Little Orchard Pre-School

Little Orchard Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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EY344612 Unique Reference Number 18 April 2007 Inspection date Catherine, Louise Sample Inspector

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Woodford Valley Primary School, Middle Woodford, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 6NR

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E-mail

Little Orchard Pre-School Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day 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 outstanding. 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 outstanding.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Little Orchard Pre-School opened in 2003 and moved to its current site at Woodford Valley Primary School in 2007. It serves the local area and beyond. A maximum of 20 children may attend at any one time. The group opens five days a week during school term times. Sessions are from 09:00 until 15:00 Monday to Thursday and 09:00 to 13:00 on Fridays.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 47 children from 2 years to 5 years on roll. Of these, 29 children receive funding for nursery education. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting supports children with learning difficulties and /or disabilities.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Six part-time staff work with children. Of these, all but one have relevant early years qualifications. The setting receives support from a teacher/mentor from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership and is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance. The setting was included in the Salisbury Best Practice guide in June 2006.

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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 outstanding. Children are gaining a clear understanding of good hygiene practice. They help to clean the tables and sweep the floor and discuss with staff why hygiene is important. They know that food that has dropped to the floor must not be eaten. They follow thorough hand washing procedures after using the toilet and before eating and know why it is important to wash away germs. They are also learning about being healthy. They talk about cycling being good exercise and have a particularly good understanding of the need to protect themselves from the sun. They have frequent opportunities for physical exercise using a variety of apparatus and equipment.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's hygiene needs are met effectively through positive measures. These include using separate sinks for food and crafts and different cloths for different cleaning tasks. The fridge temperature is checked daily and toilets are cleaned after use. Younger children's hygiene needs are met through effective nappy changing procedures. Staff wear aprons and gloves and there is a special nappy disposal system. Staff ensure that children's hygiene needs are also met when they are playing outdoors by keeping a supply of tissues outside.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's health is greatly enhanced by having nutritious food and drink. They have healthy snacks of fruit, raw vegetables and savoury biscuits. They can help themselves to drinking water both indoors and when outside. Parents are given comprehensive advice about healthy packed lunches. They are advised to use an ice pack in hot weather and not to include anything highly perishable. Staff monitor children closely at lunchtime to ensure that they eat their sandwiches and fruit or vegetables before anything else. They also monitor whether they have had enough to drink. Children are learning about healthy eating. They have made a display about which healthy foods they like to eat and are growing their own vegetables so that they can learn where food comes from.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are protected effectively from illness and infection. There is a detailed sickness policy and comprehensive information about exclusion periods for infectious illnesses. The pre-school also has information about planning for a pandemic. Accidents and medicines administered are fully recorded and parents give written consent for staff to seek emergency medical advice. Staff are vigilant about storing medicines safely.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is outstanding. Children are gaining an excellent understanding of how to stay safe. They talk about what to do if they get lost and look at books about stranger danger. Staff remind them of how to carry scissors carefully and the recent move to new premises provided an excellent opportunity for staff and children to discuss safety both indoors and outdoors. Children have an exceptional awareness of the danger from the sun. They know that they must wear a hat and sunscreen when they go outside in hot weather. A child tells staff that they won't be able to go out because they are not wearing sunscreen.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children can play and move about the setting safely due to highly effective measures. A full risk assessment and fire risk assessment have been made of the premises and grounds and these are regularly reviewed. For example, the hot water in the children's toilets was found to

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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 be too hot and, therefore, a regulator has been fitted. There are also daily checklists to ensure all areas are safe. For example, staff check that blind cords are secured out of reach of the children. Toys and equipment are checked on an ongoing basis for damage and wear. Children play safely due to excellent staff vigilance. For example, a child tries to go on the climbing frame carrying a doll and wearing an apron and staff stop them to reduce the risk of falling. Children know that they must not play on apparatus until there are sufficient staff present to supervise them closely. They take part in a half termly fire drill and the pre-school is linking with the adjacent school to carry out fire drills for the entire site.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's welfare is protected through staff's excellent understanding of child protection issues. Most have attended relevant training and are confident about identifying possible indicators of abuse such as changes in personality and unexplained marks or bruises. The pre-school has comprehensive child protection procedures of which staff are aware. Parents are informed of the pre-school's duty to refer any concerns to the local Safeguarding Children Board and a flow chart showing this process is displayed in the foyer.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is outstanding. Children thrive in a stimulating environment. They relish taking part in exciting activities such as planting potatoes and seeds and having a visit from two donkeys. They spend much of the time playing and learning outdoors where they can select what they want to do. They can choose from activities such as playing in boats, digging in the vegetable beds or shovelling gravel. An extensive range of resources including art materials, role play equipment and musical instruments are available both indoors and outside to ensure that children have excellent play opportunities. Planning is based around themes such as 'Countries of the World'. It is directly related to the Birth to three framework and the Foundation Stage of learning to ensure that the needs of all age groups are catered for. However, planning is flexible and if children lead activities in a different direction staff are able to adapt to support their ideas.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are confident and self assured. They chat happily to adults and speak up in group situations. They confidently respond to questioning and show off their work. Children's self esteem is high as a result of frequent praise and acknowledgment by staff. They tell children how well they have done and praise their ideas. For example, staff praise children when they decide to throw the ball onto the roof and see if it will roll down through the basketball hoop. Children are encouraged to develop independent skills such as using the hosepipe to water seeds.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are making outstanding progress towards the early learning goals. They are curious and eager to learn. For example, they are keen to talk about people who help us and water the grass seed. They display high levels of involvement in what they are doing such as role playing in a boat. They relish exploring in the outdoor play area where they can dig the vegetable patch and play in the sand. They operate independently; choosing what they want to do and helping with tasks such as cleaning the tables for snack time. They have excellent relationships with one another and support new children attending for the first time.

