Hillside Autistic Centre

Stanton Drew and Pensford Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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133082 Unique Reference Number 02 May 2007 Inspection date Carol Cox Inspector

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TheVillage Hall, Sandy Lane, Stanton Drew, Bristol, BS39 4EL Setting Address

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07803 875775 Telephone number family@scurtis74.freeserve.co.uk E-mail Stanton Drew and Pensford Pre-School Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Sessional care Type of care

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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 satisfactory.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Stanton Drew and Pensford Pre-School is a well established committee run group that has been running for almost 40 years. It is situated in the centre of the village of Stanton Drew. The group operates from the village hall. They have access to the large hall, kitchen, toilets and a large secure outside play space. The group opens during term times from Monday - Wednesday from 09.30 until 12.00 with the addition of a lunch club until 13.00 and on a Friday from 09.30 until 12.00 with lunch club until 13:00. A maximum of 24 children may attend the pre-school at any one time.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 32 children aged from two to under five years on roll. Of these, 23 children receive funding for early education. Children attend for a variety of sessions. Staff have experience of supporting children with learning difficulties or disabilities.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The pre-school employs five members of staff. Of these, two members of staff have appropriate early years qualifications and two are working towards a qualification.

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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 health is well promoted through clear policies and procedures which are shared with parents. There are sensible and hygienic procedures in place to ensure infections are not passed between children, for example, through clear exclusion policies. Most staff have current paediatric first aid certificates and are able to treat minor injuries appropriately. There are sound procedures in place to ensure that guidance and information is gained from parents before administering medication and to maintain clear records.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children have many opportunities to make good progress in physical development. The large hall offers plenty of space to ride on bicycles, climb, slide and enjoy action games. Children benefit from fresh air and regular walks in the local community, for example, they recently visited the stone circle in the village. Staff promote children's fine motor development through the thoughtful planning of craft activities and free access to a range of tools and resources. Children benefit from regular PE sessions when they practice dressing and undressing.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy choosing healthy foods such as fruit, cheese and savoury biscuits at snack time. They benefit from attending lunch club where they develop good self care skills in preparation for school. Children have many opportunities to taste different foods linked to topic work, for example at Chinese New Year children eat noodles. Staff work closely with parents to identify any particular food needs and there are careful procedures to remind parents to store lunch boxes safely in the fridge. The individual dietary needs of each child are identified and noted on their registration forms to ensure children are safeguarded against allergic reactions.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children enjoy the freedom to learn and play in a child-friendly environment, however, daily safety checks do not yet always identify risks. For example, on the day of inspection a radiator was not sufficiently guarded. There are effective evacuation procedures in place which are regularly practised and logged clearly. There is a robust registration system which records the actual hours of staff and children's attendance.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff check resources, toys and equipment regularly to ensure their safety and these are made readily accessible to children. This means children can easily choose resources to support their learning and play free play. Children are well protected by good procedures, such as the collection policy which requires parents to identify the person who will collect their child each day. All visitors to the premises are asked to identify themselves and sign the visitors book.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are well protected from abuse or neglect because staff ensure that their knowledge of child protection procedures is current. Staff understand the need to record all concerns about children and share this information with parents.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children are well cared for by caring and enthusiastic staff who work closely with parents to identify the care and learning needs of each child. Children learn through a wide range of

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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 interesting play activities. Their independence is encouraged by easy access to a range of good quality resources which they choose to support their chosen games and activities. For example, the children enjoyed experimenting with printing and finger painting. They express themselves freely and competently put their pictures on the drying rack. The younger children who attend the group are well supported to join in small group activities alongside older children. However, at times large group activities are not appropriate, for example, during circle time younger children found it difficult to sit still and concentrate and became disengaged. The staff have started to address this by organising small group 'show and tell' time to encourage younger children to speak out in groups. Staff have begun to use the Birth to three matters framework

