Badgers Pre-School

Badgers Preschool Inspection report for early years provision

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507949 Unique Reference Number 26 June 2007 Inspection date Heidi Wilton Inspector

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Wych Lane, Gosport, Hampshire, PO13 0JN Setting Address

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E-mail

Badgers Preschool Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Sessional care Type of care

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E-mail

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

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality of childcare and, if applicable, of nursery education. The inspection was carried out under Part XA Children Act 1989 as introduced by the Care Standards Act 2000 and, where nursery education is provided, under Schedule 26 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004; the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding; and, where nursery education is provided, the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. The report includes information on any complaints about the childcare provision which Ofsted has received since the last inspection or registration or 1 April 2004 whichever is the later.

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

For more information about early years inspections, please see the booklet Are you ready for your inspection? which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are 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?

Badgers Preschool is a committee run group and opened in 1996. It is situated in Holbrook primary school, which is set in the established residential area of Bridgemary on the outskirts of Gosport. Accommodation includes two large classrooms connected with a sliding door, toilet facilities, welcome and reception area and an enclosed outside play area. The pre-school have use of the school hall and school playground on a regular basis.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 48 children from two years to five years on roll. This includes 45 children who are in receipt of nursery government funding. The setting supports children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The group offers sessions from 09:00 to 11:55 Monday to Friday, and 12:30 to 15:00 Monday, Wednesday and Friday during school term time.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

In addition to the manager, there are four staff who work with the children. Two hold a childcare qualification to level 3 and one to level 2 who is currently working towards NVQ level 3. Two other staff are working towards NVQ level 2. The staff team all attend a wide variety of training courses and workshops. The setting receives support from the Early Years and Childcare

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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 Partnership and liaises very closely with the primary school in which it is based. The group is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is outstanding. The preschool is exceptionally clean and ready for the arrival of the children. High quality procedures are used to ensure the toys and resources are immaculate to prevent the spread of germs and protect children from cross contamination. Good quality visual aids are displayed in the toilet area and by all sinks to ensure children are highly knowledgeable about steps to follow when washing their hands. Children have an extremely good understanding of the need to wash their hands as they inform the visitor 'we wash away the germs and make sure our hands are clean'.

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Helping children to be healthy

The preschool ensure parents are extremely well informed about the sickness policy from the outset to ensure they are fully knowledgeable should their child contract a communicable disease. Staff have obtained written parental permission to seek emergency medical advice or treatment to ensure immediate care for the children in an emergency. Comprehensive accident records with duplicated carbon copies ensure parents are very well informed about any accidents which have occurred.

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Helping children to be healthy

Highly robust procedures ensure all staff are very aware and comply with each child's dietary and allergy requirements to ensure they remain safe and healthy. Children have great fun during snack times as they socialise and chatter with their peers. They enjoy an extremely nutritious, healthy snack which is varied each day such as fruit, toast or vegetable sticks. Children gain lots of independence during snack times as they push the milk cartons and fruit in a small trolley to the snack area, pass the fruit bowl around to each other and independently select the fruit using the small tongs. Staff sit with the children discussing the different foods and talk to them about how the foods are healthy. Children are aware drinking water is available to them at all times and independently pour water from the small jugs.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children gain a wide range of inspiring and stimulating opportunities to develop their physical skills both inside and out. They are able to free-flow to the garden area most of the day and the highly effective deployment of staff ensures children remain safe. They have amazing fun accessing the outside area whilst it is raining and are protected from the rain with the all-in-one child-sized wet weather suits provided by the preschool. They immensely enjoy running around and splash through the puddles in their wellington boots. Children have great fun crawling through pop-up tunnels and love to go into the woods on the school grounds to act out the story 'We're going on a bear hunt'. They relish playing with the move-along toys and ride the tricycles expertly manoeuvring themselves around each other. Children develop their fine motor skills and competencies as they manipulate the mouse on the computer and use a wide range

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children arrive to a warm and welcoming environment. Their work is displayed attractively and resources and activities are at child-height enabling children to access them independently. Equipment and furniture are age and stage appropriate for the children attending. Children

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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 gain a sense of responsibility and an understanding of how to keep themselves safe as they are encouraged to help tidy up and respect their environment.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

