Holmbridge Pre-School

Holmbridge Pre-School

Inspection report for early years provision

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Holmbridge Pre-School

311306 Unique Reference Number 04 December 2006 Inspection date Ann Law Inspector

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Holmbridge Pre-School

Holme Band Room, Woodhead Road, Holmbridge, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD9 2SA

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E-mail

Holmbridge Pre School 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 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?

Holmbridge Pre-School opened in 1970 and is managed by a committee of parents. It operates from Holme Band Room in Holmbridge, near Holmfirth. A maximum of 24 children may attend the pre-school at any one time. The pre-school is open each weekday from 09.30 to 12.00 in term time only. There is a fully enclosed outdoor play area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 18 children on roll aged from two to under five years of age. Of these, seven children receive funding for nursery education. The pre-school employs four members of staff, all of whom hold appropriate level 3 early years qualifications.

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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

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. The setting is maintained in an adequately clean and hygienic manner. Staff pay good attention to ensure that consistent routines are applied for hand washing after using the toilet and before eating so that children learn simple good hygiene practices. Children are well nourished by healthy snacks of fresh fruit. The children sit together and enjoy the social occasion where staff expect and promote good table manners. Staff contribute to children's understanding about healthy living, for example, through topics. These have recently included a visit to the weekly market to buy fresh vegetables which the children made into soup at the pre-school.

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Helping children to be healthy

Many outings are undertaken into the local countryside to enjoy the fresh air and exercise, such as a walk into the woods to collect natural materials. The children collect leaves and twigs which they make into attractive collages. Children enjoy physical exercise in the outdoor area. They have access to a climbing frame, slide, rocker, basketball and sit-and-ride toys to develop their gross motor skills. Children negotiate the space well, running around the area and changing direction to avoid the large equipment. They rest and relax on comfortable seating and share story books with members of staff, promoting their physical well-being.

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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 welcoming, safe environment. Staff have gone to great lengths to provide a variety of display boards to brighten up the shared premises and so that children's art work can be displayed. Consequently, children experience a sense of pride in seeing their pictures valued and exhibited for all to admire. Many safety measures are in place so that children can move around freely and independently. These include a gate to prevent access to the kitchen area, screens to discourage children from climbing on the stage area and a high bolt on the door to prevent children leaving the premises unsupervised.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

All fire safety precautions are in place, including emergency evacuation procedures. The evacuation procedures are practised and recorded to highlight any potential problems and as a result children are learning how to keep themselves safe. Children's welfare is effectively promoted in the pre-school. The majority of the staff hold a first aid qualification and all the required procedures and documentation for child protection are in place to ensure that children's welfare is safeguarded. Accidents are appropriately managed and the records are shared with parents to facilitate continuity of care for children.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children have many opportunities in the pre-school to increase their independence. The presentation of the toys and resources allow them to make many decisions in their play and to initiate their own learning. Children use the resources creatively and use water to 'paint' their tricycle wheels to 'make it go faster' around the outdoor area. Staff are skilled in differentiating

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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 activities to suit the developmental stage of the children. For example, in a focused activity older children decorate their salt dough tree decorations with glue and glitter, whereas the younger children spend time experimenting with the glue developing their senses. Staff recognise the value of not creating an end product for the younger children and do not restrict the children's exploration by deterring their hands-on approach. Although staff have a sound knowledge of how most children learn and progress, they have a limited awareness of the different frameworks to support younger children's learning and development. As a result, the assessment of the learning of children under three years is not fully effective in showing their development progress.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and children's learning is good. Children are making good progress towards the early learning goals because staff have a secure knowledge of the Foundation Stage. The planning systems are clear and detailed and new systems are in place to recognise children's individuality by catering for their next steps in learning. Staff recently identified the need to develop children's confidence and their skills in information and communication technology (ICT). As a result, they involved the children in a production of the story 'Farmer Duck'. The children took parts in the story and acted them out, developing their skills in communicating in a large group, and the story was audio recorded increasing children's interest in simple ICT equipment. Children's informative records of achievement clearly highlight their progress towards the early learning goals and they are interestingly evidenced by photographs,

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children enter the pre-school with confidence and are very independent in the setting. They ably carry out self-care tasks, such as washing their hands before snack and accessing their own aprons and paper to paint pictures. Children respond well in the literacy rich setting where many words are displayed and the staff have mature conversations with the children. The children use a good range of vocabulary to describe events in play, for example, 'the snake has slithered away'. There are many opportunities in the setting for children to make marks and they confidently write letters from their names on their paintings and drawings. Children count spontaneously in play and can accurately count to ten and beyond by rote. They use number names in conversation, such as informing the inspector that they are wearing 'size seven shoes'. Children have a good grasp of space and measure. They reliably use terms including 'full',

