All Saints Pre-school

All Saints Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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155086 Unique Reference Number 14 September 2007 Inspection date Jennifer Liverpool Inspector

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All Saints Church Hall, Melbourne Road, Leyton, London, E10 7HF Setting Address

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E-mail

All Saints 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?

All Saints Pre-School has been registered since 1993 and it is managed by an elected committee made up of parents and members of the church. It operates from the hall and a rear group room in All Saints church in the Leyton area within the London borough of Waltham Forest. A maximum of 30 children may attend at any one time. The pre-school is open each week day from 09.15 to 12.15 for 38 weeks of the year. Children have access to a secure outdoor play area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 17 children from two to five years on roll. Of these, 13 receive funding for early education. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting currently supports children who are learning to speak English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The pre-school employs five staff to work with the children. Of these, over half the staff have early years qualifications to NVQ level three. The group receives support from the local authority.

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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 satisfactory. Children are developing an understanding of the importance of personal hygiene as they follow daily routines such as washing their hands after using the toilet, before snack times and after participating in painting activities. The implementation of staff rotas ensures that the premises, equipment and furniture are maintained and kept suitably cleaned. However, the waste bins in the children's toilets are over spilt with used hand paper towels that children can easily access, resulting in the spread of germs. There are appropriate procedures in place for dealing with sick children or injured children. Additionally, staff hold valid first aid certificates and can treat children appropriately in the event of minor accidents.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children benefit from a healthy diet. They enjoy healthy snacks that consist of Turkish dips and cucumbers, toasts and butter, scones and fresh fruits. Children's independence is well promoted at meal times as they choose when to eat and help themselves to food and drinks. Staff ensure that children do not get thirsty or dehydrated as water is easily accessible to them when inside and playing outside. Children enjoy fresh air and exercise as they move freely from indoors to outdoors throughout the session. They have access to a climbing frame indoors; confidently pedal and steer the tricycles; learn to throw and aim balls into baskets and balance on beams.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children have ample space to play and move around freely from inside to the outdoor play area. An additional room is available for quiet activities and sensory play. Children are kept secure as visitors are closely monitored when on the premises. There are appropriate procedures in place for the safe arrival and departure of children as staff stand near the main door way to greet children when they arrive and all authorised collectors are known.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Acceptable safety risk assessment procedures are carried out regularly and ensure children's safety on the premises. For example, safety mats are placed beneath large play equipment to reduce the risk of a major injury if children fall; toxic substances are inaccessible to children; barriers restrict children's access to stacked chairs and fire guards are securely in place. Children and staff practise the emergency evacuation on a regular basis. This helps children to become familiar with the routine in the event of an emergency.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are able to make choices about their play as they select from a wide variety of toys that are age appropriate, safe and well maintained. There are sufficient furniture and soft play equipment that allow children to relax and play in comfort and safety.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff have sound understanding of the procedures to follow if they have concerns about a child in their care as they understand the signs and symptoms of abuse and the steps taken to protect children from harm. This promotes the welfare of 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

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are happy to attend the setting and they look forward to their day as a variety of toys and activities are available both indoors and outside on their arrival. Many children separate from their parents with very little support. Staff are sensitive to the needs of all children and work well with parents to help settle the new children. Daily circle time sessions are used effectively to enable children to form friendships with their peers. For example, children are encouraged to greet each other through singing a simple song that includes saying 'hello' to each child. This contributes to children developing a sense of belonging. In addition to this, children benefit from the positive interaction with staff and they are forming a strong bond with their key workers, which help to increase their sense of wellbeing.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children take part in a wide variety of activities and games offered. All children have fun playing with natural materials such as play dough and water which contains a variety of objects. For example, they poke, roll and use cutters to make shapes out of play dough and use plastic bottles to collect and pour water into different containers. Children develop their creative abilities through a purposeful range of arts and crafts activities such as foot prints, free painting and collage making. They also have opportunities for exploration which is enhanced through regular use of the sensory room. Younger children discover what they can do when using pencils, chunky chalks and other writing tools to make marks. They are given good support from staff and parents to collect their name tags and put in the post box for self registration. This helps young children to learn to recognise their names.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The Birth to three matters framework is well developed and is effectively used for planning activities for children aged under three years. Each child's development is monitored and records are kept together with samples of their work. This ensures that staff have a good knowledge of individual needs and achievements. Children's communication and language skills are well developed through plenty of talk, listening games and story time sessions. Children enjoy having daily access to a range of musical instruments and they are beginning to join in action songs that develop their co-ordination. Children have many opportunities to express themselves creatively as they access to paints, malleable materials and musical instruments.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Staff have a good understanding of how children develop and learn and the Foundation Stage curriculum. They provide children with many play opportunities and experiences across the broad range of the curriculum. Children enjoy the freedom to move and play inside to outside, which consequently enables them to make choices about their play and learning. As a result of this, children show a lot of interests in the activities that are available and spend considerable time playing with their self chosen resources that include cars and garage; drawing and riding tricycles. Written plans are linked to the six areas of learning; make clear what children are expected to learn from the activities provided. Staff carry out regular observations to assess children's understanding and abilities and plan the next steps for children's learning. Staff do informally plan for the individual needs of children

