Stamford Bridge Pre-School

Stamford Bridge Pre-School

Inspection report for early years provision

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Stamford Bridge Pre-School

314733 Unique Reference Number 01 December 2006 Inspection date Diane Lynn Turner Inspector

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Stamford Bridge Pre-School

The Village Hall, Low Catton Road, Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, YO41 1DZ

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E-mail

Stamford Bridge 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 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 outstanding.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Stamford Bridge Pre-School has been operating since 1974. It is based in the village hall in the village of Stamford Bridge. The group has access to two rooms and an enclosed area for outdoor play.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

A maximum of 35 children may attend the group at any one time. The group is open during term time only and sessions are held Monday to Thursday between 9.00 and 12.00 for the three and four-year-olds and Tuesday and Wednesday between 13.00 and 15.00 for the two and a half to three-year-olds. On Fridays a session is held between 09.00 and 12.30 for the rising-fives and between 13.15 and 15.45 for the rising-fours. There are currently 59 children on roll, 47 of whom are in receipt of nursery education funding. The group supports children with learning difficulties and disabilities. The group also offers a Baby and Toddler group between 13.00 and 15.00 on Mondays for those children who are too young to attend the pre-school.

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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 Six members of staff are employed to work with the children, three hold a Level 3 qualification in Childcare and two are working towards Level 2. The group is a member of the Pre School Learning Alliance.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children are kept healthy because they are cared for in an environment where staff follow effective procedures and practices, which help to prevent the spread of infection. For example, they clean the tables before meals and consistently wear aprons when preparing food. They check the toilet areas for cleanliness throughout the session and routinely record the times these are carried out. Toys are cleaned on a regular basis and the prospectus contains the group's policy for the care of children who are ill. This includes the incubation and exclusion periods for common infectious diseases so parents are fully informed of the time period their child should not attend if they contract these.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children learn the importance of good personal hygiene through daily routines. They all know, for example, that they need to wash their hands before eating and after toileting. They independently do so before they sit down for their snack and many inform the member of staff overseeing this activity that they have done so. Staff give high priority to providing the children with healthy nutritious snacks, which comply with any special dietary requirements to ensure they remain healthy. For example, they are offered toast, a variety of fresh and dried fruit and a choice of drink. Snack is offered via a café style system and offers children valuable opportunities to develop and use good manners and social skills. Children who attend the weekly rising-five session bring a packed lunch to eat at the end of the session in preparation for starting school. Staff have not, however, considered the safe storage of any perishables

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Helping children to be healthy

Children explore, test and develop their skills through stimulating indoor and outdoor experiences. Staff have a sound knowledge of the 'Birth to three matters' framework and use this to provide a good range of physical activities for the younger children, such as playing with sand, dough and water and using the outdoor equipment. The older children have a very positive attitude to physical exercise. They relish playing in the outdoor area where they use the excellent range of equipment with confidence and control. For example, they carefully negotiate the stepping stones and climb up the steps to access the first floor of the play house. They show enthusiasm and delight as they join in with organised music and movement activities as they move rhythmically to music from around the world and successfully follow one another as they march in a line.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children's risk of accidental injury is minimised effectively in the well organised setting, which has good safety and security precautions. Parents and visitors are admitted by staff and a visitors' log is completed, all areas and equipment are maintained to good standards and children

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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 are well supervised. Staff use thorough risk assessments to reduce potential hazards and have a good understanding of how to achieve a balance between freedom and setting safe limits and how to raise children's awareness of keeping themselves safe. For example, they regularly practice the emergency evacuation procedures with them so they know what to do in the event of a fire and include safety aspects in their topics, such as learning how to cross the road safely as part of a topic on the outdoors. Children with special needs are safe and fully included because of the sensitive adult support and good communication with their parents and any other professionals involved in their care.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff strive to provide a stimulating environment and despite the constraints of the premises they achieve this very well. For example, the small play room has posters and bright displays which include the children's art work. The outdoor area is extremely inviting and has an excellent range of resources, which provide a wealth of learning opportunities. Children use a good range of well maintained toys and resources indoors that are appropriate to their age and stage of development. These are rotated to maintain their interest and staff use both rooms to offer a wide range at each session, which the children are able to choose from independently. Children are well occupied and understand about using particular equipment carefully. For example, they use scissors safely and remind one another to be careful when using sewing needles. They understand that the outdoor equipment may be slippery after it has rained and that they need

