Kibworth Village Hall Playgroup

Kibworth Village Hall Playgroup

Inspection report for early years provision

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Kibworth Village Hall Playgroup

Unique Reference Number 226423 Inspection date 22 September 2005 Inspector Alexandra Brouder

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Kibworth Village Hall Playgroup

Setting Address Village Hall, Station Street, Kibworth, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE8 0LN Telephone number 0116 279 2654

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E-mail

Registered person Kibworth Village Hall Playgroup Type of inspection Integrated Type of care Sessional 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 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 inadequate - notice of action to improve. The registered person does not meet 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 inadequate - notice of action to improve.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Kibworth Village Hall Playgroup was established in 1972 in Tur Langton village hall, moving to its present location in 1974. It is privately owned and registered to provide sessional day care for up to 26 children from 2 to 5 years of age. It opens during school term times for 38 weeks each year. Opening times are from 9:00am until

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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 12:00pm on every weekday morning except Tuesdays. The playgroup runs from a village hall in Kibworth. The play group is registered to accept nursery education funding. At present there are 32 children on roll, 16 of whom are funded for their nursery education. Children are grouped together in a large hall and an adjoining room. They also have access to the kitchen, toilets and lobby. The intake of children reflects a variety of social and economic backgrounds but there is limited cultural diversity in the area. At present there are no children in attendance for whom English is an additional language or have identified special educational needs. In total five members of staff work with children throughout the week, normally four members of staff work each session. Two of the staff hold a level 3 qualification in

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

child care. The playgroup receives support from the local Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership through visits from a qualified teacher as well as an area Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children develop their independence as they access and use the toilet unaided. They wash their hands after messy play, but are not encouraged to wash them before snack time, which heightens the risk of cross infection. Staff follow appropriate methods as they change children's nappies and children know to wash their hands after they have used the toilet. Relevant accident and medication procedures are in place, and most accidents are recorded appropriately which enables children's welfare to be maintained. Children have a range of healthy snacks and know that these are important for their health and well-being. They develop their large muscle skills as they access the slide, climbing frame and ride on equipment. However, this is not an area that is planned for effectively and opportunities are missed to increase the challenges set for children and therefore limits their development. Children use

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Helping children to be healthy

their small muscle skills as they paint, construct and use scissors. However, they do not regularly explore or extend their skills through the use of malleable materials, which hinders their development.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is inadequate. Children settle readily in the secure environment. They use sufficient indoor space to enable them to rest and be physically active. Staff offer continual supervision to children and have appropriate procedures in place to be followed in the event of an emergency, so helping maintain children's safety. Some appropriate precautions, such as use of locks on exits, are in place to minimise hazards. However, the group

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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 do not have a clear, written risk assessment in place that identifies all the hazards in the group and the possible risk to children. This puts their safety in jeopardy. Aside from this, children generally follow established safety expectations and staff begin to help them understand the reasons for these, for example the risks of harming another child if they walk up the slide. Play equipment, such as role play furniture, and small world equipment, are of good quality and well-designed to meet children's developmental needs. However, they are not consistently well-presented or planned, to provide a broad scope for children's play. For example, on both days at the setting, the children had at least four areas in which to explore their imagination in small world play, but no opportunity to create

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

freely, use play dough, sand, or water. This limits the children's opportunities to develop to their potential. Staff are aware of the child protection procedures to be followed in the event of any concerns regarding child abuse. Two staff have attended appropriate training, so enabling them to safeguard children's welfare. However, the policy that the group have in place contains no information on the procedures to be followed should an allegation be made against a member of staff.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children enjoy spending time at the pre-school. They are enthusiastic on arrival and are confident to participate in the variety of activities that are available at the group. Children are made to feel secure in the setting through friendly interaction from the staff. Most children enjoy close relationships with their carers and readily seek comfort and contact with them, increasing their sense of well being. The provision of activities for under threes does not always reflect their needs or individual capabilities. There are limited opportunites for children to explore their senses in the sand, water and play dough due to restrictions within the environment that they access. However, the staff do not consider varied ways that this area of play can be adapted to ensure that children's skills can be developed appropriately. This makes it difficult for staff to meet the individual needs of children and prevents them from

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

making sufficient progress in some areas of their learning. Nursery Education The quality of teaching and learning is inadequate. Five part-time staff work with the funded children during the week, and whilst two have begun to extend their knowledge of the foundation stage curriculum, three have not. The impact of this is that children's individual learning needs are not met appropriately. Staff question children during activities, but in the main, these are not open ended and do not challenge children's thinking skills. All staff are beginning to observe what children can do. However, as their knowledge of the stepping stones towards the foundation stage is weak, this information does not identify their progress towards these. The impact of this is that children's individual needs are not met. Whilst plans indicate what activities are to be completed each day, they do not link to the area for development or offer scope for challenge or differentiation. This impedes any