All doors are kept secured to ensure children remain safe and protected. The preschool have good systems in place to ensure children are only collected by their designated person. They have clear policies in place detailing procedures to follow if children become lost or are not collected. This ensures parents and staff are well aware of the procedures followed should such an event occur.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff ensure visitors sign in the visitors' book to ensure they are accounted for in an emergency and to keep the children in their care safe. The preschool practise the fire drill with the children regularly and discuss with them the importance of doing so to ensure they are fully knowledgeable about what to do in a fire. Clear fire evacuation plans are displayed at the exits to ensure staff, parents and visitors are well informed. Staff have good systems in place as they check daily the environment and resources inside and out to ensure hazards are identified and minimised.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff have a good understanding about protecting the welfare of the children in their care. They demonstrate a good understanding of where to make referrals and how to record signs and symptoms. Parents are informed about the child protection procedure. However, the procedure is not included amongst the policies in the parents prospectus which does not allow parents to reference this policy at home. The child protection policy does include clear detail about procedures which are followed should an allegation be made against staff but the policy is not currently in line with the Local Safeguarding Children Board's procedures.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are confident when they arrive at the setting and enthusiastically choose activities from the wide variety of resources set out in the six areas of learning. The preschool is welcoming and attractive with whole walls painted with large scenes involving animals, fish and boats. Children are observed by the staff and their development is recorded to ensure next developmental milestones are identified. The preschool provide settling-in visits for parents and children to ensure the smooth transition from the main carer to the setting. They give parents verbal and written advice to help them to settle their child at pre-school.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff interact at child level with the children and offer lots of praise and encouragement. Children enjoy threading large threads through large cut out holes in sponge shapes and have fun piecing together a variety of jigsaw puzzles. They love exploring the outside area as they run through the sand and move themselves around in toy cars. Children have opportunities to interact with the computer and can access this at their own level as the pre-school provide programs suitable for the different ages of children at the setting. Children who become tired or want to rest can relax on the sofas and listen to or look at the range of storybooks.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning for nursery funded children is good. Staff working with the children are trained and qualified and demonstrate a good understanding of the Foundation Stage. Staff plan activities related to the six areas of learning and show the links to the stepping stones and early learning goals. They observe children as they interact and explore the environment and each key worker records these observations in the children's separate files.

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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 Key workers use these observations to inform them of the next steps in each individual child's learning. Resources and activities are rotated regularly to ensure children are kept interested and stimulated. Staff are adaptable and listen to what the children are interested with, making necessary changes to the daily plans.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The preschool have a 'special days' board which enables children to feel valued as individuals. They are acknowledged for special achievements that have occurred both at home and within the setting. Children show respect for their environment as they busily clean the shaving foam off the table and put their activities away when they have finished with them.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children laugh and giggle as they explore the shaving foam and discuss with each other the texture of the foam. For example, one child excitedly stated 'it feels soft and cold'. All children are encouraged to write their name or make their mark on their work and they have lots of opportunities within the environment to explore emergent writing. Children are encouraged to count during everyday activities such as counting how many cubes they have joined together. They use mathematical language such as 'heavy' and 'heavier' as they fill different buckets with sand. Children have access to many number puzzles and games and enjoy fixing the numbers back in the correct places around the clock puzzle.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children foster an understanding of the society around them. The preschool partake with the local horticultural show and children enjoy growing a variety of vegetables to enter into the show. Children have fun watering the plants and vegetables and take pride in their environment as they dig out the weeds and dispose of them in the compost bin. They have access to structured and free art activities and enjoy cutting and sticking materials onto their mortar boards in preparation for graduation when they leave to go to primary school. Children engage in a variety of role-play activities as they dress up as doctors and listen to their friends heart with the stethoscope.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Staff treat children as individuals and show them all equal respect. Children foster an understanding of diversity in society as they dress up in a variety of costumes such as Japanese dresses, fire fighter uniforms and straw Hawaiian skirts. Welcome posters with 'hello' written in different languages and photographs of people of different ages, gender and cultural background are displayed within the environment. The preschool welcome people from society to come in and talk to the children about their different job roles. These include lollipop people, police officers and fire fighters.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The learning disabilities and/or difficulties coordinator has recently gained responsibility for the role. She has attended the initial training and has a place booked on further training to ensure she is knowledgeable about her role. The pre-school work actively with parents and outside agencies to ensure help and guidance is gained for the children. They have strong links with the Area Inclusion Co-ordinator and communicate with her regularly to ensure they are updated with the latest information and to gain guidance. The pre-school work in conjunction with outside agencies and parents and continue action plans with the child within the setting to ensure consistency is achieved.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered. Children behave well at the preschool. They have devised their own rules which gives them the tools to manage their own behaviour. Good behaviour is rewarded with positive praise, encouragement, stickers and

