Ashleigh School

Tots R Us Pre-School

Inspection report for early years provision

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Tots R Us Pre-School

127724 Unique Reference Number 18 January 2007 Inspection date Mary Van De Peer Inspector

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Tots R Us Pre-School

Eythorne & Elvington CP School, Adelaide Road, Eythorne, Dover, Kent, CT15 4AN

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E-mail

Tots R Us 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?

Tots R Us Pre-School is a committee run group. It opened in 1997 and operates from one main room in a mobile, located in the grounds of Eythorne and Elvington village Primary School, near Dover, Kent. A maximum of 26 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is open each weekday from 09:00 to 15:00, term time only. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 26 children aged from two to under five years on roll. Of these, 17 children receive funding for nursery education. Children come from the local community. The nursery currently supports a number of children with special educational needs and also those who speak English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 The nursery employs five staff. There are four staff, including the Leader and Deputy, who hold appropriate early years qualifications. There is one member of staff working towards a qualification. The setting is a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance. The setting receives support from the Local Authority.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. All children are encouraged to participate in effective personal hygiene procedures. The low wash basins means they can independently wash their hands after using the toilet and before meals. Children are learning about self care. The pre-school's accident and medication administration records are very well kept. Each member of staff has attended a recognised first aid training course. If children sustain any minor injuries, they are dealt with quickly and effectively. The staff have a good understanding of each child’s stage of development. This means the youngest children are becoming confident and are starting to try out new skills. They can play outside with a variety of physical activities. Children's physical development is promoted well. This helps contribute to children's understanding of a healthy lifestyle. There is a wide range of indoor and outdoor toys and equipment, for example climbing and balancing

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Helping children to be healthy

activities, balls, construction, cooking and creative play. Children are beginning to develop self-confidence in all aspects of physical play.

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Helping children to be healthy

The pre-school can arrange for children to have a cooked meal, if parents want this service. Lunch is eaten alongside the primary children in the adjacent school. Parents can also provide a packed lunch if they prefer. They are given guidance on how to choose foods for a healthy lunchbox. Children are offered a good variety of healthy snacks. During the session, they are able to choose from a selection of fruit and drinks, such as milk and water. Children often help prepare a light snack, for example, vegetable soup. Children are beginning to develop an awareness about healthy eating. They each have their own cups and plates to help avoid cross-contamination. Children’s individual dietary needs are catered for.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. The play environment is bright and clean. The layout of the pre-school is very child-friendly. For example, the room children use is partially sectioned off with soft netting, to make the quiet area cosy and the role play more interesting. There are also child-sized toilets and hand basins. The toys and activities are regularly rotated, which means children do not get bored with the same resources. They can independently access most play activities from the tables, storage units and cupboards which are child-height. The resources children use are suitable for their age range, safe, checked regularly for hygiene and cleaned when necessary. The outside play area is secure and available for children to use almost every day. Risk assessments carried out daily at the premises, mean that children can play safely. For example, there are safety gates and socket covers in place. Children are sometimes taken into the local village for walks,

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

staff ensure this is always a well supervised activity. Staff are continually reviewing how they

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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 can achieve a good balance between freedom and setting safe limits for the children. The adults and children all take part in the practise emergency evacuation procedure. This allows the children to learn about how to protect themselves from harm. They are well protected by staff who have a clear understanding of child protection procedures and give good priority to safeguarding children.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. The children enjoy themselves at the pre-school. The staff work hard to make both parents and their children feel welcome. Children talk, laugh and interact well with the adults. They play with many of the activities together. The walls display colourful posters, pictures and collages children have created. This helps to increase children's self-esteem. It also provides a friendly and homely atmosphere. Most of the children settle easily each morning. There is a good variety of age appropriate toys for the children to play with. These cover the main areas of development, such as the role play area for imaginary play and the creative area where they can experiment with different art and craft materials, such as painting, chalks, cutting and sticking. There is also a comfortable, quiet area where the children can relax and look at books. A computer is also available with a printer, for children to reproduce what they see on the