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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 progress children are able to make in all the areas of learning. Most children are confident and keen to get involved in activities such as painting and imaginative experiences. They enjoy friendly relationships with staff and each other. Older children form particular friendships amongst their peers. Their independence is beginning to develop through the use of snack time and taking themselves to the toilet. However, opportunities to extend these skills through self choosing of resources is limited. While children speak well and are keen to engage adults in conversation, staff do not know how to challenge children appropriately, particularly through questioning during their play. Consequently, children are not developing their language for thinking or their ability to solve simple problems in maths. Many of the

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

children draw well and use lines and circles to form recognisable images, but since most art activities are adult led children are unable to create their own art work spontaneously. They have daily access to a "creative" table, but this is limited to pens and paper and, in the main, does not challenge their skills. However, children were observed to copy a helicopter that a member of staff had drawn whilst sitting with them, which shows that some children have good skills in this area. Further opportunities for children to mark make freely using a range of equipment in every day play are not provided. For example, in the role play area children are not able to record or practice their mark making skills. Children enjoy, and are familiar with, a selection of rhymes and songs. They have opportunites to express themselves using the musical instruments, but only in adult led activities. Limited accessible resources, and staff's lack of challenge impedes children's

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

development in their knowledge and understanding of the world. Few activities develop children's interest in the natural world such as looking at insects or growing things. Neither are they aware of the wider world around them. Children's access to simple technology is beginning to develop as they access tape recorders and battery controlled cars. However, these are not readily accessible as they are stored away from the pre-school, and therefore children are not able felly develop or extend their knowledge in this area. While staff use different methods to teach children such as large or small groups, their inability of meeting the individual needs of children and how they learn means that these are often ineffective. Circle time is used to welcome children into the setting, and at the end of each session. However, this can be a very disruptive time and children's interest is not always held. Staff sometimes use this area to discuss

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

the days of the week and number of children in the group. However, as staff are not aware of children's individual abilities, this does not encourage them to think. Planning of the curriculum is very weak, and although it is beginning to include aspects of the areas of learning, the delivery does not reflect this. The lack of evaluation of activities and targets for children means that their individual needs are not met appropriately.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is inadequate. The individual needs of most children are met by staff. They use the information

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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 gained from parents with regard to their dietary needs, likes and dislikes to establish children's wants and needs. However, there is no equal opportunity policy in place, which means that staff do not follow appropriate legislation to enable them to recognise and meet the needs of all. Staff have completed relevant training on anti-bias practice, but are not yet using this knowledge to plan their curriculum. Therefore children's access to a range of resources and activities that reflects other cultures, lifestyles and anti-discriminatory practice is poor. Most children behave appropriately in the nursery because staff use suitable methods to explain and deal with unacceptable behaviour. Children play well together in groups and older children initiate their play and establish their rules for

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Helping children make a positive contribution

this. However, there are times that staff do not praise good behaviour and this impacts on children's self esteem and confidence at times. Sound relationships between staff and parents means that verbal information regarding children's care needs is shared and used effectively. However, partnership with parents for nursery education is inadequate. They are provided with very little information about the educational provision, and have little feedback about their children's progress towards the early learning goals. However, there are times that parents are asked to bring in things from home to support a colour or number of the week, but they are not informed of how this links into the curriculum. Therefore parents and carers are not able to share in or become involved in their child's learning in meaningful ways. Children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is fostered.

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Organisation

The organisation is inadequate. Staffing is organised to ensure that children are cared for at all times by enough suitably checked adults to maintain supervision and safety. Necessary contact and personal details are maintained so staff can meet children's individual health, care and dietary needs. Policies and procedures that support the running of the group are in place for most areas, although there are gaps which impacts on the care and welfare of children as stated previously. Staff's training and developmental needs are not recognised by management as there are no formal systems in place to support staff, which means that staff's individual needs are not met. This impacts on the development of children and therefore children's needs are not met. The leadership and management of the nursery education programme for funded 3- and 4-year-olds is inadequate. Staff do not communicate well enough as a team to

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Organisation

ensure that the needs of all children are met, and are not yet qualified appropriately to deliver the foundation stage curriculum. This process would be better met through more formal discussion and systematic arrangements such as appraisals. This means that the aims and objectives of the foundation stage curriculum are not being met, and therefore children's needs are not being met. A development plan is in place identifying priorities for the pre-school as a whole, but there is no monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the nursery education programme. Overall the care and nursery education provided does not meet children's needs.

