Kings Park Pre-School

Kings Park Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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257907 Unique Reference Number 27 June 2007 Inspection date Anne Walker Inspector

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King's Park School, King's Park, DEREHAM, Norfolk, NR19 2AH Setting Address

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E-mail

Kings Park Pre-School 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?

Kings Park Pre-school opened in 1980. It operates from a static building on the Kings Park School site. It is situated in a residential area just a few minutes walk from the town centre of Dereham, Norfolk. A maximum of 22 children may attend the pre-school at any one time. The group opens each weekday from 09:00 until 11:30 and from 12:40 until 15:10. A lunch club operates from 11:45 until 12:40 for children aged three to five years. The pre-school opens term times only. The children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 52 children aged from two to five years on roll. Of these, 32 children receive funding for early education. Children attend for a variety of sessions and generally come from the local area. The setting currently supports children who speak English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The pre-school employs three full-time, and three part-time members of staff. All staff have early years qualifications. Several staff are currently working towards a higher early years 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. The children are cared for in a clean environment where appropriate emphasis is placed on good hygiene routines to prevent the spread of germs and infection. Staff wear aprons and disposable gloves every time they change a nappy. They clean the area and dispose of the nappies hygienically. The children are encouraged to learn about managing their personal hygiene through routines where they wash hands before eating and after using the toilet and older children are able to do this with minimal adult support. The pre-school has a number of pets which are cared for appropriately so that they do not impact on children's health.

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Helping children to be healthy

A good range of healthy snacks are provided for children at each session. As well as bread and butter or crumpets the children enjoy portions of fresh and dried fruits. They eat good amounts and are encouraged to have more fruit if they wish. The balance of foods provided help the children develop an awareness of healthy eating. Milk or water is served at snack time and at other times children help themselves to drinks of water from the water cooler. These frequent drinks ensure that they can play actively without becoming dehydrated. The dietary needs of children are recorded and staff are aware and vigilant in ensuring these are met during snack time and the lunch club.

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Helping children to be healthy

The spacious outdoor area provides space for children to play actively and time is allocated in the daily routine for them to be outdoors. They are happy to be in the fresh air and develop their physical skills using the varied equipment.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. The children are received into a well-maintained building that has been decorated inside and out so that it is bright and inviting to children and their families. Suitable risk assessment procedures, which include daily checks of the indoor and outdoor areas, ensure children play safely. The minor exception to this is the nettles along one side of the outdoor area which could leave children with uncomfortable stings if they fell against them. Some precautions have been taken to minimise these appearing in their outdoor area from the neighbouring garden. The indoor environment is well organised into zones so that children playing at floor level can do so safely. A gate prevents them accessing the kitchen area. Notices at child height and reminders from staff develop children's awareness of safe practices indoors such as not running and children generally understand and comply with this advice. Fire drills have been carried out

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

periodically so that staff and children, understand and know how to evacuate the building in the event of an emergency.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The good staffing levels mean that children are well supervised at all times. Staff communicate effectively between themselves and are deployed by the manager so that all areas of the pre-school are overseen safely. As children arrive and leave the setting, there are clear routines which the adults and children understand. These ensure a safe handover between staff and parents or carers at either end of the session. Any changes regarding who will collect a child, is recorded by parents and passwords used where appropriate to keep them safe. Play materials, furniture and equipment are in suitable condition and are developmentally appropriate in order that children play without coming to harm.

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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 have undertaken training in relation to child protection. They have a suitable awareness of how children may be harmed and have systems in place to keep relevant records that help to safeguard children. The child protection policy has not been updated in line with the Local Safeguarding Children Board proceedures and especially the section relating to allegations made whilst a child is in their care. This does not provide sufficiently clear guidance about managing such events.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. The play room is prepared in advance of the children arriving and staff are ready to receive children into a welcoming environment. Sessions are organised to meet the differing developmental needs of children aged two to three years and those from three to five years. Younger children attend in the morning and older children in the afternoon. The routine of the morning session is simpler and provides a greater emphasis on settling children, promoting their confidence and independence in their environment. Consequently by the time children move up to the afternoon session they are at ease and have a good sense of belonging to the pre-school community.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