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

'empty' and 'half full' when playing in the water tray and demonstrate secure hand to eye coordination when pouring water from container to container. However, the limited use of numerals in the setting does not fully encourage children's practical application of number.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are developing a good sense of time and place and show an interest in people familiar to them when visitors attend the pre-school. Recent visitors have brought in giant African land snails and their guide dog to meet the children. Children show great interest in why things happen during food technology activities. They mix liquid and icing sugar, observing the changes in texture and the changes in colour when food colouring is added. Children explore the malleable mixture, rolling and moulding it into shapes, developing their fine motor skills. They successfully make strawberry and orange cream sweets and they display pride in their achievements. The accessibility of resources for creative play means that children have excellent opportunities to paint, draw, stick and explore water and dough. Children are very enthusiastic at song time and

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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 delight in learning new songs, for example, 'The five days of Christmas'. They enjoy the rhyming activity and join in the finger actions counting up to five and down to one.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children are developing a good sense of community because they take part in many outings. For example, to the ice cream parlour, the library and the local church to participate in the 'Little Gang' services. Children are becoming aware of the wider world because staff provide children with positive images of diversity and plan activities which encompass a variety of celebrations, including Diwali and Christmas. Children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children experience a tangible sense of belonging in the pre-school as a result of good attention by the staff to provide them with named coat hooks and registration cards. Staff work hard to ensure that the constraints of using a shared building do not detract from the welcoming and stimulating environment that they provide. This results in confident and motivated children who behave very well. They share and take turns with the toys and resources and they are learning responsible behaviour when they tidy away puzzles before getting another one out to play with.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers is good. Parents are provided with a variety of information regarding the setting and the notice board informs them of the topic of learning. Children have individual records of achievement and the children who are in receipt of nursery education funding have their achievements cross referenced to stepping stone charts, giving parents a clear picture of the progress towards the early learning goals. Although parents' evenings are held where parents can visit the setting and chat to staff at their leisure, they are not provided with regular information regarding how to extend children's learning at home.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. The relaxed environment of the pre-school contributes to children's good levels of independence and actively increases their confidence. The turnover of staff in the pre-school is low and this ensures that the children and their parents experience familiarity and security within the group. Ofsted have not been informed of recent changes to the registered body, namely the committee. This is a breach of regulations as the new committee have not had checks carried out to ensure that they are suitable to provide day care. The policies and procedures for the pre-school are disorganised because there are three different packs, all with different levels of information in them. This causes confusion for staff and parents.

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Organisation

The leadership and management of the nursery education is satisfactory. Planning meetings are held which ensures that all staff have a secure understanding of the learning intentions in the focused activities. The pre-school work closely with their local authority advisory teacher to monitor the effectiveness of the delivery of the nursery education curriculum and implement advice to improve the quality of teaching. However, there is no system in place to ensure that

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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 all stepping stones will be covered sufficiently over time ensuring a broad and balanced curriculum is offered.

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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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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last care inspection the pre-school was asked to make improvements to certain policies and aspects of record keeping. Although some attention has been given to improving policies, there are now three different sets of policies and this causes confusion. However, all aspects of improvement are included somewhere in the different policies. The documentation for administering medication and the registration of children have been improved and this enhances the record keeping.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last nursery education inspection the pre-school was asked to make improvements to: observations and planning; children's independence; children's free expression of their ideas; and the involvement of parents in children's learning. The planning for, and assessment of, children's learning is now securely based around the stepping stones enabling children to make good progress towards the early learning goals. The layout of the setting encourages children's independence, decision making skills and the free expression of their ideas, thoughts and feelings through a wide range of materials, tools and imaginative play. Although parents are given encouragement to bring items into the pre-school for the topic of learning, they are not fully encouraged to extend children's learning at home and this remains, in part, a recommendation from this inspection.

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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.

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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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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):

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The quality and standards of the care

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 • utilise the ‘Birth to three matters’ framework to ensure that younger children have their play appropriately planned for and their developmental progress appropriately assessed • inform Ofsted of any changes to the registered body (the committee) at the earliest opportunity.

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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): • develop the planning systems to ensure that all stepping stones will be covered sufficiently over time and offer children a broad and balanced curriculum • provide parents with regular information regarding how they can extend their children's learning at home.

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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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