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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

At the last inspection in February 2004 the playgroup were asked to make a number of improvements to its provision for children. For care they were asked to: develop an action plan that sets out how staff training and qualification requirements will be met; ensure that the child protection procedure for the playgroup complies with local Area Child Protection Committee (ACPC) procedures; ensure that accurate records of the children's hours at the playgroup are maintained appropriately; develop an action plan that shows how the group would ensure that the person in charge holds a level three qualification in child care; ensure that a record of visitors is maintained; conduct a risk assessment of the premises identifying action to be taken to minimize identified risks; ensure that the written policy for the administration of medication is clear and relates to regulations, and that appropriate methods were developed to record the

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Improvements since the last inspection

administration of medication; ensure that all accidents, including minor accidents, are recorded in full and kept for a minimum of two years; devise an equal opportunities policy that is consistent with current legislation and guidance, and to ensure that that this is understood and implemented by all staff and shared with parents; ensure that children have an appropriate range of activities and resources that promote equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice and develop staff's knowledge and understanding of equal opportunities issues; ensure that a variety of activities are available for children that provide sufficient challenge for all children in all areas of learning. For nursery education the group were asked to provide further physical challenge for more able children; ensure that staff's knowledge and understanding of the six areas of learning was developed; develop the use of observation and

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Improvements since the last inspection

assessments in order to inform planning, and ensure that more able children have sufficient challenges set in all areas of learning; ensure that children's knowledge and understanding of the world is increased and planned for effectively to enable children to develop their awareness of other cultures and lifestyles, and to access equipment that will develop their understanding of technology; ensure that children's creative development is planned for effectively to enable children to explore various types of music and resources that enable them to create freely; improve planning for communication language and literacy so that children have more opportunities to practice meaningful writing, make lists and develop emergent writing through their play and activities. Since the last inspection the playgroup has made some progress in addressing these issues. There are now two joint leaders at the setting that have completed

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Improvements since the last inspection

appropriate child care training which ensures that regulations are now met in this area. The policy for child protection has been developed and is in place. Staff are aware of its content which ensures that children's welfare is maintained. However, it does not contain information on procedures should staff be accused of abuse. Accurate records are maintained of children's, staff and visitors attendance which maintains children's safety. Accident and medication information has been developed to ensure that relevant procedures are followed by staff and maintained for an appropriate period of time, which maintains children's safety. Procedures are in place to record any medication that is given. Resources to ensure that children are challenged effectively in all aspects of learning have been developed but staff continue not to make best use of what they have to ensure children are sufficiently challenged which hinders their progress in enjoying and achieving. Staff have begun

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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 to put together a risk assessment of the setting; this does not effectively identify action to be taken in particular areas of risk, which impacts on children's safety. The policy for equal opportunities and the range of activities that are available to promote this area, and reflect anti-discriminatory practice, have not been developed, and staff's knowledge in this area is weak. This causes children's development and understanding to be poor in this area and impacts on their social, moral, spiritual and cultural development. With regard to nursery education, since the last inspection there has been little progress in addressing the issues mentioned. More able children continue to lack appropriate challenge in physical play, although they do have daily opportunities to

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Improvements since the last inspection

explore their large and small muscle skills. Staff's knowledge and understanding of the six areas of learning is still a cause for concern and continues to be an area for development as staff have made minimal progress in their understanding of this, which leads to poor development in all six areas for children at the setting. Observations are beginning to be used, but these do not reflect the areas of learning or help to inform the planning of the curriculum. This leads to inappropriate challenge for children in all six areas. Children have more frequent access to a range of technology equipment. However they are not able to access a range of activities and resources that develops their knowledge and understanding of other cultures and lifestyles, which means that their progress in this area is weak. Children listen to a variety of music for enjoyment but have limited opportunites to explore or create

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Improvements since the last inspection

freely using a range of resources. Children are beginning to develop their emergent writing skills as they draw and paint. However, there are few opportunities for them to develop these skills as staff do not provide tools in a range of areas.

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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 inadequate - notice of action to improve. The registered person does not meet 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 inadequate - notice of action to improve.

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care, the registered person must take the

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The quality and standards of the care

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 following actions: • devise an equal opportunities policy that is consistent with current legislation and guidance • ensure that children have an appropriate range of activities and resources that promote equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, and develop staff's knowledge and understanding of equal opportunities issues. • ensure that a thorough risk assessment is completed in all areas, take action to minimise risks, and update on a regular basis • ensure that the child protection procedure contains information on allegations made against staff. These actions are set out in a notice of action to improve and must be completed by the date specified in the notice.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

To improve the quality and standards of nursery education, the registered person must take the following actions: • develop planning systems which are built on children's interests and what they need to do next and which cover all the areas of learning and their aspects evenly and regularly so that children achieve appropriately in all areas • develop systems for assessing children's progress towards the Early Learning Goals, which identify their needs and next steps for individual children • develop staff's knowledge of the Foundation Stage so that children are effectively challenged • develop partnership with parents and carers to ensure they are fully informed about their child's progress and can share and become involved in their child's learning. These actions are set out in a notice of action to improve and must be completed by the date specified in the notice. The Department for Education and Skills and the local authority have been informed.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

procedures set out in the leaflet Building better childcare: Compliments and concerns about inspectors' judgements 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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