Knop Law Primary School

Holyport Pre-school

Inspection report for early years provision

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Holyport Pre-school

108450 Unique Reference Number 28 November 2006 Inspection date Susan Elizabeth Tovey Inspector

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Holyport Pre-school

Youth Club Hall, Money Row Green, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 3NA Setting Address

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E-mail

Holyport Pre-school Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day 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 good.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Holyport Pre-School opened in 1965. It operates temporarily from 2005 in a portacabin in the car-park of the village hall in Holyport on the outskirts of Maidenhead. The Pre-School serves the local area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 29 children on roll aged two to five years. This includes 16 funded children. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting supports children with learning difficulties and disabilities and who speak English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The Pre-School opens five days a week. Sessions are from 9.45 until 12 or 12.45 and 12:45 until 14:45 on Wednesday and Friday. There are three staff working with the children. They all have relevant childcare qualification. The setting receives support from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership.

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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 good. Children show a sound understanding of good hygiene practice as they wash their hands after messy play and before handling food at snack time. They stay healthy because staff follow good health and hygiene procedures. Staff ensure children play in a clean indoor environment and wipe down tables before children settle for a snack. Children develop an understanding of healthy eating through planned topic work on food and through the daily healthy snacks. There are suitable procedures in place to ensure good standards of cleanliness and to promote good hygiene throughout the pre-school and thus minimise risk to children. Two staff members have relevant first aid training and the children are well cared for, due to efficient procedures in place for first aid, accidents and medication, all of which are shared with the parents.

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Helping children to be healthy

The children are provided with healthy snacks. Their individual dietary needs are clearly known and followed by the childcare staff. Snack-times are well organised. The children sit at the table and eat in a relaxed and social atmosphere. The staff encourage the children to engage in conversation with their peers; as a result the children are increasing their social skills. However, the children's independence at snack-time is limited, as they do not have the opportunity to serve themselves or pour their own drinks.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children have regular opportunities to enjoy exercise and fresh air as the pre-school session is planned to include outdoor play every day, weather permitting. Children can explore the different range of outdoor play equipment available in the garden or the adjacent adventure playground. Children also have access to a large hall to ride assorted wheeled toys around in and participate in music and movement sessions. They move with co-ordination and control. Children use a range of equipment and practical life exercises, to develop competent small motor control. They use appropriate tools with play dough, crayons, pencils, scissors and glue spatulas during their art and craft activities. They also confidently use the calculators and programmable toys.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children benefit from the welcoming surroundings as staff greet them and their parents warmly; this ensures they feel secure and content. The indoor space is limited but well organised and used effectively to allow the children opportunities to be active and engage in various table top activities. They have access to a wide range of good quality toys and equipment, which is appropriate for their age and stage of development. Toys are set up, inviting and enticing the children to play. All furniture and play equipment is clean and in good condition, to ensure the children are not harmed.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children receive good levels of supervision as correct ratios are maintained at all times. They relax and play happily in an environment where staff have an excellent awareness of security. Staff are alert to potential hazards and risks are minimized. They conduct regular checks to ensure that the children can enjoy an environment and equipment that is well maintained.

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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 Children are learning to keep themselves safe too. They tuck chairs in after them so no trip hazards occur and take part in regular recorded fire drills.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's welfare in the pre-school is safeguarded by staff who are vetted and have a clear understanding of their role with regard to child protection issues. However, the child protection policy does not include the procedure to follow in the event of an allegation being made against a member of staff. Implementation of effective systems, such as the collection of children and recording of visitors, and formal and informal risk assessments, contribute to ensuring children's safety.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are happy and relaxed and enjoy their time in the pre-school where they further develop their knowledge and skills within a stimulating, supportive atmosphere. They receive very good quality care and occupy themselves well playing independently and in small groups. They access a wide range of resources and have excellent relationships with staff who take a continual interest in them.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and children's learning is good. Children's personal, social and emotional development is a strength of the pre-school. Children occupy themselves well and are motivated learners. They independently move from one activity to another keeping themselves constantly engaged. They use their initiative during play, behave very well and understand right from wrong. Children form good relationships with each other, play well together and show care and consideration for others. They demonstrate good independence skills as they tidy away.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The staff are developing their use of planning to ensure that the children are presented with variety of activities that have regard for all areas of learning and which focus on specific outcomes. The staff collate information about the children's achievements through observation and assessments. The children's attitude to learning is positive and they play an active role in this, as they make choices from the activities offered. They concentrate well during routine activities, such as circle time, they listen carefully to instructions and attentively to stories. The children negotiate well with one another during a game of lotto and making Christmas decorations activity. Children are very confident and self-assured. They are secure in their relationships with adults and interact positively with other children. They select activities from available resources and concentrate well as they complete their chosen tasks. Children are

