Kinlet Family Playgroup

Kinlet Family Playgroup Inspection report for early years provision

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224125 Unique Reference Number 07 November 2007 Inspection date Donna Stevens Inspector

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Kinlet C of E School, School Lane, Kinlet, Bewdley, Worcestershire, DY12 3BQ

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Setting Address

01299 841210 or 07813 914157 Telephone number

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E-mail

The Trustees of Kinlet Family Playgroup Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care, 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 good.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Kinlet Family Playgroup opened in 1994. It is managed by a voluntary management committee made up of parents of the children that attend the playgroup. It operates from a demountable building which is situated in the grounds of Kinlet Primary School in the village of Kinlet, Shropshire. The playgroup has sole use of the demountable building during session times, and shared use of some school facilities such as the school hall and the grounds, which include a play area and equipment, and staff facilities. There is ramp access to the playgroup building and wheelchair accessible facilities within the school itself.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

A maximum of 20 children aged from two years to under five years may attend the group at any one time. There are currently 25 children aged from two years to under five years on roll. Of these, 16 children receive funding for nursery education. The playgroup is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 09:00 to 15:00 during term time and children are able to attend for a variety of sessions between these times. Children come from the surrounding areas. The playgroup has procedures in place to support children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and to support children 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 playgroup employs five members of staff. All of these four hold appropriate early years qualifications and one is currently training. The playgroup belongs to the Preschool Learning Alliance.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children stay healthy because they are cared for in premises that are warm and clean and staff ensure that good hygiene practices are observed to prevent the spread of infection. Children are encouraged to learn the importance of good personal hygiene through well-planned daily routines and activities. They know, for example, that they must wash their hands after playing outside, before eating and cooking activities and after using the toilet to make sure that their hands are clean and do not have germs on them. Children are encouraged to wipe their noses and dispose of tissues afterwards, once again washing their hands. There are rigorous procedures in place to ensure that children receive good care if they become unwell, have an accident or need to be given medication.

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Helping children to be healthy

Staff have a good understanding of food and nutrition and children learn about healthy eating at snack and mealtimes and through an exciting variety of projects and activities. Snacks provided mid session for the children offer a variety of fresh fruit and raw vegetables along with a selection of crackers, bread sticks and rice cakes that they are able to spread themselves. They help pour their own milk or water and drinking water is available at all times. At lunchtime children bring packed lunches from home, allowing parents to decide what they would like their children to eat. Staff encourage them to eat healthy food first. Children have the opportunity to become involved in a good range of cooking, food preparation and tasting activities that link to other areas of their play and learning. A project about fruit and vegetables linked to harvest introduces children to lots of different fruits and they helped to make an alphabet of

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Helping children to be healthy

fruit. During regular cooking and food preparation activities children learn that foods can change as they are mixed together and cooked.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children have good opportunities for physical exercise. A newly refurbished outdoor area provides safety surface where the children are able to run freely, use ride-on toys, play ring games and learn ball skills. Inside they enjoy musical movement, dancing and action songs. They have good opportunities to improve their fine motor skills, for example doing jigsaws, experimenting with a variety of tools when playing with malable materials such as playdough and pouring and tipping containers during water play. As a result children are making good physical progress.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children are kept safe as a result of the staff's good awareness of health and safety and regular risk assessments ensure that the environment remains safe for children to use. The premises are welcoming and child friendly with children's work displayed on the walls along with colourful posters. There is a good range of toys and equipment that are of a high standard and stored in low level, easily accessible storage so that children can play safely and independently with a wide range of resources.

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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 Staff ensure that children are well supervised at all times and that their safety is paramount. Staff encourage children to learn how to keep themselves safe through regular routines such as practising the fire drill and walking safely down the slope to the outside play area. Staff also use opportunities during planned activities to introduce children to dangers and ways to keep themselves safe. For example, while making pumpkin lanterns for Halloween they discussed being careful with sharp knives and tools and how children should not touch matches.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are well protected from possible abuse or neglect. There is an up-to-date written policy that is understood by staff and shared with parents. Staff are fully aware of the types of abuse, signs to look for and appropriate action to take if they feel concerned about the welfare of a child in their care.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. The children are very well settled in the setting and are confident and happy. Staff spend a great deal of time with the children supporting their play and encouraging them to learn new skills. They plan a good mix of structured activities and time for the children to engage in free play of their own choice. Exciting and stimulating activities covering all areas of play are offered inside and recent improvements to the outdoor area have enabled children to expand their play outside. Further development of this area would allow children to take part in all areas of play both inside and outside.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children's personal, social and emotional development is well catered for and they are given opportunities to increase their independence and take care of their personal needs as they take themselves to the toilet and put on their own coats to go outside. Children join in well at circle time, are confident to share their ideas and suggestions with both staff and their peers. They are kind and considerate to each other and play well together.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The children's language and communication skills are good. Staff talk to the children constantly and they in turn are encouraged to expand their language through activities and projects. When talking about bonfire night they were introduced to words like bang, burn, light and sparkle and these were then written and placed on a wall displays so the children could both see the written word and hear what it sounds like. Children enjoy looking at books and listening to stories. A writing area provides children with opportunities to practise their mark making skills and many of them can write their own names and other simple familiar words. They begin to learn that writing has a purpose as they write in greeting cards, help to write letters to a pupil who emigrated and on labels for wall displays.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are introduced to numbers through an exciting range of activities. They make number shapes out of dough and cheese straw mixture and there are large written numbers displayed on the wall for children to see. They use a range of equipment for counting and pattern making such as large coloured floor tiles. Children begin to understand that numbers have a purpose in everyday life as they read numbers on the recipe for fairy cakes and carefully help weigh ingredients so that the scales display the same number as that on the recipe. They enjoy counting rhymes and stories that involve numbers, such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which the children looked at during a project on fruit and vegetables. They play with money in the home corner

