The Croft Pre-School

The Croft Pre-School

Inspection report for early years provision

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The Croft Pre-School

305366 Unique Reference Number 04 December 2006 Inspection date Rachel Ruth Britten Inspector

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The Croft Pre-School

Gutterscroft Centre, Haslington, Crewe, Cheshire, CW1 5RJ Setting Address

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E-mail

The Croft Pre-School Haslington 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?

The Croft Pre-School is an independent pre-school administered by a parents' committee. It opened in 1966 and operates in a single storey community centre building, sited within the village of Haslington. A maximum of 24 children may attend the pre-school at any one time. The pre-school is open each week day during term time from 09.15 to 11.45 and for four afternoons each week from 12.45 to 15.00.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 39 children aged from two to under five years on roll. Of these, 27 receive funding for early education. Children mostly come from the local area and will be attending local schools. The pre-school is not currently supporting any children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, or any 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 The pre-school employs six members of staff. Of these, four hold appropriate early years qualifications and one is working towards a qualification. The pre-school receives support from a teacher from Sure Start.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children stay very healthy because practitioners employ a thorough knowledge of appropriate health and hygiene guidelines, policies and procedures. They keep all kitchen and toilet areas clean and vigilantly ensure that children wash hands, blow noses, cover mouths when coughing, keep warm and protect their clothes with suitable aprons. They ensure that tables are cleaned before snack and every child has a clean mat, plate and cup. However, staff store chemical substances alongside bottled foodstuffs in a kitchen cupboard which constitutes a small health risk. The sinks in the children's toilet area are adult size and require steps for children to reach them and the water is not thermostatically controlled. This means that staff must remember to turn off the hot water heater after a set amount of time to ensure that the water does not become too hot.

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Helping children to be healthy

Some three and four-year-old children can independently wash their hands and put their paper towels into the bin. Others fetch their own tissues to blow their nose and put these straight into the bin too. They have learned about 'the germ family' and know why they wash hands to get off germs. They say that 'if the germs go in your mouth they give you a poorly tummy'. Children take turns to help to lay tables and planned activities help children to learn about washing clothes and cleaning toys. In addition, children sometimes take part in activities to help them learn how to prepare fruits and vegetables. During each session, children help one another to drinks of water from the jug with a lid and can use the dust pan and brush to help clear up spilt sand at 'tidy up time'. In these ways children learn to look after their own health and hygiene.

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Helping children to be healthy

Good attention to individual children's health needs means that dietary requirements, changes of clothing and administration of any necessary creams or medication are hygienically undertaken according to each child's needs and their parents' wishes. For example, medication is only administered with written instructions and consent from parents. All staff are trained in first aid and/or food hygiene. They follow clear written sickness procedures, keep first aid supplies replenished and keep parents well informed about childhood illnesses and diseases. They provide some child care and parenting information about childhood development and health issues and notify parents through notices if there are any health concerns, such as head lice noted. Accidents are properly recorded with parent signatures of acknowledgement each time. These procedures protect children's health, with all adults working together to ensure that they grow

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy adequate levels of physical activity indoors because a section of the main hall is given over to this during many sessions. For example, children have shape mats to jump between like stepping stones and can move to the music tapes together. Rising fours learn to change into, and out of, their gym kit, practising their dressing skills before starting school.

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Helping children to be healthy

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 outside area is used for all aspects of the curriculum when the grass is dry and children also sometimes go on local nature walks or visits to shops, such as the post office. This activity develops children's large and small movements. Children can also rest according to their needs because individual routines and requirements are followed. For example, a child can rest quietly or sit on a staff member's knee if needed. Rest and relaxation after physical exercise is built into the programme for winding children down emotionally and physically.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's emotional well-being is promoted very well in the setting because staff are warm and responsive to all children, ensuring that they have independence, but are not isolated or unchallenged. Children and staff move about regularly between activities and children are allocated a key worker. Parents may also come in as parent helpers and are invited to observe a session shortly when children are to bake mince pies for them.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are well nourished and enjoy a healthy balanced diet through a varied menu for snacks. The pre-school is signed up to an oral hygiene campaign and gives sugar free snacks and drinks. Children choose crackers, apple, banana, and crumpets on the day of inspection. However, menus are not made available to parents and there is no detailed food and drink policy to make parents aware of the approach being followed.

