Courthill Infant School

Beckington Pre-School

Inspection report for early years provision

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Beckington Pre-School

142972 Unique Reference Number 23 November 2006 Inspection date Sue Vernon Inspector

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Beckington Pre-School

Baptist Church Hall, Beckington, Frome, Somerset, BA11 6TD Setting Address

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E-mail

Beckington 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 satisfactory.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Beckington Pre-school was registered in 1992. It is run by a voluntary committee and operates from the Baptist Church Hall in Beckington, near Frome. The hall is the main play area although there is also a smaller room available for supervised activities. There is an enclosed outside area for outdoor play.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

A maximum of 18 children may attend the group at any one time. The group opens five days a week during term times. Sessions are from 9.30 to 12.30, with an optional lunch club from 12.30 to 1.30. There are currently 27 children aged from two to four years on roll. Of these, 20 children receive funding for early education. Children attend for a variety of sessions.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The group employs three members of staff. Of these, two of the staff have appropriate early years qualifications to N.V.Q level 3.

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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's wellbeing is promoted effectively. Staff gather information from parents about children's individual dietary needs and plan well how to support them. This helps children feel secure. Drinks of milk or water are available and children enjoy healthy snacks such as fresh fruit and raisins. Information about healthy eating and organic food is displayed and children learn about healthy eating during visits from a local health visitor.

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Helping children to be healthy

Good routines are in place to promote a hygienic environment. Staff consistently follow good practices such as using anti-bacterial spray on tables. Children have good awareness of hygiene issues. They independently wash their hands using liquid soap and paper towels. Pictures and posters remind children about why they clean their hands regularly. A written sickness policy is in place and is made known to parents. This explains the need to protect children from possible cross-infections. Staff keep medication and accident records and share them appropriately with parents. The supports consistency of care for the children.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy a variety of activities that promote their physical development. They have daily access to outdoor play where they develop their large muscle skills by peddling cars and trucks. Indoor sessions include parachute games and obstacle courses which include balancing beams and tunnels. Children manipulate tools effectively when modelling with clay and play-dough.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children are cared for in a welcoming environment. Play resources are set out ready which enables children to move into play and separate from parents smoothly. Bright displays of children's work are set around the room which builds children's self-esteem.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Risks have been identified and effectively minimised. This allows children to move around the registered areas safely. Children learn about their own safety, for example by staff suggesting that two children are needed to carry heavy toy boxes during tidy-up time. Fire safety issues have been addressed well. The necessary equipment is in place and the evacuation process is practiced regularly with the children.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The group offer a selection of toys and equipment that are safe and suitable for their purpose. Staff check resources as they are used and a routine for cleaning toys is in place. Children enjoy a wide range of puzzles, construction and small world sets, for example enjoying floor play building train tracks. The home corner is well resourced which enables children to extend their imaginative play.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

There is a written child protection policy in place which is shared with parents. The staff have a satisfactory awareness of the signs of possible child abuse though they are not fully clear on the required procedure to be followed if concerns about a child's welfare arise.

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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 satisfactory. Children enter happily and separate from their parents/carers well. Staff prepare the room by displaying play resources before children arrive. This helps children settle quickly. Children know the routine of the sessions such as when it is time for tidying away in preparation for snack time which helps them feel secure. Staff support children's play in small groups and are friendly and kind. This enables children to confidently approach staff for help, for example when joining train track or putting on dressing-up costumes.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Activities are generally planned around topics and children are offered craft activities linked to the theme. For example, children make bird-food feeders during a topic on birds. However, children do not always have opportunities for developing independence by self-selecting additional resources. Children enjoy an interesting range of imaginative play opportunities such as the home play area being changed into a café or a camp site with tent, sleeping bag and twigs for a camp fire.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff spend time with the children, asking general prompting questions such as 'what colour is that? what does that smell like?' when children play with chocolate scented play-dough. This prompts children's thinking.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Activity planning is linked in general terms to the Foundation Stage with daily plans displayed. However knowledge of the stepping stones is not consistently used to identify learning goals or evaluate activities. This results in play opportunities not being extended in order to fully challenge all children. Observations are used to complete children's profile records. These are shared with parents but are not always used to identify the next stage of each child's learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children confidently describe their play experiences such as 'this is a chocolate ice-cream' when playing with play-dough. They show personal independence by going to wash their hands after messy play or putting toy boxes away. Children recognise some letters and select their name cards though opportunities for linking phonic sounds to letters are limited. They have some opportunities for mark-making such as writing pretend menus in the café home corner. Books are valued by the children who know that print has meaning. Through playing with sand and water, children use simple mathematical language. They describe quantity when adding more sand to fill containers or counting paint colours when mixing paints during card making. However, there are few opportunities to link numbers to numerals.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children learn about the value of technology. They confidently use the computer and move the mouse to complete simple matching games. They learn about changes in the world around them through planting and nurturing tomato plants then tasting the fruit. Nature walks in the hall's garden and making bark rubbings help children look at the natural world around them.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children enjoy imaginative play with a good selection of dressing-up and home play resources. They express themselves through singing action songs with enthusiasm and playing musical