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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 Children have excellent opportunities to learn about the world around them. They observe change in activities such as gardening and find out about living things such as donkeys and lambs which come to visit the pre-school. They are gaining an excellent awareness of their local environment through walks and use of school facilities. They regularly use computers and have opportunities to use a digital camera. They are becoming aware of other cultures and beliefs through using multicultural resources and through themed activities.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children have excellent opportunities to use their imaginations. They relish role playing in a variety of settings including a boat and a house. They can freely experiment with a wide range of media and materials both indoors and out and staff allow them to express their creativity. They explore sound by using musical instruments which are kept out at all times.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children move freely with pleasure and confidence. They use a wide variety of large and small scale equipment that help them to develop their gross and fine motor skills. For example, they clamber in and out of boats and use objects such as clothes pegs that require hand-eye coordination. They are gaining an excellent awareness of their bodies and healthy practice such as eating nutritious food and exercising regularly.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Most children are very confident speakers who chat to each other and to adults and who use language well. They have a wide vocabulary and staff are introducing new words during activities. They listen intently to stories and can retell them to staff. Many children can recognise letters and confidently write their names. For example, they draw and write their names on a large cardboard playhouse. There are excellent opportunities for children to write and mark-make since a variety of writing and drawing materials are freely available both indoors and outside.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children relish counting and have many opportunities to do so. For example, they confidently count how many are present at registration and count out their age as they go down the slide. They use mathematical language in their play and talk about how old they are. They have good opportunities to recognise numerals and to explore space and measure through activities such as water play and junk modelling. They show interest in practical number problems such as working out how many goes each of them can have with the basketball. They are also learning about basic calculation as staff ask them to work out how many children are present and what would happen if another arrives.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children's education is significantly enhanced by having highly skilled staff who have a thorough understanding of the Foundation Stage of learning. Staff are able to clearly identify what children can learn from planned and child-led activities. For example, a member of staff discusses how an activity washing dolls and dolls' clothes can be used to cover all areas of learning in some way. Staff are able to extend children's play and have high expectations of what children can achieve when challenged appropriately. Staff make regular observations of children's progress and use this information to complete their records of achievement and identify the next steps that individual children need to take. Planning includes targets for particular children and evaluation focuses on what they learnt from the planned activity. Staff make excellent use of open questioning to encourage children to think for themselves. For example, a member of

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

staff asks a child to think about why their sandcastle didn’t work and staff use questions such as "What do you think would happen if…?"

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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