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Helping children to be healthy

Staff are well organised, preparing and serving snacks efficiently and sitting with children. Children enjoy the social aspect of meal times and can talk amongst themselves and with staff. They talk about the importance of eating healthy food to make them strong and fit. Children have any special health and dietary needs carefully met because practitioners work well with parents to elicit any information about these at the beginning of placement through enrolment forms. Lists in the kitchen ensure that all staff are aware of the details of all food preferences and allergies and make sure that needs, such as dairy allergies, are not overlooked. However, there are none at present.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children are cared for in a warm, bright, secure and safe environment with a busy, purposeful atmosphere. The hall is well set out and welcoming because staff come in very early to set up displays and resources. Nothing is allowed to be left up on the walls. Posters about number, letter, shape and colour, project work and photos of the children are referred to and enjoyed by them during sessions. However, nothing is currently displayed to show how the children's play activities relate to the six areas of learning or the 'Birth to three matters' framework.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The small entrance lobby is used to display and pass on information to parents about forthcoming events and any health and safety matters. Information about the qualification and training of staff and the key worker groups is displayed in the main room for parents to see when they come in to drop off or collect their child. Toilets and nappy changing areas are accessed from within the main room so that children move around the setting with confidence. All exits are locked and inaccessible to children except in the event of an emergency and the outside areas are checked and carefully monitored when children are playing outside. The total numbers of children and adults are usually displayed near the door to provide a quick reference in case of emergency.

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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 There is good security to the public entrance doors because they are kept locked when sessions are underway. Staff man the doors vigilantly whenever children are arriving and departing to minimise the possibility of a child being lost or taken by the wrong adult and arrangements are made to ensure that staff know exactly who is collecting a child if this is not a parent or designated carer. Registers are done as soon as children arrive and visitors to the group must sign in the visitors book. These procedures ensure that children are kept very safe in the setting.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children use a wealth of innovative and stimulating resources which are clean and purchased from reputable sources. These resources contribute significantly to children's enjoyment and achievement and are well set out for children to access easily. For example, children enjoy a good range of construction toys, craft materials, books, small world and role play resources. Resources for children are mostly kept in storage boxes and used on tables or carpets, so that they can be stacked away in the store room when not in use. This restricts children in making completely free choices, but the large space does allow for a multitude of activities to be set out and the use of storage boxes enables children to participate in tidying up.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Furniture and equipment is suitable and generally safe, so that all children benefit from appropriately sized chairs, tables, sand and water trays and painting easels. Some tables are covered with plastic cloths because they are old and difficult to clean and some rugs are a little curled, but staff are vigilant and ensure that children do not run, cannot access the kitchen because of the safety gate, and use safe steps to reach the wash hand basins. Cushions and a mat make the reading area especially inviting and comfortable.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff are vigilant to ensure that children move about safely within the setting. For example, they keep areas clean, dry and safe, making full use of socket blanks, mops and cleaning fluids, all of which are stored out of children's reach. Hot drinks are kept out of reach and any wet floor areas are cordoned off with chairs until dry, so that children cannot slip on them. Staff employ annually reviewed risk assessments for all aspects of the building and make sure that essential maintenance, such as replacement of light bulbs is done promptly. Children's safety is assured as a result of all these measures. Electrical appliances, wiring, gas and fire equipment are checked by the building's owners and documentation about what to do in the event of any emergency is posted. However, fire evacuation practises are held too infrequently for all new children to know what to do and drill records do not document any problems with drills or

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are well protected from abuse because all staff have a good understanding of their role in child protection. The named person for child protection has been on appropriate training. Staff are aware of what to do in the event of an allegation being made against them and know who to contact if they are concerned about a child. They are not currently displaying up to date reference information about child protection, but this is accessibly stored and parents can read the child protection policy given in the parent information pack before their child is enrolled.