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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 instruments. Children enjoy creative play projects such as making a 'tree house' out of cardboard boxes though daily opportunities to try engrossing creative play are not always offered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. All children and parents are welcomed on arrival which helps them feel included. Staff work with parents to find out each child's individual needs such as any medical or dietary requirements. Staff monitor children's development with parents and work with other professionals such as a health visitor to support any health issues. This helps children feel valued. All children are included in play, with both boys and girls enjoying dressing-up and cooking gingerbread figures. Children have access to a satisfactory range of play resources such as puzzles and dolls that promote the value of diversity.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Settling-in routines and discussions about the procedures of the group help parents build supportive relationships with the staff team. Parents value the feedback from staff on their child's experience which includes discussions, newsletters and information on notice boards. Consistency is built through sharing group policies and records with parents though some details are not in place.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

There is a positive policy in place for managing behaviour. Children are praised for sharing, taking turns and helping each other, for example when putting shoes on. This build their self-esteem. Staff are good role models, being friendly and positive.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents in nursery education is good.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Parents contribute to assessments when children start the Foundation stage and receive information about the curriculum in policies and displays. This helps build their awareness of the areas of learning. Parents value the displays and their meetings with staff which ensure they find out about their child's progress. Parents are encouraged to share their skills with the group, for example a musical parent leading a music session.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered. Children develop independence by taking small responsibilities such as helping put toys away. They learn how to behave by using please and thank-you. Children's own family experiences such as birthdays are celebrated within the group and children learn about different cultures through various festivals and activities such as making lamps during Divali.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Effective procedures are in place for recruitment of staff and an induction system supports the staff's awareness of group policies. Staff are supported in extending their training by attending workshop sessions when available. There is a first-aid qualified staff member at each session. The registered areas afford adequate space for the registered numbers and the required ratios are met and often exceeded. Planning of the sessions, such as having open-door time for outdoor play does not always promote consistency of opportunity or maintain a suitable

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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 temperature in the hall. Records and policies that support children's welfare are in place and shared appropriately with parents, though some details are not in place. Records such as accident and medical records are retained as required and any changes in registration requirements are notified to Ofsted.

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Organisation

Leadership and management in nursery education is satisfactory.

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Organisation

The staff meet to discuss topic planning though not all are fully involved in activity planning linked to the curriculum or evaluating the effectiveness of the teaching and learning. Children's learning needs have not always been identified. Whilst the committee has a positive approach to supporting the staff team, general weaknesses in the learning programme have not been monitored to provide for further development. The setting meets the needs of the children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last care inspection the group were asked to record daily attendance fully, share policies with parents and develop the child protection policy to include allegations against staff. These are now in place and parents have access to all policies which supports consistency of care. The group were asked to improve vetting procedures for relief staff and improve hygiene practices around hand-washing. Children now wash their hands routinely before snack time and procedures are in place to check relief staff which has improved safety for the children.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The group were also asked to consider staff deployment to ensure children were supported in their play. Plans now show which activities staff work with. They interact with children at the tables during activities. However, open play sessions without a daily focus mean children are not always fully informed about activities or engaged in play so this is an area for further development.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last nursery education inspection the group were asked to link observations and evaluations of activities to future planning and to record children's progression through the stepping stones. New profile systems have been introduced that record children's progress as it relates to the stepping stones but observations and activity evaluations are not used consistently to inform future planning. This is an area for continued improvement as the next stage of each child's development is not being fully identified.

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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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Complaints 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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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 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): • refresh awareness of the child protection procedures • ensure polices such as the complaints policy and record are up to date • ensure children have opportunities for self-selection of resources.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

To improve the quality and standards of nursery education further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • develop awareness of the Foundation stage so that planning, evaluations, observations and children's profiles are used effectively to support children's development through the stepping stones • consistently provide activities that challenge children and engage their curiosity and provide regular opportunities for children to use their imagination in free creative play • consistently provide opportunities for linking phonics to letters, numbers to numerals, using mathematical language for problem solving and for mark-making within daily 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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