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are well protected by staff who have a clear understanding of the group's policies and procedures in regard to protecting children from possible abuse. They attend training in child protection, have a good understanding of their responsibilities and know what to do if they have concerns. Information about the possible signs of abuse is displayed for both the staff and parent's information.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children enjoy their time in the pre-school and achieve well because staff are skilled and have a very good understanding of the age and stage of development of the children who attend. All children arrive happy and very keen to participate. Those who are new to the pre-school settle well because staff are sensitive towards their individual needs and the youngest children make good progress because they are very well supported. Close and caring relationships increases children's sense of trust and helps them to develop a strong sense of self. Staff help the youngest children to make sense of the world and express their ideas through a good range of activities, which are planned well using the 'Birth to three matters' framework. For example, they enjoy tactile experiences as they explore the texture of paint, sand and dough and develop their physical skills as they chase bubbles in the outdoor area. They follow topics, such as

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

'myself' and learn about the routines for the group, such as helping to tidy the toys away and washing and drying their hands before they eat. They learn about sharing as they bring fruit to share at snack. All these activities help them to feel confident in their surroundings and help effectively with the transition to the main play group sessions when they are three-years-old.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 The quality of teaching and learning is outstanding. Children make excellent progress because staff have an excellent knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage. They give the highest priority to finding out about children's skills, interests and needs and they build on this information very effectively to help them achieve as much as they can. They plan activities in great detail and provide an excellent balance of adult and child-led activities, which allows children to learn at their own pace. Staff present activities in an exciting way, which inspires the children to take part. For example, during a recent topic they dried leaves and brought them inside so the children could rake these up and act out the role of 'Percy the park keeper'. They are perceptive to children's interests during self-initiated play and use questions very

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

successfully to challenge children's thinking and language skills. They use highly effective systems to observe, monitor and record children's achievements and plan experiences that help children take the next steps in their learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are captivated and often inspired by the range of very well planned and stimulating activities. They access an excellent range of well chosen resources, particularly in the outdoor area, which support their learning across all areas. All children are extremely eager to learn, self-assured in their play and very enthusiastic to try new experiences. For example, they become totally immersed in practising their nativity play. It is very evident that they want to do their very best at this time. They talk excitedly about the costumes they will wear, confidently get into position and act out the various roles with great flair to produce a very moving performance. All children are extremely independent. For example, they confidently direct their own play as they choose between the activities set out in both rooms, deciding if they want use resources such as role play or the climbing frame or play quietly in the sand. They show great maturity

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

as they use the 'café' to access their snack when they confidently find their name card and give it to the member of staff and decide what they would like to eat and drink. They independently spread their own topping if they choose to have toast and they pour their own drinks. They know to wipe up any spills and readily do so without any prompting. If they find that there are already four children having snack when they come to the table they cheerfully sit on a chair in the 'waiting area' until it is their turn.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

All children demonstrate excellent language skills. For example, they recall that Eskimos live in igloos and confidently name the different countries as they play their 'globe trotting' game. They use marks readily to represent their ideas. For example, they pretend to write out parking tickets during role play and use chalks to draw detailed pictures on the paving stones in the outdoor area. The older children are very adept at writing their own names, which they do so readily to identify their work. They confidently put the letters in the correct order and form these correctly. Some of the more able ones independently write other familiar words, such as the names of family members. They make sense of the world around them in the extremely stimulating outdoor area. For example, they delight in carefully raking and gathering up the fallen leaves and using water and full sized paint brushes to 'paint' their play house. They create

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

extremely detailed individual art work as they paint pictures of snowmen, Santa and reindeers for the Christmas display and make their own 'family album' booklet. They are inquisitive and fascinated by how things work. For example, they explain in great detail how they made an igloo out of building bricks and take delight in using their knowledge to explain that these should really made out of ice. They are very adept at using the computer. This is very evident

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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 as they independently access this throughout the sessions to successfully complete a number of programmes.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children play extremely well together. For example, the older children show a very genuine, caring approach towards the younger ones. They help them put on their coats and they know to inform a member of staff if they see someone is upset. They are extremely confident in using numbers in their play and during everyday routines. For example, they confidently and reliably count how many are present each day and they know how many pieces of toast or apple they may take at snack time as they look for, and correctly identify, the corresponding number on the plate. They use simple calculation with understanding as they correctly identify how many more aliens they need to put in the space ship as they use the computer and how many children are in the waiting area at snack time. Their physical skills are excellent. They are very self-assured as they use large equipment, such as stepping stones, climbing frame and wheeled toys. They