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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

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are developing high levels of confidence and self-esteem because staff talk and listen to them constantly and have high expectations of what they can achieve. Most children separate easily from their carers as they hand in their name card which they have found on the board. They hang up their coats and move across to the carpet where staff are waiting to sit with them. They can watch their parents and carers leave and all the others coming and going too, so that the session starts informally and gradually. After registration and welcome, children are delighted to show and talk about their items from home, including some Russian dolls. Children explore how each doll comes apart and has another inside it and they count up how many dolls there are altogether, fitting them back inside in order of size. Activities are well introduced so that children are enthusiastic to start playing, using the pet transporters, Christmas

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

crafts, colouring/pencil work, small world scene, cars, garage and multicultural figures, ponies and dolls, play dough, sand and puppet theatre. Children quickly bond together in small groups, taking it in turns, sharing and asking if they can fetch chairs for the theatre audience, have a doll to dress, or take part in the snail dice game. They are able to confidently approach staff and friends to communicate their needs and concerns, but are independent and self confident too. For example, one child asks for help with dressing the doll, while another says "I want to draw a picture. I think I can do it because I am so clever - I can put new batteries in and that makes my toy work again".

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are happy, settled, and interested in what they are doing because staff are committed, enthusiastic and work well together as a team. They follow loose activity plans and daily routines and ensure that children are well supervised at all times, creating a busy, but exceptionally calm atmosphere. They work with children in small groups for crafts, construction and stories, moving between children and activities, wherever they see an opportunity to develop play or where children may be unsure. In this way children receive sufficient help and direction to make the most of the activity and their discussions are directed through meaningful questions so that they are learning in all areas. Children are able to persist well in activities which truly interest them. For example, they use the pet transporters to create a role play vets' surgery and devise their own hopping and jumping game using the coloured shape mats. Others carefully use glue

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

sticks, tissue and glitter to decorate Christmas wreaths. Staff join in and extend children's ideas, listen and guide, but children are also able to be creative and play well together both alone and in small groups. For example, children play alone with the play passenger planes and play figures, but play mostly in small groups with the sand and puppet theatre.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children's enjoyment and achievements are good because staff know children well and know what they can do. They use the key worker system and staff discussion to verbally share their observations and knowledge of each child. For example, one staff member conducts a simple board game using a coloured dice. She tests out children's understanding of colour, numbers to five, size, and the concept of first, second and third. The information is then shared with other staff at lunch time or when the opportunity arises. Children are not pressurised to start or leave activities to fit with adults' agendas, but are allowed time to complete tasks and opportunities to select their own activities from what is set out. For example, some children play with the small world community, while others sit quietly to look at a book. Staff also lead larger group planned activities to investigate or discuss new concepts, aspects of the natural

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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 world or the community around us. This increases the variety of presentation which children experience so that they acquire new knowledge, independence and language in a variety of ways.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are involved, enthusiastic and are able to use their initiative because the staff plan an exciting range of activities and give children opportunities to learn, play and be independent. For example, children use rolling pins, scissors and shape cutters as they model with the play dough. They work out that the size of one train is too big to go through one of the tunnels and they see how many cups full of sand it takes to fill the jug. Staff show them how to measure and attach things, how to gather up spilt sand and how to form the circle and letter shapes that they want to draw. They also enable them to do as much for themselves as possible.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Staff are committed to providing a calm, welcoming atmosphere, a varied programme of activities covering all the areas of learning and an approach which fosters good relationships, self-confidence and good social behaviour. Children enjoy a fine range of activities because role play, reading, writing, creative, construction, small world, physical and experimental activities are all provided. Children can choose how to spend much of their activity time, moving freely between the tables and floor areas, deciding what to do and when. However, opportunities to use information and communication technology and to participate in formally assessed activities are not available on the day of inspection and there is little evidence of the use of these learning methods.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff question, challenge and join in appropriately with all choices children make, which extends their play and learning in a fun and seamless way. For example, staff ask questions about the clothes that children are dressing the dolls in and what occasion they are for. They ask questions about shape, colour and measure as they draw around the shape mats with children. They encourage children to explore the properties of water, sand and play dough as they decant, fill, or model. Likewise, staff read children the books that they have chosen to look at and ask relevant question arising from the themes in the stories, so that children can enter into what it is like to be the characters portrayed. Themed activities run for six weeks each, but children have few opportunities to discuss how the session links to the current theme and the routine of sessions is not clearly illustrated or well demarcated apart from welcome, snack and goodbye

