Newbury Park Primary School

Gulval Little Learners Inspection report for early years provision

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102812 Unique Reference Number 19 June 2007 Inspection date Lynne Stephanie Bowden Inspector

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Gulval CP School, School Lane,Gulval, Penzance, Cornwall, TR18 3BJ Setting Address

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E-mail

u/a 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?

Gulval Little Learners Pre-School is a committee run group, which opened in 1999. It operates from a one room Elliott building situated within Gulval County Primary School grounds, in Gulval, near Penzance, Cornwall. A maximum of 20 children may attend the pre-school at any one time. The pre-school is open each weekday from 9:00 to 11:30 hrs and from 12.30 to 15:00 hrs during term times only. All children share access to a secure enclosed play area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 49 children from two to five years on roll. This includes 21 funded three-year-olds and 15 funded four-year-olds. Children come from the local area. The provision supports a number of children with learning difficulties and disabilities.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The pre-school employs five staff. Over half the staff have early years qualifications. The setting receives support from an advisory teacher from the local authority and is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance.

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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 are learning about personal hygiene. Some independently wash their hands after taking themselves to the toilet and others quickly respond to adult reminders. Staff check and remind children to wash their hands before they help prepare or eat their snack. Risk of cross infection is minimised by the children’s use of disposable paper towels. Children benefit from daily outdoor play and exercise. There, they enjoy using a wide range of equipment, which promotes their climbing and balancing skills and enables them to develop control of their speed and spatial awareness. Children benefit from being cared for by staff who follow effective hygiene practices. Staff have appropriate food hygiene training and use colour coded clothes and bins for different purposes and areas in the setting, so minimising risk of cross contamination.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's health is safeguarded, as all staff hold current first aid certificates and follow effective health procedures. Medical information is shared appropriately and most records are countersigned by parents. Drinking water is available to children throughout the session and staff are good role models, drinking only water, while children are present. Staff take note of and respect parents’ wishes, regarding their childrens dietary requirements. They produce and follow detailed risk assessments to protect children with food allergies. Children enjoy the healthy snacks of fresh fruit and raisins, with milk or water to drink. They happily chat with each other and staff as they eat and discuss healthy diets.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children benefit from being cared for in a secure and well organised environment. On arrival each child is able to leave their coat and possessions on their labelled coat hook before self registering, so helping them to feel welcome and develop their sense of belonging. Staff make effective use of limited space, so children have room to participate at activities, without disrupting each other, moving around confidently. Resources are stored tidily with both picture and word labels, so that they can easily be identified.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children benefit from the staff's knowledge and awareness of health and safety issues. They implement and follow a good range of policies and procedures to keep children safe. Staff are deployed well, so that all areas in use are supervised and children can move freely between indoor and outdoor play. Gates are kept bolted to keep the outdoor play area safe and when all children are indoors the main door is kept locked. Children are protected from fire by the provision of suitable fire safety equipment and regular fire drills being carried out, though the fire drill log lacks detail. Children’s well being is safeguarded by the staff's secure knowledge and awareness of child protection issues, with the majority of staff having attended multi disciplinary training.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are happy at the setting and have good relationships with staff and each other. They are developing independence, as they enjoy choosing activities and have the freedom to move freely between them, both indoors and out.

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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 Nursery Education

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. The preschool manager plans a balanced, full and wide range of activities, which covers all areas of learning. These plans show appropriate differentiation between varying ages and ability levels, with very clear links to the stepping stones and early learning goals. Staff make clear records of children's attainments in relation to stepping stones and use this information to assess children's progress.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff use their sound knowledge of the Foundation Stage and how children learn, to develop children's play and participation and enable them to meet the planned learning intentions. For example they participate in and encourage imaginative role play in the cafeteria, acting as customers, discussing the menu and encouraging children serving them to write down their orders. Staff provide a wide range of materials that children enjoy handling and experimenting with. They skilfully ask open questions about the collages and models that children create and encourage the children to describe them.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Daily and routine activities are used effectively by staff to extend and reinforce several aspects of children's learning. At circle time children learn and practise phonetic sounds and develop awareness of number order, when staff create a number line of children with number labels. Staff mix up the order and other children confidently rearrange them back. Staff encourage children to develop and use their mathematical knowledge meaningfully, as they help to prepare for snack. Children calculate and count how many chairs are needed at each table and discuss with staff whether they have too many or not and what adjustments are needed. They go on to confidently, collect the corresponding number of plates and cups needed, matching the numbers.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children confidently enjoy using the computer. They listen attentively to stories and quickly find their names at snack time. Children enjoy using pencils and paper in the role play and writing area, but staff routinely label children's work, so children do not have the opportunity to develop the habit of doing this for themselves and practise their emergent writing for a purpose.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Partnership with parents and carers is good. Their views about the provision are sought in questionnaires. They have ready access to the settings policies and procedures, which include clear information about both nursery education and the Birth to three matters framework. At admission, parents complete detailed registration forms and are involved in completing their child's entry assessment forms. Regular parent meetings are arranged, where parents are informed about their children’s progress and future targets are identified.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Parents receive regular newsletters with details of future activities and while they wait to collect their children, they can read the prominently displayed notice, which tells them what their children have done that day.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children learn about the wider world and mainstream culture in their community, but the setting does little to promote their awareness of local multi cultural issues. The setting takes effective steps to include and support people with disabilities or learning difficulties. Additional staff are employed if needed and some staff have attended training in sign language.

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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 behave well. Staff quickly intervene, when children begin to disagree and encourage them to resolve disputes by negotiation. Children are aware of responsible behaviour and encouraged to help with preparing and clearing up after snack, which they do happily. Staff value and praise positive behaviour and children enjoy receiving reward stickers, which they wear with evident pride. The nursery fosters children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children benefit from being cared for in a secure, safe, well organised and resourced setting. Policies and procedures are well organised, readily available and shared appropriately with parents. Children are familiar and confident with the routine and enjoy free movement around the premises.

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Organisation

Children are cared for by an established, consistent team of staff and the systems to appoint and check future staff and to ensure their continuing suitability are sufficiently robust. Staff have appropriate training and qualifications and appraisals are used effectively to identify future training needs.

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Organisation

The quality of leadership and management are good. The pre school leader and staff monitor the quality of care and education by observing and recording children's progress and the effectiveness of planned activities. They regularly review their self evaluation and use this to assess their own progress and identify future goals. The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At their previous inspection the setting agreed to meet environmental health and food safety regulations, keep Ofsted informed of significant changes, introduce a key worker system and ensure parents are informed of all their children's records and their confidentiality maintained.

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Improvements since the last inspection

In their nursery education inspection the key issues identified were the organisation of space to enable children to play and move freely and the use of freely chosen activities and daily routine to extend and reinforce children's learning.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Policies and procedures have been reviewed, so that Ofsted is kept informed of significant changes and parents are informed of their children's records and their confidentiality is maintained. The setting arranged for the environmental health officer to visit and they meet their requirements. When young they arrive at the setting, key workers take time to get to know and support children. Space is well organised, so children are able to move freely and most children's learning is reinforced and extended in daily routines and free play.

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Complaints since the last inspection

There have been no complaints to report made to Ofsted since 1 April 2004.

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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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Complaints 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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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): • promote children's awareness of diversity and multi cultural issues within the community.

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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): • establish and promote daily, purposeful, use of emerging writing skills.

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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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