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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 certificates. The preschool staff work consistently with behaviour strategies as they are all aware of the behavioural policy for the setting. A good visual system is used for children displaying unacceptable behaviour and any issues are communicated with parents at the end of the day.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Staff give good verbal feedback to parents at the end of each session. They are given a parents prospectus when their child first starts which details clearly some policies and procedures, information about the setting and the key worker system. This ensures parents are fully knowledgeable about the provision being provided. Parents are encouraged to join the parent committee and to become actively involved with the preschool. Parents are informed of what routes to follow should they have a concern and a complaints log is in place should any concerns arise.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers is good. Parents gain detailed information about the six areas of learning within the parents prospectus and also verbally from staff at the outset. This ensures parents are well informed about the education provision being provided by the preschool. In addition, staff display plans on the parents' notice board to ensure parents are fully knowledgeable about what their children are learning. This learning can then be continued within the home environment. Staff give parents newsletters on a regular basis to keep them updated with information about routines, events and topics. This also enables parents to continue learning related to themes and topics at home. Parents are able to meet with their child's key worker during or after the session to discuss their child's development. The preschool provide parents with termly reports for their children which details progress in each area.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

However, the reports do not share information regarding the next steps for children's learning, which means parents do not have the opportunity to agree with these and support them. The setting do provide parents with knowledge about current topics and provide suggestions for parents to continue with their child at home.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children are happy and can freely access structured and free play activities. They know the routine of the day and can free-flow to the outside area for most of the day. Staff have built strong relationships with both the parents and the children. The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides. The manager ensures adult to child ratios are always maintained and deploys staff effectively throughout the setting. Robust procedures are in place to ensure all adults working with the children are vetted. Staff who are not yet vetted are never left alone with the children. The manager ensures at least one staff member on site is first aid trained with an up-to-date qualification to ensure children are cared for appropriately in an emergency. Registers are maintained to ensure children are kept safe and accounted for in an emergency. The manager demonstrates a good knowledge of the National Standards. The

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Organisation

preschool keep all documentation confidential and securely filed away.

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Organisation

Leadership and management are good. The manager is given support from the chairperson, deputy and her administrator. The manager and the staff team attend up-to-date training to gain further knowledge to enhance their expertise. This benefits the children hugely as the staff team implement new and fresh ideas to the provision. The manager monitors staff on a day to day basis giving them feedback about any concerns or achievements identified. She conducts annual appraisals with the staff team and the chairperson conducts the managers appraisal. At this time any concerns, achievements and training needs are discussed.

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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 Staff meet regularly to plan the education provision and to discuss any relevant issues. The staff team are all dedicated and all input into the planning. Any changes to policies and procedures are discussed at staff meetings and are taken to committee meetings to be agreed by the committee. The manager also addresses any concerns or resources needed for the preschool at committee meetings and these are discussed.

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Organisation

The staff team work effectively together to create stimulating and fun activities for all the children. They are dedicated to the children and ensure the pre-school offers an inclusive environment where every child matters.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last care inspection the preschool were asked to implement a procedure for uncollected children. The preschool now have a procedure for uncollected children. This ensures children are safe and parents well informed about procedures which are followed should such an event occur.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last education inspection the preschool were asked to provide suggestions of practical activities for parents to share with their child at home, increasing their understanding of these to promote development of learning. The preschool now give parents information about themes and topics with additional information about activities which can be continued in the home environment. This ensures children gain consistency with their learning between the home and the preschool.

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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

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • update the child protection procedure in line with the Local Safeguarding Children Board's and include the policy within the parents prospectus to ensure they are well informed.

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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

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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): • further develop progress reports to include the next steps for children's individual learning for parents.

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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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