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

independent in their self-care skills, with most children able to put on their own outdoor clothes. However, they do not pour out drinks or serve themselves at snack-time so opportunities are missed to further their development in this area. The children are familiar with the daily routine and they follow this well. Children are confident speakers and engage easily in conversation with others as they play. They chat together whilst playing with the pirate Lego, ordering their thoughts well before speaking. Staff encourage children to notice letter sounds and children show an awareness of word shape as they select and trace their own name card at snack time. Children are introduced to a different letter of the alphabet each week and they are encouraged to bring in something from home that relates to this. Children chat about those objects they

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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 have chosen. Some children make up their own stories with the encouragement of staff as they complete sequencing puzzles Staff develop and extend their vocabulary by asking open-ended questions. Children enjoy exploring books, both individually and in small groups. They handle books correctly and are aware that print and pictures carry meaning. The children's interest in early reading is supported by good labelling around the pre-school. Children enjoy mark making on drawing and paintings and some children write their names on their work. However, this is not consistently encouraged in all activities. A lack of writing resources in the role play area limits children's opportunities to practise writing for a variety of purposes.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children's mathematical development is excellent. They are very confident with numbers and counting. They count ably to ten and beyond, during action songs and during circle time and staff reinforce children's counting skills as opportunities arise. Staff make learning fun and capture children's attention well as they develop their number recognition skills. Children understand the sequence of numbers and have excellent opportunities to develop their awareness of calculation. They sing number rhymes and work out how many more pieces are needed to complete the puzzle. Children show a sound understanding of different shapes and rise to the challenge of finding a shape with two different attributes. They understand comparative language and are able to correctly identify the tallest tower and the shortest tower built on the table. Children have opportunities to build and construct with a range of objects and

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

materials. Daily calendar activities develop children's awareness of the passage of time. Children's observation skills are good and they notice the changes in the weather during the day. Children learn about their local environment as they go for walks in the countryside and about the wider world through visitors to the group, such as the local policeman and a new baby. They have fun as they explore and discover the properties of wet and dry sand and develop an understanding of cause and effect as they observe how ice melts quickly indoors and jelly cubes dissolve in hot water.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children enjoy taking part in daily physical activities and have good opportunities to reinforce and further progress their skills. They move confidently and competently around the pre-school environment and demonstrate good fine motor control as they build construction models, write and paint. Children enjoy creative activities and use their imagination well as they pretend to buy play food in the role play shop. They make Christmas decorations, cards and calendars with drawings of themselves on. Children enthusiastically join in with singing nursery rhymes and are building a repertoire of new songs as they practise singing for their Christmas celebration.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children are treated with respect and staff use praise and encouragement to help them develop positive self-images. Children develop a sense of ownership in their environment as they proudly watch the progress of their new pre-school building outside. They show a sense of responsibility as they help tidy away toys at the end of the session and search for missing pieces of puzzles. Children have a very good relationship with staff and one another and show consideration for others as they share resources, such as the marble run, and play happily alongside each other. Planned topics and resources within the setting help develop children's awareness of different cultures and diversity within society. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

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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 is fostered. Staff treat all children with equal concern and work with outside agencies as appropriate to ensure all individual needs are met. Children's behaviour is very good. They respond positively to staff requests and learn good manners from staff who act as positive role models.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The pre-school's partnership with parents is good. Children benefit from this excellent relationship between their main carers as the good communication links result in consistent care being provided to meet each individual child's needs. Parents are warmly welcomed into the pre-school and encouraged to be involved with their child's learning. They receive regular and detailed information about pre-school practice via verbal exchanges and information displayed. They are invited to view their children's records at any time. Parents have access to pre-school policies and are actively involved in the fund raising for the new building and resources.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Excellent teamwork contributes to children having fun, and positive play and learning experiences at the pre-school. Staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities and work cohesively together to ensure pre-school sessions run smoothly. They are vigilant to children's needs and ensure children are well supervised and ratios met. Staff are efficient, professional and organise a stimulating environment within a limited space in which children focus well on learning through well supported, purposeful play. They have a good understanding of how children learn and update their skills by regularly attending external training.

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Organisation

The leadership and management of nursery education is good. Children are making very good progress towards the early learning goals. Practice is continually monitored and evaluated and records maintained of these reviews. Staff are committed and dedicated to ensuring good standards are maintained and have identified areas for further improvement. Policies and procedures work in practice to promote children's health, safety, enjoyment, achievement and ability to make a positive contribution. Documentation is securely stored and policies in place to support all areas of practice. Overall, the pre-school meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the pre-school was asked to ensure that all records and consents relating to day care activities are readily accessible on the premises and available for inspection. All records and consents are now stored in a locked cabinet on the premises. This means the service to children and parents is improved.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The manager was also asked to ensure that there are effective procedures in place for checking staff are suitably vetted. All staff files show that they are suitably vetted. Therefore, the safety and welfare of the children is safeguarded.

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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

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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 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): • continue to increase children's independence and responsibility • ensure the child protection policy includes the procedure to follow in the event of an allegation being made against a member of staff.

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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): • continue to extend children's opportunities to mark make in everyday activities.

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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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