Newborough Pre-School Playgroup

Newborough Pre-School Playgroup

Inspection report for early years provision

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Newborough Pre-School Playgroup

256793 Unique Reference Number 21 September 2006 Inspection date Lesley Barrett Inspector

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Newborough Pre-School Playgroup

Newborough Village Hall, Guntons Road, Newborough, Peterborough, PE6 7RX

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E-mail

Newborough Pre-School Playgroup Committee Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Sessional care Type of 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

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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 good. 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 satisfactory.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Newborough Pre-School opened in 1968. It operates from the village hall in the village of Newborough on the outskirts of Peterborough. A maximum of 26 children may attend at any one time. There is access to an outdoor play area. The group opens each week day morning from 09.30 until 12.00 during term time. The group also offers a lunch club from 12.00 until13.00.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 22 children from two to five years on roll. This includes 10 funded three year olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions and come from a wide catchment area. The Pre-School is able to support children with learning difficulties or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language.

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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 Five staff work with the children. Over half the staff are working towards a recognised early years qualification. The setting receives support from the Peterborough Children's Strategic Partnership.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children’s health is effectively promoted as staff recognise and reduce possible risks. They take positive steps to prevent the spread of infection by cleaning tables with anti-bacterial fluid and wearing disposable gloves when preparing food. Children experience a range of activities which contribute to their well-being. They are gaining an understanding of good hygiene through clear support and guidance from staff such as, hand washing before eating, after toileting and nose wiping. Staff also encourage them to place their hands over their mouth when coughing to prevent the spread of germs.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's healthy eating is promoted as well balanced and nutritious snacks such as, breadsticks, fresh and dried fruit and raw vegetables are provided. They are also offered a choice of milk, juice or water to keep them hydrated. Children’s special dietary requirements are considered when providing snacks and all staff are aware of each individual child's dietary needs. Children are learning about their bodies through spontaneous discussions with staff as they talk about needing their coats and shoes on to keep them warm.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's immediate first aid requirements are met as sufficient staff have an appropriate qualification, they are aware of the procedures in place to record accidents and ensure that parents are made aware of when their child has sustained an injury. Parental permission to seek emergency medical advice or treatment is obtained to allow staff to act in the event of an emergency and satisfactory procedures are in place for the storage and administration of medication.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy a wide range of physical activities that help them to develop their confidence and skills both when using large and small apparatus, tools and equipment. Children are provided with opportunities to experience free flow outdoor play on a daily basis. They enjoy climbing trees, using a seesaw, space hopper and beams to encourage balancing skills. Children are developing good fine muscle control as they use a range of tools such as, scissors, chop sticks in the home corner, a variety of different sized pencils and a pencil sharpener. Their hand to eye co-ordination skills are promoted as they thread beads and build with a range of construction materials

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Resources provided are appropriate to children’s age and stage of development. Tables and chairs are of the correct size enabling them to increase their independence. Resources are effectively laid out to create an interesting and welcoming environment for children and they are able to freely select from the resources provided by staff each session. However,

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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 opportunities for children to select their own resources are limited restricting children’s ability to make choices about what they would like to play with.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Effective layout of the rooms and constant supervision of children, minimises risks to children, as they are able to move around safely. Unauthorised entry to the premises and effective security systems in place, prevent a child leaving unsupervised. Regular fire drills are carried out helping children and staff learn about the importance of the procedures to be followed in the event of an emergency. Children are learning about the importance of keeping themselves safe as staff talk to them about the need to wear shoes when playing outside, why they shouldn’t put too much food in their mouth at snack time and how to keep themselves safe when climbing the tree.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children’s welfare is safeguarded, as parents complete paperwork which would allow them to act quickly if a child becomes ill of there is a medical emergency. Children are never released to an adult unless they have prior written consent from the parents. Staff have attended child protection training and they understand their role with regard to this, they are aware of the procedures to be followed should they have any concerns about a child in their care.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are happy, settled and enjoying their time at pre-school. They are keen to participate in the activities and play opportunities provided. They show a good bond with staff who are consistently warm and kind in their approach. They recognise the needs of younger children who are settling and provide good support to help them adjust. The supervisor recognises that children form bonds with particular members of staff and ensure that they are available to provide the necessary support. Staff show a genuine enjoyment of their work, helping children to feel valued and secure within the setting. Staff are aware of the 'Birth to three' matters framework, they plan to attend training to develop their knowledge within this area to benefit the children.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Staff demonstrates a understanding of the early leaning goals and the way in which children learn. They allow the play to be child initiated and support children’s learning. They take advantage of most spontaneous activities and are flexible which ensures that children are interested, willing and eager to learn. They recognise opportunities for extending children’s learning and ask questions to provide challenge, enabling children to think and predict for themselves during activities and general conversation. However, there is limited planning in place. Staff ensure that they provide a balance of activities each session, although this does not always effectively show how activities can be developed and how the more able children can be challenged. Staff observes and monitor children’s play so that they are able to identify gaps in their learning. Children’s individual key workers are aware