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

screen. Table top toys such as puzzles and games looking at numbers, shapes and letters are available. During the sessions, there are free play opportunities so that children are able to choose their own activities. However, there are times when children have to stop what they are doing, for example at snack time and to participate in music and movement and story time. These are more adult-led activities. This has a negative effect on the free flow of the children's play.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children have access to a good variety of resources, which support them in all areas of learning. The children are keen learners and confident enough to try new experiences. They enjoy listening to stories and participate eagerly in any actions relevant to the story being told. Children's speech is generally good, they ask adults questions throughout the session. They are able to mark-make to represent their ideas, for example in chalks and painted pictures. More able children attempt writing the letters in their name. Write dance is an activity which all the children enjoy doing, producing some dramatic pictures. The role play area is used constantly by the children. There are opportunities for children to extend their play, for example in role play. However, the adult led activities mean children are not always able to make choices in their play. This would further promote their independence and

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

self-esteem. Many children are able to count well up to 10 and beyond. There are occasions when the older children play alongside younger children and help them, such as at the cutting and sticking activity. When children join the pre-school, staff find out about their skills, interests and needs from parents. This information is used to aid planning, it can be built upon and next steps in children's learning can be identified. Staff observe, monitor and record children’s achievements. They also assess different activities to see how successful they are. This helps children to be more appropriately challenged in their play.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. The adults are good role models. They help children learn the importance of showing respect for each other. Children are encouraged to participate in all activities. They have access to resources such as dressing up, dolls and books, which show positive images of other cultures and disabilities. Colourful posters also provide images children can learn from. The pre-school has some experience of caring for children with special needs. This means staff are able to adapt many activities to ensure all children are included. Children's behaviour is generally good. However, the pre-school's behaviour management strategies are not clear enough to help ensure every child's needs are met if their behaviour is challenging. Nonetheless, children are beginning to understand right and wrong and staff encourage children to take turns and share. This guidance helps children accept the needs of others.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents is good. An effective key worker scheme helps to keep parents informed about their child's progress. They receive regular verbal feedback about the children's well being and achievements. The staff respect parents' wishes. This enables them to meet individual needs regarding routines. Parents report that their children are happy, well cared for and receive good support from the staff. They have information and many are knowledgeable about the Foundation Stage and the early learning goals. Notice Boards, policies and procedures and newsletters provide additional pre-school information for parents. Children receive continuity of care. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The pre-school has their registration certificate and public liability insurance document clearly displayed for parents and visitors to view. The provider has a robust recruitment and vetting procedure, including Criminal Record Bureau checks to help ensure the adults are suitable to work with the children. The management committee and pre-school leader regularly monitors and supervises staff. This means that children are able to receive consistent and quality care. The pre-school has all the relevant and required paperwork and documentation in place, which are regularly reviewed. This helps to ensure the needs of everyone involved are met. The leader and deputy leader hold appropriate childcare qualifications and one other member of staff is currently on training. A recognised paediatric first aid course certificate is held by all staff members. Children and staff records are stored confidentially in a lockable filing cabinet. The

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Organisation

setting meets the needs of the range of the children for whom it provides.

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Organisation

Leadership and management is good. The operational plan has the aims and objectives of the pre-school clearly stated. The leader in charge of the care of the children has good experience, enthusiasm and commitment, which in turn motivates staff. The communication between the committee, the leader and the staff is very good. Notice boards for staff to put their own comments on are used positively to benefit the day to day running of the pre-school. The leader is continually looking for effective ways to develop and improve the pre-school in all areas, especially in the Foundation Stage planning. This subsequently improves the learning experiences for children.

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Organisation

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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Improvements since the last inspection

The provider has followed the previous recommendations to improve the provision.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The first recommendation was for the pre-school to ensure all relevant incidents are recorded. There is now an incident record book for all staff to use when required. Children's well-being is a high priority.

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Improvements since the last inspection

A second recommendation was for the pre-school to ensure the complaints procedure informs parents of their rights to go directly to any stage of the complaint procedure they feel comfortable with.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The pre-school now has a full complaints policy in place. This is available for parents to refer to. Children's welfare is being protected.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The third recommendation was that Ofsted is informed of any serious incidents.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The management and staff are all aware that they must notify Ofsted of any significant changes of circumstances or incidents. This helps to protect children's welfare.

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Improvements since the last inspection

A final recommendation was to ensure staff are deployed effectively to manage children's behaviour that ensure all children have positive play experiences.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Staff continually review their deployment within the pre-school so that children have the support and guidance they need. Staff are able to provide positive play experiences for the children to enjoy.

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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 AND 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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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): • consider reviewing behaviour management strategies to ensure the needs of all the children are met

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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): • ensure children have more choices in their play, helping them become more independent and increase their self esteem and confidence.

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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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