or 1 April 2004 whichever is the later.

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough For more information about early years inspections, please see the booklet Are you ready for your inspection? which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are satisfactory. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Yeadon Town Hall Pre-School is privately owned. It was registered in 2005 and operates from two rooms within the town hall. it is located in the centre of the semi-rural market town of Yeadon, in West Yorkshire, serving mainly the local community. There is no outdoor play area. The pre-school is open from Monday to Friday, term time only. Opening times are Monday, Tuesday and Friday, from 09.10 until 11.50 and from 12.40 until 15.00. On Wednesday and Thursday from 09.10 until

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 11.50. A maximum of 30 children may attend the pre-school at any one time. There are currently 75 children on roll, of these 26 receive funding for nursery education. The pre-school currently supports children with special needs and children who speak English as an additional language. The pre-school employs nine staff, four of the staff hold appropriate childcare or teaching qualifications and two are working towards a qualification. The setting receive support from the Local Authority and they are members of the Pre-School Learning Alliance.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children are cared for in a clean and well maintained environment where effective procedures and practices ensure that children's physical, nutritional and health needs are effectively addressed. The staff provide sufficient support and guidance to ensure that children develop a relatively good understanding of hygiene. For example, encouraging them wash their hands after toileting. However, children are not asked to wash hands before eating and no plates are provided at snack time. Children are protected from cross infection through the implementation of a sickness policy and the regular washing of toys and equipment. Children are provided with a good supply of drinks and snacks to meet their needs. The setting operates a healthy eating policy so that children develop a sound awareness of healthy foods, such as fruit, breadsticks and water or milk to drink. The healthy message is reinforced with home, as staff ask parents to contribute healthy

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Helping children to be healthy

items for snack time. Individual dietary needs are taken good account of, ensuring that children remain healthy. Children enjoy a range of physical activities which contribute to their good health. They have regular access to physical activities indoors, they can balance and climb, throw and catch bean bags and jump on a trampoline. They delight in bouncing as high as they can on the trampoline and notice the effect of exercise on their bodies.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children move around safely and freely in the well-organised setting, where risks are identified and minimised by staff through good practices. Access to the provision is monitored appropriately, doors are kept locked protecting children from unknown visitors and there are adequate procedures in place to prevent children from leaving the setting with unknown adults. Staff comply with health and safety requirements to keep children safe. Children are also learning well about their own personal safety,

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 when they are reminded not to climb on chairs in case they hurt themselves. Children use a broad range of good quality, developmentally appropriate resources which foster all areas of their development. Toys and equipment are well-organised into specific areas of learning and stored at child height encouraging decision making and independence. However, children cannot access the toilet independently; they must ask a member of staff and are then escorted, which limits this aspect of their growing independence. Children are protected from harm through the staff's thorough understanding of child protection issues and the procedure to follow should the need arise. However, the duty to follow child protection procedures, is not made sufficiently clear to parents before children's admission to the setting.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Staff provide a very good range of activities and play opportunities to foster all areas of children's development. They are currently in the process of developing the Birth to three matters framework to improve the achievements of the children under three. Planning and children's assessments are used effectively to extend learning. Children enthusiastically take part in a very good range of sensory and creative experiences, such as baking, painting, collage work, water, sand and malleable materials. This develops their senses as they use their creative skills to make sense of the world around them. Activities and resources in all the playrooms are age specific for the children attending and these are all easily accessible ensuring children have free choice, which promotes their independence. The interaction between staff and children is very good, ensuring that warm, trusting relationships

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

are developed and that children are happy and settled. Staff spend most of their time playing with the children, giving lots of attention, using playful talk and encouraging them to explore their environment. Nursery Education. The quality of teaching and learning are good. All staff have good knowledge of the Curriculum Guidance for the foundation stage and of how children learn effectively. They challenge children effectively by using good questioning to encourage the children to think and respond in their own words. Planning for the activities covers the six areas of learning and the stepping stones, through which children are progressing. Children's assessment records contain observations of children's progress along the stepping stones, however, these are not clearly linked to identify future planning for individual children. This impacts on staff's ability to plan for the individual developmental needs of the children attending. Methods used to engage

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

children in the activities are very good. Staff are patient, they listen to the children, respect their views and create warm caring relationships, which gives children a sense of belonging and boosts their self-esteem. Children with special needs and English as an additional language are supported in their learning very well. Overall the children are making good progress in all areas of learning. A strength of

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 the setting is the children's progress in their personal, social and emotional development. Children are very happy to attend the setting and enter the playroom confidently. They operate very independently within the nursery, seeing to their own personal hygiene and care. Children choose activities from the shelves, help staff tidy activities away and take pleasure in putting on their own aprons and washing their own hands before baking. Children have very good manners, they say please and thank-you and are considerate to one another as they share and take turns, they wait patiently in a queue. Children are beginning to make good attachments to others in the group and have friends they like to be with. Children are confident speakers, they question why things happen and what people