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

show excellent control and coordination and innovatively make their own adaptations to the equipment. For example, they place the tunnels at the bottom of the slide and show immense delight as they emerge from these. They skilfully use scissors as they carefully cut pictures from magazines and show determination and perseverance as they are challenged to thread and use needles to sew buttons onto Christmas trees made from felt.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. All children are warmly welcomed into the group. Staff value each child's individuality and meet their needs very well. They find out as much as they can about the children before the placement begins through discussion with the parents and by asking them to complete a child profile. Children with learning difficulties or disabilities receive very good support from the caring and dedicated staff, which means they are able to participate fully in the activities and make good progress. Staff draw up detailed individual education plans to support their development and learning and work closely with the parents and any professionals involved in their care.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children have good opportunities to learn about the wider world and their local environment through a range of interesting activities. For example, they recently celebrated Diwali when a parent came into the group and showed them how to put on a sari and design rangoli patterns. They learn about countries such as America and Australia, listen to music from around the world, visit the village church to celebrate harvest and attend assemblies at the primary school. This positive approach fosters children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development very well.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children's behaviour is excellent. Staff support the youngest ones very well in sharing and turn taking and have high expectations and set consistent boundaries for the three and four-year-olds. They are all very good role models for children to follow and pay very good attention to fostering children's independence and helping them learn to take responsibility. As a result children play very well together, patiently wait their turn during activities, such as snack, help themselves fairly to food and use good manners. They treat the resources with respect, readily help at tidy up time and show concern if any of the toys are accidentally damaged.

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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 All children benefit from the very good relationships staff have developed with their parents. They are kept well informed about the provision and the activities provided. For example, they receive an informative prospectus before the placement begins, well presented newsletters keep them updated about forthcoming events and good verbal interaction is evident.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with the parents and carers of children who receive nursery education is outstanding. Staff ensure parents know how their child is progressing and developing. For example, detailed information about the Foundation Stage and the six areas of learning is included in the prospectus and they are provided with a copy of the termly topic plan. They are also invited to discuss their child's records of progress with their key worker before they move on to school. Children benefit greatly from the involvement of their parents in their learning. For example, staff provide activity sheets each week for them to complete together at home. When these are returned the children's efforts are acknowledged and shared with the group at circle time. The children proudly place their work in their folder, which not only helps to build their self-esteem but also makes a valuable contribution to their records of progress.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

In addition parents are able to volunteer to take part in the rota duty system, share their skills with the children and are able to share special times, such as the nativity play at Christmas.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children's care is greatly enhanced by the good organisation and the outstanding leadership and management of the nursery education. The premises are very well organised. Indoor and outdoor space is laid out to maximise play opportunities for children and all activities are extremely well planned and documented. Staff are supported well by the committee. For example, members help with the cleaning of toys and equipment, maintain the outdoor play area and produce the termly newsletters.

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Organisation

Children benefit from well qualified, experienced and committed staff who are effectively inducted. They all show a commitment to improvement and development and work extremely well together as a team. They are very enthusiastic, clear of their role and responsibilities and it is very evident that they enjoy working with children. They regularly reflect, monitor and improve the quality of the care and education through staff meetings and by attending training. The group has clear policies and procedures, which cover all areas with one exception. Staff have not devised a written policy that details how children will be kept safe on outings. All legally required documentation, which contributes to the children's health, safety and well-being is in place. This is well organised and is regularly reviewed. 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 inspection it was recommended that the group improve the documentation in relation to the attendance records and the complaints procedure, increase the resources to promote children's awareness of culture, disability, religion and ethnicity, provide opportunities for children to interact socially at snack time and improve the safety of the radiators.

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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 The group now ensures that the times of any late arrivals or early departures are recorded in the register, the complaints procedure has been amended to include Ofsted's contact details and the group's policies and procedures made readily available to parents by displaying the file on the notice board. The temperature of the radiators is carefully monitored to ensure this is not hazardous to children and resources are in place to raise children's awareness of diversity, including small world toys, books, jigsaws and games, such as picture dominoes. Snack time is now offered via a café style system, which allows the children to sit together in a small group and make choices and decisions about when and what they would like to eat. The improvements have added significantly to the organisation, the safety and the children's learning.

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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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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 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 outstanding.

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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 children's packed lunches, particularly perishibles are stored safely • devise a written policy, which details how children will be kept safe on outings.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

No recommendations for improvement are made because the quality and standards of nursery education are outstanding.

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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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