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

of the areas of development, although this information is not relayed to all staff and is not necessarily used to inform future planning. Consequently, opportunities to progress children's learning and development are not consistently met.

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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 Children have good opportunities to develop their attitudes and dispositions that enable them to achieve in their learning. They are motivated to learn through exciting and interesting activities.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

They are developing their self-confidence and self-esteem and are beginning to learn right from wrong. They develop an awareness of their own needs and those of others and are beginning to understand that their actions have consequences. For example, staff effectively explain why hurting another child is unkind. Snack time provides a rich social occasion for children as staff sit with them and discuss news. Children are able to become increasingly independent when dealing with their physical needs. They are learning to take themselves to the toilet and wipe their own noses. However, there are missed opportunities at snack time for children to increase their independence such as starting to pour their own drinks.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children enjoy listening to stories in small groups or in a one to one situation and are able to take books home helping to create a positive link between home and the pre-school. Their listening skills are developing as staff give simple instructions and effectively ask questions to encourage children to think ‘what happens when we pour water through the wheel?’ ‘which car will your daddy like?’. There are a few opportunities for children to link that print has meaning through the use of name cards and books. However, information relayed in print around the room is sparse which limits children's ability to recognise letters. Staff make good use of spontaneous activities to link sounds to letters as they find their name at snack time and during a mark making activity. Materials for mark making are provided in a defined area and offer an assortment of resources, however there are limited opportunities for children to

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

experience mark making thorough other activities, such as role or outdoor play.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are beginning to use a range of mathematical concepts through their play as staff encourage them to count how many bricks there are in a tower they have built, which ‘puppy’ is the biggest, smallest and how many there are in a group of bears. Opportunities are provided to use scales and staff beginning to introduce words such as, heaviest and lightest. During water play children are encouraged to discover how many small bottles of water is takes to fill the large bottle. However, there are some missed opportunities for children’s mathematical skills to be developed through every day activities such as, counting how may cups are needed for each table at snack time and the shapes of the plates.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are beginning to make sense of the world around them by investigating and exploring through first hand experiences. They have opportunities to observe, explore, question, and be curious in a broad range of activities. During snack time staff ask children what they had for snack yesterday, a child remembers that he likes pear and that you can buy them from Morrisons , staff encourage this conversation as they discuss what else they can buy from Morrisons. Children are provided with different opportunities to experience design and making skills, through collage and junk modelling. Children enjoy using a camera in role play and have access to a lap top computer to develop their information, communication and technology skills. They learn about the local community through attending sports day at the school, singing to pensioners at Christmas time and visits from teachers. However, opportunities for children to

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

learn about different cultures and festivals are limited.