In the morning the children have good periods of time to choose from a selection of activities and confidently explore, moving from one to the other at their own pace. Group times are short and purposeful. They have a sociable snack time and rising threes give out plates and cups to the younger ones. At story time a book is read that includes opportunities for their interaction so that the whole time is not just spent listening. They act out brushing their teeth and combing their hair as the character in the story does. Staff are on hand to support them. In the jungle role play the adult plays alongside the children encouraging them to use the props and helping them develop and extend their imagination. Children request items out that they enjoy, such as the train track. Adults readily respond to this and use these interests to foster their involvement in play and learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Overall there is a good range of activities that promote all areas of their learning. Staff use 'Birth to three matters' to guide their planning for the younger ones. Children in the morning and afternoon sessions have access to a range of creative materials. Currently the balance between allowing children to freely express their creativity and adult-directed and prepared activities, is not sufficiently balanced to allow children enough opportunities to express their own ideas.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Staff have a suitable understanding of the Foundation Stage curriculum guidance. They use this to plan a balanced range of activities across the six areas of learning. Less experienced staff work alongside the manager and deputy who are good role models so that all staff are developing confidence in using open ended questions to encourage children's thinking and language skills. During story time the word 'famished' is used in the story. The adult asks children if anyone know what this means and a child is able to explain that it means 'you're hungry'. Staff have built good relationships with children so that they are keen to engage in the learning process, responding well to their intervention and guidance.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The children are able to work cooperatively with their peers. They understand the rules during mathematical matching games and take turns. They initiate play with small world games such

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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 as the dolls house or the train set, using their emerging language skills to negotiate ideas. The organisation of the session reflects these emerging skills so that there are more whole group times. Whilst these are purposeful they take up a significant part of the session. This potentially impacts on the time available to children to explore the other activities and to give them sufficient time to re-visit things in order to consolidate their learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are motivated and interested in learning through their play as activities are generally pitched correctly for their developmental level and provide achievable challenges. Children who are beginning to form letters are encouraged to label their own work whilst others are confident mark makers and may record their initial letter on their work. Systems are in place to assess children's progress and children's next steps are identified. This is mainly in written observational form. These are generally evaluative and carried out regularly. The use of photographs and examples of children's work, less clearly reflects the assessments staff make. Overall the assessments are not fully utilised to maximise the planning for children's individual next steps in learning during the planning meetings.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. The children are welcomed and staff use what they know about children to help them feel secure and valued. Children have opportunities to share news with the adults both during circle time and in less formal situations so that children are acknowledged. Younger ones who are settling and find it less easy to leave their parent, are supported effectively by staff who respond to parents' lead about when they feel the time is right to hand their child to the other adult. Information is recorded at the point of entry which ensure children's individual needs are identified. There are suitable systems in place to support children with learning disabilities or for whom English is an additional language. Although no children attending the setting currently use sign language, some of the staff are undertaking training as a proactive measure to enhance their skills for the future. The children are gradually being introduced to simple signing which

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Helping children make a positive contribution

develops their awareness of ways that others may communicate.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered. They get on well with their carers and turn to them readily for help if needed. Children are praised and their good deeds and achievements are acknowledged. Increasingly they show skills in negotiating with each other as they play as well as standing up for themselves in an appropriate manner when needed. They understand what is expected of them because expectations are consistent. Through planned activities, play materials and photographs they are developing a sense of the wider world and peoples similarities and differences.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers is good. The information boards provide parents with helpful information about the running of the sessions. Planning is displayed so that they can see what is being delivered across the curriculum on a daily basis. The parents have opportunity to influence the running of the pre-school by becoming a committee member. Parents are encouraged to be involved in their children's learning. Any skills they can share with children are welcomed to enhance the range of activities and experiences provided. Books are taken home on a regular basis and each pack contains information about supporting pre-reading skills. This helps the setting and parents to work cooperatively together to support children and foster their interest in books and reading. Information about current topics is provided so that children bring items from home in relation to these or for 'news sharing'. The provision of

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Helping children make a positive contribution

this information for parents provides a talking point with their children and links home and pre-school well.