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

are doing and confidently state their needs, likes and dislikes. More able children are beginning to develop emergent reading and writing skills as they are linking sounds to letters of the alphabet and use good pencil control to form recognisable letters, including writing their own names. They handle books well and can talk about past events which are photographed and recorded in home-made books. Children are beginning to develop a good interest in numbers; they count well and more able children are beginning to solve simple mathematical calculations. However, for more able children spontaneous use of calculation in everyday activities is limited. Children greatly enjoy looking at the world around them. They examine the leaves of plants, using magnifying glasses and observe how they grow. They create and experiment with technology as they build using construction sets, collage and recycled materials. They also learn how to use simple equipment on the computer as

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

they move the cursor using the mouse, change discs to select and complete their favourite programs. Visits to residential homes and the library, helps children to learn about the local community and environment. Children confidently explore a very good range of creative materials, such as paint, malleable materials, collage, sand, and water. They freely access these materials to represent their feelings, thoughts and ideas. Staff effectively support them to extend learning. Children enjoy music as they learn about how to change sounds by playing musical instruments loudly or softly, recording their own compositions onto sheet music. Their experience at singing time is enhanced by musical accompaniment on the clarinet or piano. They confidently take part in imaginative play and re-enact first hand experiences, such as putting the dolls to bed. Children move freely with pleasure and confidence indoors; they are developing their physical skills as they

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

balance, climb, bounce, throw and catch. They are developing excellent hand-eye co-ordination in fine physical skills; using spoons with high levels of concentration and control, to fill bun cases.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children's individual needs are effectively met through a variety of means including information received from parents at the gradual induction of the child. There are excellent procedures in place to support children with special needs to enhance their development. High value is attributed to different cultures, and families who speak

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Helping children make a positive contribution

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 English as an additional language are made very welcome. Staff provide resources that positively represent diversity in society, which helps children develop a positive attitude towards others. The staff have a good awareness of behaviour management techniques to enhance children's well being. Children are very well behaved due to staff's consistency in managing behaviour and their involvement in activities. Children get on well together and can take turns, they form a queue waiting eagerly for their turn on the trampoline. Children have a good awareness of the setting's expectations for behaviour and remind each other to use good manners. Lots of praise and encouragement is offered to children; boosting confidence and self esteem. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered well.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children benefit from the good partnership developed between staff and parents. Children are cared for according to parents' wishes which promotes continuity of care and their well being. There are effective systems in place to ensure information is shared on a regular basis about the children's progress and daily activities, for example, through daily chats, and access to development records. Policies and procedures are available to parents about the setting and notices in the hallway and newsletters are used to up-date parents on any changes and forthcoming events. The complaints procedure is displayed for parents but it does not yet reflect the provider's new duty for self-investigation. Parents of children who receive funded nursery education are given information about the Foundation Stage and on how to extend children's learning at home. They receive information about activities that the children are to be involved in over a specific period of time and are invited to discuss

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Space and deployment of staff are used effectively to meet the needs of the children and enhance their well being. There are satisfactory procedures in place to vet staff to ensure that they are suitable to care for children. Adult-child ratios are consistently maintained and staff are suitably qualified in early years. However, the manager is not yet qualified to level three, she is working towards the qualification. Children are effectively supported by well-deployed staff who work cohesively as a team. They have a positive and pro-active approach, sharing tasks and responsibilities. There are clear systems in place to ensure that staff are well prepared to carry out their roles. These include an induction programme, regular staff meetings and yearly appraisals. Staff are encouraged to update and address their training and development needs through these processes. Overall, the provision meets the needs

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Organisation

of the children who attend. Leadership and Management Leadership and management is good. Staff receive good levels of support and encouragement from management. They work very well together as a team, and all contribute to the plans sharing ideas for activities. Activities and plans are sufficiently evaluated on a regular basis to identify the strengths and weaknesses and the impact

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Organisation

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 these have on the children. However, observations and assessments do not clearly link to future planning for individual children's development. Through these systems and the staff's sound knowledge of the children's individual learning needs they are able to provide children with well-prepared and thought out activities that stimulate and challenge children's learning. Children are provided with positive experiences to promote their learning. This is achieved through the management and staff's ongoing commitment to improvement.

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Complaints since the last inspection

There have been no complaints to report. The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints record may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are satisfactory. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure manager achieves a suitable level 3 childcare qualification • review and develop the complaints procedure in line with new requirements for self investigation • improve hygiene practice to prevent the spread of infection • develop a method for sharing clearly child protection procedures with parents before admission to day care

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

To improve the quality and standards of nursery education further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 • provide more opportunities for developing calculation skills for more able children in everyday activities • link observations to assessments to clearly identify future planning for individual children.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

procedures set out in the leaflet Building better childcare: Compliments and concerns about inspectors' judgements which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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