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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 Children are provided with opportunities to explore different materials such as water play, clay, dough, wet and dry spaghetti, and staff encourage the use of lots of words such as squelch and sticky. A wide variety of art experiences are offered and are freely available to children throughout the session. Children thoroughly enjoy participating in role play based on their own experiences. Such as, going shopping, peeling a prawn and cooking dinner. Staff effectively ask questions to develop their imagination.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. All children are welcomed. are developing an awareness of diversity through the play resources available such as, role play equipment, jigsaws and books. Staff foster links with children's own cultures where relevant as they gain necessary information from parents to help them feel secure. However, opportunities for children's to celebrate a varied range of religious festivals are limited; consequently their knowledge and experiences within this area are not being promoted. Systems to support children with special educational needs and disabilities are in place. Staff are aware of the need seek additional support and handle situations in a sensitive and professional manner.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children’s behaviour is good. Staff set clear consistent boundaries and have high expectations of children's behaviour that is appropriate to their age and stage of development. They ensure that children are not bored or frustrated, but are busy and content. They redirect children's energies into positive situations for example, by encouraging them to share when the disagree over toys. They give clear explanations as to why they are asking a child not to do something, helping them to learn the consequences of their actions, for example they are encouraged to shake hands to show they are sorry and show kindness to their peers. Positive behaviour is praised and encouraged to enhance children's self-esteem and promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers is good and contributes to the progress and well-being of children, including those who receive funded nursery education. Positive relationships between parents and staff have formed, they are kept well informed of their child's time at the pre-school, through regular newsletters and a parent information board. Parent's are given opportunities to discuss their child's achievements and progress with their key worker through an open door policy. However, information regarding current themes or activities is not provided to enable parents to become involved in their children's learning and support their progress. Parents speak positively about the setting and particularly comment upon the warm and reassuring welcome they receive when settling their children in.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children are happy and settled they enjoy activities as staff create an environment where they have appropriate space and resources to do so. Adults working with children show care and concerns for their welfare to give them a sense of well-being and regular staff know them well. They have good levels of support as high staff to child ratio's are maintained. Children’s learning

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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 is enhanced by staff, who are working towards appropriate qualifications and have a commitment to continue training to, ensure that their skills and knowledge are up to date. Staff have been subject to a Criminal Records Breau vetting procedure. However, the committee do no currently ensure that staff are physically and mentally fit for their role to ensure children are fully protected.

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Organisation

The playgroup is suitably organised as the effective layout of the premises allows children to play in different areas to maximise their play and learning opportunities. For example, there are separate areas for quieter activities such as, the book corner so children can sit undisturbed and good use is made of the adjacent outdoor play area providing children with free access to a range of activities inside and outside the premises. Staff demonstrate a good knowledge of the polices and procedures in place and are aware of the need to maintain all necessary information. All legally required documentation is in place which contributes to children’s health and safety.

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Organisation

The quality of leadership and management is satisfactory. The provision is effectively managed and monitored. Staff work well together as a team and are clear in their individual roles and responsibilities within the setting. The supervisor is a good role model and is able to delegate successfully. Plans are in place to develop an appraisal system to formally identify staff’s strengths and weaknesses and address staff's further training needs. However, systems are not currently in place to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum planning to ensure that all six areas are covered. Overall, the provision meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Following the last inspection the setting received three recommendations which related to care. These were to review safety, produce an induction programme for staff and allocate children to a key worker group. They were also required to review the equal opportunities policy and ensure hat children had access to an appropriate range of activities and resources that promote equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice. These have all been addressed and have a positive impact on the care of children.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The setting also received four key issues which related to the nursery education. These were to increase staff’s knowledge and understanding of the early learning goals to develop their ability to extend children’s activities. Effective progress has been made in respect of this, most staff have a good understanding of how children learn to help extend their learning. They were also required to develop the planning of the curriculum to show clearly what it is children are expected to learn from the activities. Some development has been made in respect of the planning, however further improvement is required to ensure that all areas of the curriculum are covered.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The third key issue was to use the information gained in the assessments to plan activities to meet the differing needs of the individual children. This has been addressed as key workers are aware of individual children's needs, however further development is required to ensure that this information is relayed to all staff. The fourth key issue was to provide information for the parents to show how the group delivers the foundation stage and give parents details on

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Improvements since the last inspection

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 how their child is progressing towards the stepping stones. This has been successfully addressed as parents receive information on the foundation stage and an open door policy together with parents evenings enables parents to gain information on their child's progress.

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Complaints since the last inspection

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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Complaints since the last inspection

Since the last inspection there have been no complaints made to Ofsted that required the provider or Ofsted to take any action in order to meet the National Standards.

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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 good. 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 satisfactory.

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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): • review the employment process to ensure that staff are mentally and physically fit for their role • provide opportunities for children to self select their own resources.

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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): • review planning to show how activities can be developed to ensure all areas of the curriculum are covered and how children can be successfully challenged • develop information provided for parents on current themes or activities. Show how they can be involved to help enhance children’s learning • develop systems to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum.

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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 set out in the leaflet Complaints about Ofsted Early Years: concerns or complaints about Ofsted's role in regulating and inspecting childcare and early education (HMI ref no 2599) 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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