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

songs. Nevertheless, children know that they are making preparations for Christmas.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children behave very well and are making good or adequate progress in all the areas of learning. This is because staff are generally successful in providing for their personal, social and emotional development. Staff know each child well and encourage friendships between them, so that they know about one another and consider one another. Each child feels special from the moment they are greeted in the morning and find their name card. This continues as their name is called at register and as they talk about what they have brought in from home for the 'home box'. Throughout the day, children have opportunities to help, to be involved and to answer questions. For example, all children are involved in tidying up and they all help to serve and clear the snack. All children are praised enthusiastically by staff whenever they perform well.

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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's progress is sound because staff have an adequate understanding of the Foundation Stage and an appreciation of how young children learn. Their activity planning is simple and addresses each area of learning, but does not clearly identify which stepping stones are to be covered. Staff create a record of each child's pre-school activities which starts once they are a year from school attendance. This contains pictures, crafts and work sheets, but has few observational notes. This is because staff do not routinely take down evidence notes of what children do and say. They also rarely undertake assessment activities where each child has a try at an activity to test their knowledge in certain areas. In addition, developmental profiles are only occasionally completed to show in which term a child met a stepping stone. The profiles

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

contain no specific written or photographic examples to bring the profile to life and no specific dates to accurately show when a stepping stone was achieved. Children's personal evidence files and profiles are not often viewed either. This means that records and observational notes are under-used, both for identification of the next steps that children need to take, and for parents to be sufficiently informed during the year about how their child is progressing.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Nevertheless, staff present activities enthusiastically to children in a way that truly interests them and helps them to focus, persist and resist distraction. For example, small group work in the afternoon is very well presented to allow children to develop their communication, mathematical, and social skills, along with their small motor movements. Children take turns to choose an animal from the box, to name and describe it, including counting its legs and making the sound it makes. They then have to place it in the water without spilling it or making a splash on the cuddly toy 'sitting' beside the bowl. Children are exploring, discovering, considering one another and developing their imaginations as they take their turns. They are captivated because staff are talking to them, challenging, supporting and praising them as they work and play.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children's development is best in the areas of creative development and communication, language and literacy. This is because staff provide good opportunities for children to role play and act out stories and look at books. There are also varied craft and writing activities where children can develop pencil and small motor control, for example, as they draw around shapes or decorate Christmas wreaths. They choose the bear hunt story, make up plays using the puppets, and have plenty of opportunities to talk to the whole group. They show good levels of self confidence as a result.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children's understanding is less developed in aspects of physical development, mathematical development and knowledge and understanding of the world. Children's physical development is restricted outdoors when the weather is poor because there are no dry play surfaces. Some music and movement and large games are played indoors to help compensate for this, but children do not often develop their large movements, for example, for climbing. In addition, children's use of number and opportunities to count are reduced because staff do not remember to incorporate number work enough into their questions during the routines of the day. Furthermore, children's appreciation of cultures and beliefs is underdeveloped because this is not as comprehensively planned for as other aspects of knowledge and understanding of the world, such as designing, making and investigating.

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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

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children join in very well, take responsibility and play a productive part in the setting because the warm environment and friendly, purposeful staff help children feel at home from the outset. Children are warmly greeted with their parents and can separate from them in their own time because registration time starts when all children are gathered on the carpet area. Staff members skilfully give children personal attention if they are distressed. Children can keep their toys from home with them if they wish or can place them safely in the 'home box' until after pre-school. They can sit on staff's knee during group times and can talk about their home lives regularly. There are also photos of each child displayed at their height so that they can see themselves. All these things help children to have a good sense of belonging. Children's emotional well-being is promoted very well in the setting because staff are kind, sensitive and