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is outstanding. Children actively contribute to the setting. They help to wash up and clean the tables and all take part in 'tidy up time'. They share responsibility for the provision. Staff ask them to help the new children settle in by giving them help in finding things and they also help one another with tasks such as carrying heavy boxes. Children have positive relationships and work well together. For example, helping one another with a fishing game. They show concern for others. A child tells staff that another child needs help with their bag of raisins. Children are also playing an active role in the community. The pre-school has strong links with the adjacent school and the local church. It is also in the process of linking up with a pre-school in America. Children have benefited from visits by a variety of figures from the community including a vet and a fire officer.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children's behaviour is exemplary. They are very good at sharing and taking turns and can successfully negotiate who is going to go next. They have good manners. When a child tells another that they have banged into them the child apologises. They happily follow instruction. A child is asked to wait before starting an activity and patiently waits until another adult is present. Staff follow consistent strategies for managing behaviour. Children receive stickers as rewards and staff acknowledge good behaviour such as sitting well for story time.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children are gaining a clear understanding of wider society through an extensive variety of resources and activities. They have constant access to toys that promote diversity such as dolls, books and dressing up clothes. There are displays around the room showing children from other countries and children have recently completed a topic about countries around the world. Children are learning some basic French and Spanish and are finding out about celebrations in other parts of the world.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are cared for very successfully. Staff provide excellent support for children in liaison with the special needs coordinator. For example, they are all made aware of children's needs at weekly staff meetings and some are able to use sign language to communicate. The coordinator works closely with parents and other agencies and has a thorough understanding of the processes involved such as drawing up individual education plans. She has successfully sought funding for additional support for individual children and played a full role in working with other agencies to identify and meet the children's needs. She has also provided additional support for children and parents by accompanying them to medical appointments and helping them to apply for specialist schooling.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children benefit from a highly successful relationship between the parents and staff. Parents are very well informed about the provision through an informative prospectus, newsletters, parent information pack and policy document. Photographs are regularly taken and displayed on the door so that parents can see what children have been doing. Staff and parents exchange information through regular discussion and parents find staff approachable and easy to talk to. The pre-school encourages parents to become involved by using their skills. Many parents helped with the recent move to new premises and parents are involved in planting hanging baskets and fundraising. The pre-school provides high levels of support for families. Staff have accompanied parents and children to appointments with health visitors and specialists and offer support when there are difficult circumstances in children's home lives.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents is outstanding. Parents feel that the educational provision is "second to none". They know about the Foundation Stage of learning through written information 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 an attractive display in the foyer showing the different areas of learning. They know what their children are learning and regularly discuss their progress with staff. They know that they can see their children's records of progress at any time and also have formal opportunities to meet with their children's key worker and go through the records with them. Parents contribute to children's baseline assessments when they begin the Foundation Stage through discussion and completion of an initial profile. They are encouraged to be involved in their children's learning and staff give them ideas and practical advice about how to help children learn at home.

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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 outstanding. Children benefit from a well organised and stimulating environment. The mobile has been arranged so that children can move freely from one area to another and staff regularly change the layout to maintain children's interest. It provides a vibrant environment with colourful furnishings and displays of the children's work. Children can access resources easily because they are organised effectively. Low drawers are labelled with print and a photograph to help children identify the contents easily. Children spend much of their time in an excellent outdoor play area. This is divided into different areas including a sand pit, gravel pile, vegetable beds and water play area. There is a large wooden playhouse that has heating and lighting so that children can use it throughout the year. Children also have access to nearby fields and woods and a new environmental area is planned.

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Organisation

Children benefit from well qualified and suitable staff. Most staff have early years qualifications. They have attended a variety of relevant training and have several years of experience of working with children. The pre-school has robust procedures for ensuring that staff are suitable to work with children. References are followed up and staff are asked to complete a medical declaration. All are vetted and undergo a full induction process that includes a questionnaire to test their understanding. There is an annual appraisal system in place that includes a self evaluation for staff. There is also a peer evaluation system in place to assess staff effectiveness. Staff are deployed effectively and are careful to maintain supervision of all activities. They are skilled at supporting child-led play. Staff work well together and managers encourage team spirit by arranging social events.

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Organisation

Children's welfare is significantly enhanced through the keeping of all necessary records, policies and procedures. The detailed policies and procedures pack has been written specifically for the setting and covers all areas of the provision. It is regularly reviewed and is easily available to parents. All necessary records are kept accurately. For example, the attendance register and visitors book are completed correctly. The pre-school has a comprehensive complaints procedure which is shared with parents and there is a detailed complaints record in place.

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Organisation

Leadership and management are outstanding. The co-managers provide excellent leadership and vision. The provision has recently moved to new premises and the managers have responded enthusiastically to this opportunity to further develop their practice and introduce new ideas. They are eager to further develop children's care and education in a variety of ways including the creation of an environmental area. There is a strong team of skilled staff who work very well together. There are weekly meetings to discuss planning and evaluation and all staff contribute to these. The managers feel it is important for staff to have ownership in this way. Planning is fully evaluated is and used to inform future plans and to ensure that all areas of learning are being covered. Staff and management also evaluate the effectiveness of the

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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 provision on an ongoing basis and have been taking part in an external quality assurance scheme. The pre-school has been included in the local Best Practice Guide for excellent practice in the Foundation Stage of learning and has been visited by other settings seeking advice and inspiration.

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Organisation

Overall the provider meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since registration 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. 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 outstanding. 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 outstanding.

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The quality and standards of the care

No recommendations for improvement are made because the quality and standards of care are outstanding.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

No recommendations for improvement are made because the quality and standards of nursery education are outstanding.

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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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