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

when planning activities but do not yet record observations of children's achievements or use these to plan for their next steps in learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Children learn through both adult led and child initiated play activities. They enjoy close relationships with staff who spend time talking and listening to them. Children are keen to learn and settle quickly. The learning programme covers all areas of learning but plans lack detail to indicate where children may need extra support or challenge to progress. Staff make and record observations about children's progress towards the early learning goals but these are not yet clearly linked to stepping stones or used to identify and plan for next steps in learning. Consequently, children's learning needs are not always identified and some children are not appropriately challenged to extend their learning. For example, children are not always challenged to extend their counting skills in routine activities.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children practise mark making skills using different tools and media with adult direction. They use notebooks in role play to write shopping lists and write their names on paintings. Most children competently recognise their own names and proudly use the self registration board, some children can point out the names of friends. Children proudly demonstrate their skills at designing and building with a variety of materials. They have vivid imaginations and use the good range of resources to create their stories and act out familiar scenes from their lives.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children develop small physical skills through planned and adult led craft activities, for example, children cut out sails and used parliament pins to attach them to their windmills. One child used excellent problem solving skills to allow the sails to turn by adding a 'basement' extension. Staff plan activities to help children learn about the lives and beliefs of others, for example, children celebrate Diwali and festivals from their own and other cultures. Children enjoy visiting their local village amenities and benefit from sharing activities such as Harvest Festival with the local school.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Staff use their good knowledge of the children's needs and interests to promote their development. Children learn to value differences between people through celebrating festivals from other cultures in relevant activities. For example, they tasted different foods when celebrating festivals such as Diwali and Harvest Festival and experimented by throwing paint when learning about Holi. Staff have knowledge and understanding of how to identify children's particular needs, although no children currently attend with identified learning difficulties or disabilities. Children's care needs are carefully discussed with parents.

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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 Children generally behave very well and show care and consideration for each other. For example, although older children run around during energetic games they are aware that they need to look out for younger or smaller children. Children understand the simple rules and routines of the group and learn how their behaviour may affect others through gentle explanations and good role modelling by staff.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents is satisfactory. Parents are welcomed as valued partners in their children's care. Staff work to build relationships to ensure consistency of care and provide written information about the activities which their children take part in. However, staff do not yet provide sufficient information for parents to learn about the curriculum their children follow or formal opportunities to discuss the progress their children are making towards the early learning goals.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

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

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children enjoy a stimulating range of activities planned to help them learn through self-initiated and adult-led play. Staff are appropriately qualified and attend regular training. The environment is well-organised and staff plan effectively to rotate resources which are made easily accessible to children. There are good policies and procedures in place to help children settle and keep them healthy and secure. All necessary documentation and records are in place, shared in confidence with parents and stored securely.

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Organisation

The parents' committee is active in supporting the group through fundraising and parents contribute their skills through a helper's rota. Parents are invited to contribute to the evaluation of the provision through a questionnaire. The new joint-chairpersons have recently introduced a staff appraisal system to identify individual and organisational training needs. There are sound procedures in place for recruiting new staff and ensuring their suitability.

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Organisation

Leadership and management is good. The pre-school leader has identified areas for development since her appointment in January 2007 and has already drafted new documentation for recording children's progress. She has plans to hold more formal consultations with parents and has included information in the revised prospectus about the Foundation Stage curriculum. A key worker system has been introduced giving staff the responsibility of maintaining records of children's achievements to share with parents.

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Organisation

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

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the pre-school was asked to improve security to maintain children's safety. This has been very effectively achieved by a secure system whereby a member of staff signs in each child, verifies the name of the person to collect them and signs them out at the end of the session. The register records the actual arrival and departure times of children and staff. The recommendation to maintain appropriate medication records has been addressed well by the introduction of medical record sheets used to detail all information, guidance and consents given by parents and all medication administered is recorded.

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Improvements since the last inspection

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

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since the last inspection there have been no complaints made to Ofsted that have 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 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): • ensure that safety checks adequately identify risks to children • ensure that group activities are appropriately supported and organised to meet the learning needs of younger children

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

To improve the quality and standards of nursery education further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • continue to develop the system to record observations and assessments of children's achievements and use these to identify next steps in learning for individual children • further develop the planning of nursery education to ensure individual children are supported or extended to progress in their learning • provide clear and regular information for parents about their child's progress and the education programme on offer

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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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