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Helping children make a positive contribution

reassuring, giving cuddles to children who are a little unsure. As a result, they are confident and happy to show me their favourite things in pre-school. Staff make special efforts to greet all parents and children, ensuring that any information is exchanged and noted for the day ahead, be it about collection details, medication needed, or details affecting the child's emotional state. Likewise, parents come into the room again at the end of sessions and children receive a positive send-off with a song and time for talking to parents.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children are helped to consider and value diversity because there are various books, dressing up costumes, dolls, play figures, puzzles and games which show positive images of culture and special need. In addition, the pre-school, the local community and people in need are variously supported by fundraising initiatives including the nursery children, parents and staff. These activities foster a good sense of social responsibility amongst young children. There are also a few activities undertaken to bring festivals of varying cultures alive for children, but these are infrequent and are given little priority.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children’s individual needs are met well because staff use their time constructively to encourage children with concentration, behaviour, language or other particular needs to join in with group activities. They also allow children to read or undertake an activity on their own if this is their choice. Staff model appropriate play skills, and use short and simple language. They make it easier for children to conform by warmly praising wanted cooperation and ignoring any non-participation as much as possible. Children and adults with disabilities and/or learning needs are included fully in the life of the setting because there is space for easy movement. Staff are very committed to inclusion and are enthusiastic about continuing to keep up to date by undertaking relevant training. They liaise well with parents and relevant professionals to ensure that they plan and work together, using recognised and consistent techniques which

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Helping children make a positive contribution

benefit children with emerging needs. For example, there are children currently attending who have particular behaviour needs. Following discussions with the parents, individual behaviour plans are being drawn up.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Most children behave extremely well and work very harmoniously together because staff are vigilant and highly effective in teaching children how to behave well and consider others. For example, children readily share their dolls with other children when they move onto another

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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 activity, they take turns to roll the dice on the snail game and amiably play beside one another with the water and sand. Staff members listen and include children and use their reversible 'happy and sad face' sign to support their negotiations with children when they want to elicit kind words rather than unkind ones. There are sound behaviour, equal opportunities, parent partnership and special needs policies. The incident record is used with regard to serious concerns, previous injuries and physical intervention by staff, but individual incidents involving unwanted behaviour are not always recorded and discussed with parents. This reduces consistency when dealing with children's behaviour problems and makes it harder for staff to have sufficient evidence to act quickly to resolve behaviour problems effectively with parents'

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The quality of partnership with parents and carers is satisfactory. Children receive consistency of care between home and nursery because staff communicate well with parents and a few of them have direct experience of the pre-school through being on the committee or by coming into sessions as a parent helper. There are also regular social and fund raising occasions and a flow of information through newsletters and displays in the entrance foyer. However, many parents have little knowledge about the Foundation Stage, stepping stones and early learning goals and have forgotten that this is described in the policy document. Displays or evidence of children's work is not annotated to show how the stepping stones are being met. In addition, parents rarely see their child's profile document or evidence of their work until the end of their pre-school career. The profile itself means little to them because there are no dates, examples

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Helping children make a positive contribution

or photographs to explain how their child completed a stepping stone. In addition, the pre-school does not compile photos of evidence of the range of its activities for parents to see. This means that many parents are unaware about the curriculum and their child's own progress.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Parents have too few opportunities to be meaningfully involved in their child's learning at home.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Newsletters tell them about the theme and ask for help and cooperation, perhaps to bring in items. However, there are no activities, songs, stories or ideas given to help parents to extend or consolidate their child's learning outside the pre-school environment. The complaints system is notified to parents through the policy, but there is no complaints recording system ready for use. This means that parents cannot view the record or see what the pre-school does to adapt and change to meet the needs of children and parents. The Ofsted telephone number is displayed so that parents can find out how to contact Ofsted, but the new number is not given on any of the written materials which are sent home. Nevertheless, parent levels of satisfaction with the pre-school appear to be very high. Parents seen on the day of inspection say that children are well prepared for school, are confident with numbers, letters and drawing, and are able to