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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

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Systems to ensure that adults working with children are suitable to do so are satisfactorily robust. Selection and recruitment procedures ensure that anyone employed has the appropriate qualification for their post and is motivated in their interest to work with young children. All staff have been checked to ensure that there is nothing in their background that would exclude them from working with children. Procedures to check that staff are mentally and physically suitable for their post are less secure because questions about health are only asked verbally at interview. This could mean that vital information to safeguard children is not exchanged.

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Organisation

The team looking after children have a positive attitude to developing their skills in working with this age group. Those who hold the minimum early years qualification are training to achieve a higher certificate. The manager is also adding to her knowledge and is undertaking a higher early years qualification. Systems are in place which ensure that staffing levels at each session are good and reflect the additional level of care needed for children aged two to three years.

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Organisation

All required records are in place but not always organised effectively and some information is not to hand. As a result there are instances where the pre-school does not readily and clearly demonstrate that the setting is run effectively on a day-to-day basis to fully promote the care of children. Different parts of staff records are, for various reasons, either on the premises or held by committee members. A complaints file exists but records of complaints are held in a general correspondence file. Children's attendance is recorded as they enter and leave the setting. However, if their arrival or departure is different to the times that the session begins and ends this is less systematically recorded and therefore does not always provide a true reflection of who is in their care at any given time. Overall children's needs are met.

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Organisation

The leadership and management is good. Management provides appropriate support for staff to develop their skills. The manager works closely with the staff and their tutors to support their progress towards additional qualifications which in turn ensures they bring new skills to their work with the children. There is sufficient reflection to identify areas of the nursery education provision that need improvement and ways forward for the pre-school. These are discussed in regular meetings between the committee and manager. For example, a conservatory extension is due to be built that will provide them with increased space for the children's play and learning. Meetings are also used to monitor the quality of provision being provided for children and committee members regularly come into the setting which provides them with an overview of what is taking place.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last care inspection the setting agreed to review the policy for equal opportunities and further develop resources to promote equality of opportunity. The written policy has been reviewed in line with current legislation and is available to parents in the policy folder. Play materials, posters, books and activities have been extended and are readily accessible to children so that they develop awareness of the wider world.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last nursery education inspection the pre-school agreed to develop the planning to ensure a balanced programme across all stepping stones, improve the opportunities for children to link sounds to letters, foster their understanding of change over time and learn about the

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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 cultures and beliefs of others. Planning now appropriately reflects the six areas of learning and there are strategies to provide a balanced programme across all stepping stones.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Routine activities support children's awareness of linking sounds to letters. This includes finding their name card to register their attendance. The initial letter of their name is highlighted and staff take opportunities to sound these with children. During circle time they practise writing letters in the air and the sound of that letter is discussed. As a result children now make good connections between letter sounds and the written letter and often use letter sounds spontaneously as they play at activities.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Discussion at circle time provides opportunities where children talk about events that happened yesterday or a wedding that they are looking forward to later in the week. This shows they are developing an awareness of past and present. Planned activities are provided that also increase their opportunities to reflect on changes that happen. The environment is now richer with posters, books and play materials that develop their knowledge of other cultures and beliefs. In addition, planned activities that acknowledge others festivals, as well as those from their own culture, support their awareness of diversity.

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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): • take positive steps to promote safety by ensuring that nettles in the outdoor play area are not accessible to children and reviewing the child protection policy to ensure it complies with current guidance and legislation • provide more regular opportunities for children to freely express their creative imagination [this applies to care and nursery education] • improve the records, policies and procedures required for the efficient and safe management of the setting with regard to the organisation of complaints and staff records, the procedures to check the mental and physical suitability of staff and the systems to more clearly reflect children's times of arrival and departure

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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 the use of assessment systems to aid the planning for children's individual next steps in learning • review the use of time in the sessions to ensure an effective balance between whole group times and children's opportunities to self select activities.

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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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