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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 understanding that coins have different values and can be used to purchase different numbers of things.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children learn about the environment they live in by spending time outside throughout the year so that they can observe changes to the nature around them. They learn about living things as they help to plant bulbs and seeds and visit the school to watch chickens hatching from eggs. They develop a sense of time as they help to complete a daily calendar, learning the names of days of the week, months and seasons. They have the opportunity to learn about technology by using a range of programmes on the computer and other electronic toys. Children are able to develop their design and building skills by using a good range of construction toys. They have some opportunities to develop a knowledge and understanding of the world as staff introduce them to different cultures by celebrating festivals. This knowledge could be further developed with daily access to toys and equipment depicting positive images of race and culture.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are able to develop their creative skills and imagination through a range of opportunities. They enjoy taking part in art and craft activities and are proud of finished results on wall displays. Imaginative play, both in staged situations such as the home corner or garden centre and opportunities for children to use their own ideas when given a large cardboard box to play with that they turned into a variety of vehicles and a Princess Tower, enables children to take on familiar and imaginary roles. They enjoy music, singing familiar songs and using a range of musical instruments.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The children make good progress in all areas of learning. Staff find out children's skills, abilities and interests when they start at the provision. Activities are planned that cover all areas of their learning and staff get to know children extremely well in order to offer support when needed and expand the learning of more able children. Planning shows clearly the aim of each activity and the area of learning it is specifically linked to. However, staff are very good at bringing all areas of learning into each activity. For example, during a cooking activity children looked at numbers by comparing the recipe to numbers on the scale, learnt how food changes when it is mixed together and talked about health and hygiene as well as taking turns. They then decorated the cakes to their own design using their imagination and creative skills to make their fairy cakes look like fireworks in the sky. Children's development is closely monitored

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

and discussed with parents regularly. There are effective procedures in place to support children with special needs and those with English as an additional language.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children's individual needs are recognised and well met. Children are able to achieve their full potential because staff know the children and their individual needs and stages of development very well. They have some opportunities to develop a positive attitude to others and gain an understanding about the wider world and community as projects and activities introduce them to other ways of life. However, children do not have access to resources depicting positive images of diversity during their everyday play.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children behave very well. Positive behaviour is promoted as children are encouraged to share, take turns and to listen to each other's ideas and opinions during circle and group times. Staff have high expectations of the children and as a result the children have good manners at mealtimes and in turn show respect for each other during their play, for example inviting other children to share activities and helping each other to complete tasks such as puzzles. Clear strategies are in place to deal with inappropriate behaviour and these include polite requests

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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 not to do something, explanations as to why the behaviour is not acceptable and the use of distraction techniques to encourage children to move away from difficult situations.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents and carers is good. Home/school diaries are used on a daily basis to allow staff and parents to exchange information about how children have been both in the setting and at home. Parents are made to feel welcome in the setting and are encouraged to join a parent rota so that they can spend time joining in with activities. Children are able to take books home on a daily basis to share with their parents and at weekends the group have a teddy bear that visits different children in turn. Parents then help their children to complete a diary about how the bear has spent his time with their family. This helps to form strong links between the setting and children's homes and enables children to feel secure and settled.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is fostered.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children benefit because the staff team is well qualified and experienced and uses their knowledge to plan and organise a variety of stimulating and exciting activities and opportunities throughout the day. High staff ratios ensure that children receive a great deal of individual attention and support during their play and learning.

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Organisation

Children's individual welfare, care and learning needs are well met and supported by the quality documentation kept. All required records are kept up-to-date, confidentially stored, well organised and available to share with parents. Policies and procedures are regularly updated so that they reflect current good practice and these are shared with parents.

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Organisation

The leadership and management is good. Staff work well together as a team ensuring that children receive good care. Staff have a positive attitude to training and are encouraged by management to develop their skills to constantly improve their practice so that children continue to benefit from high standards of care and education.

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Organisation

Overall the needs of all children who attend are met.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Good improvement has been made since the last inspection. At the last care inspection the group was asked to complete detailed risk assessments. Risk assessments are now in place and are regularly reviewed. Children did not have access to drinking water and this has been addressed and children now help themselves to water whenever they like. The group were asked to consider developing the children's independence skills at snack time. Children now take it in turns to help prepare the snack, pour their own drinks and spread crackers and bread sticks with spread of their choice. The group needed to look at how records were shared with parents and this was also a recommendation at the last nursery education inspection. Parents are now aware that they can have access to their children's records whenever they would like and are provided with information about their children's educational progress on a regular basis.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last Nursery Education inspection a recommendation was raised to provide children with opportunities to initiate their own play. The day is now organised to provide opportunities for children to engage in free play and choose their own toys and equipment and for more structured activities to run alongside. Children needed to be provided with a writing area where they could practise mark making skills. This area has been fully developed providing children with a range

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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 of experiences that include writing materials, magnetic letters and electronic word toys. The group were also asked to provide children with access to resources that can be used in different ways for different purposes. Children now have access to an open storage unit which is filled with variety of equipment that children can use for different activities such as sorting, counting, comparing, small world imaginative play and building and construction.

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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 that 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 with plans to further develop the outside area

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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): • provide regular opportunities for children to regularly use a range of equipment that shows positive images of race and culture

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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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