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Helping children make a positive contribution

make friends. Parents also say that they find the key workers, the letters home and the information displayed, all very useful and informative.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Recruitment and vetting procedures work well to ensure that children are well protected and cared for by suitable staff with qualifications in child care. This ensures an experienced, consistent and skilled team to work with children. There is good liaison with providers of vetting

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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 services to ensure that this is done in accordance with data protection and there is adequate contact with Ofsted when there are significant changes to report. Contact information and information about vetting, training and qualifications is available on site and staff are given many opportunities to improve their knowledge by attending courses and workshops. For example, all staff have first aid qualifications and many have food hygiene too. In addition, courses on aspects of the Foundation Stage, child protection, use of 'persona dolls', behaviour management and talking with children are all being used to provide children with a wide range of learning experiences.

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Organisation

The leadership and management of the nursery education is satisfactory. The supervisor and committee provide good informal support to all staff, but there are no individual staff files and no evidence of contracts, induction or appraisals for staff. This means that leaders and managers are giving little formal emphasis to staff well-being and development. There are informal staff meetings between sessions and the team are self-motivated and committed, but leaders do not clearly monitor and evaluate the curriculum or ensure that evidence of children's progress is kept and utilised. However, staff say that they respect one another's strengths and can all take constructive criticism from one another. They have sufficient knowledge of the National Standards, but they do not take time out to evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses in delivering good outcomes for children. Nevertheless, staff have very clear sense of purpose

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Organisation

and are motivated to provide a setting which staff and children are proud of.

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Organisation

Staff deployment contributes adequately to children’s good health, safety, enjoyment and achievement and ability to take an active part in the setting. This is because staff work as a team and spread themselves around the children and the activities quite seamlessly. They know children well and successfully share roles by observation and discussion throughout each session, rather than having specific planned rotas or responsibilities to run certain parts of the session or assessed activities. They know their key children well, but do not regularly make observation notes on children they are working with each day to share with the child's key worker. They also all play a full part in cleaning and daily routine duties and mostly ensure that they spend as much time as possible in direct contact with children.

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Organisation

Policies and procedures are occasionally reviewed and updated and are mostly working well in practice to promote children’s enjoyment, achievement and ability to make a positive contribution. For example, child details provide sufficient information to enable good care to be given and the accident, medication and incident recording systems work well. The policies are simple, clear and appropriate, and are given out to parents in the enrolment pack. Registers and signing in books are accurate at all times and are reliable in the event of an emergency. However, written permission has not been obtained for any necessary emergency medical treatment or advice. This has not adversely affected any child to date, but it jeopardises children's health if a serious emergency occurs and parents cannot be contacted for permission to get medical help.

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Organisation

Overall, the provision meets the needs of the range of the children for whom it provides.

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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

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Improvements since the last inspection

There was one recommendation made concerning 'care' at the last inspection in November 2003. This has been partially acted upon to improve the information going to parents. The Ofsted telephone number is displayed on the notice board within the setting, but is still not given on the complaints policy which forms part of the pre-school parent brochure. This means that parents still do not easily have access to details about how to contact Ofsted.

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Improvements since the last inspection

There was one recommendation made concerning nursery education at the last inspection in November 2003. This has been acted upon to improve children's independence at snack time. Children now fetch their own snack and choose what they have for their drink. They are also able to pour their own drinking water during sessions from a jug and cups which are placed on a side table for their use. They are sometimes involved in snack preparation too.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since 1 April 2004 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. 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 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): • ensure that parents know how to contact Ofsted and that a complaints procedure is prepared and ready to use • ensure that parents give written permission for emergency medical advice or treatment, should this be needed in the future.

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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 • ensure that developmental records are regularly kept up to date with examples and evidence of children's progress and ensure that these records are used to inform the planning for children's individual next steps • ensure that parents have access to information about the Foundation Stage and can understand how the children's play experiences each day relate to their child's learning in the six areas • ensure that parents are meaningfully involved in their child's learning at home and have regular access to their child's developmental records • ensure that leaders and managers induct and appraise staff effectively and monitor and evaluate the curriculum to identify strengths and areas for improvement.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

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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