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

as they consider ways to develop the language of children who are learning to speak English; however it is not always fully clear how activities are adapted for children of different abilities.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are motivated and involved in their learning. They are developing firm friendships as they are introduced to new children and encouraged to greet and welcome each other at registration time. Children are independent as they hang up their coats, put their aprons on

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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 and help themselves to snacks and water. In addition, children take initiative to choose the activities they wish to participate in as they freely move from between indoor to outdoor activities. Childrens' communication and language skills are developing well and many of them confidently talk to adult and peers as they share experiences about their families, likes and dislikes. Staff provide appropriate support for children who are learning to speak English. For example, story props, puppets, flash cards and the use of makaton. They enjoy story time sessions and have access to a wide range of books. More able children can recognise their names through the daily routine of self registration. Children are developing early reading and writing skills through varied range of activities such as wooden letter blocks, book making and

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

writing for a purpose when writing shopping lists in the role-play area and making their own car number plates.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children use numbers in counting and in number songs. Many of them can count accurately up to 15 and beyond and some can recognise numbers up to 10. They have regular opportunities to compare size, colour and as they sort objects into groups. Children are helped to recognise mathematical patterns when playing with threading beads. They show interests in shapes as they select circle or square mats to sit on. Baking cakes and making play dough introduces children to measurements. The use of calculators and number songs help children to become aware of simple additions. Children have many opportunities to express themselves creatively as they have daily access to paints, malleable materials and musical instruments. They explore using their senses as they handle play dough, make cakes and add blossoms to pot porri and talk about the different smells and textures.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children enjoy designing and making objects with a range of construction materials such as legos, wooden blocks and meccano sets with nuts and bolts. They have good opportunities for practical observation, investigation and exploration, such as the growth and change of the life cycle of caterpillars to butterflies and seeds to mustard cress. Children learn about their environment as they are taken to the Aquatic centre to see different types of fishes; parks and local farm. Staff use the technology of the tape cassette well to promote listening skills. Children have some access to using the computer and they occasionally use this for mark making, playing number games or mainly for the purpose of watching DVD's. The use of the computer is rarely seen in planning to show how it is fully used to support children's learning.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children are treated as individuals and their differences and preferences are acknowledged and respected. Staff good knowledge of children's cultural, religious and language contribute to children developing confidence and a positive self esteem. Children who are learning to speak English are encouraged to participate in all activities and games and extra attention is given to support their communication and language skills. For example, staff asks parents for key words to communicate with them and use resources such as puppets, story tapes, read simple stories and talk to help develop their speech. In addition to this, staff are able to use Makaton and British Sign Language if necessary. Children are well behaved because staff successfully promotes positive behaviour through consistent strategies that includes simple explanation, praise and encouragement.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children are provided with a wide range of resources that reflect positive images of race, culture and disabilities and this includes dolls, puzzles, books, musical instrument and cultural dress wear and utensils. Children are supported to make face shapes with skin tone paints. Such opportunity help them to acknowledge and accept differences and develop positive attitudes.

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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 This fosters and supports children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Although there are no children with learning or physical disabilities attending, staff have experience of working with children of various abilities. Their knowledge of the code of practice and the arrangements and resources in place means that they will be able to appropriately meet the needs of all children.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents of the children who receive nursery education is good. Parents are encouraged to contribute to the initial assessments of their child. This information is used by staff to get to know children's abilities and individual needs and it is used effectively to support and promote children's development and learning. Parents are kept fully informed about their children's achievements and progress through regular informal discussions and in addition they receive children's profile reports for viewing and to make comments. Parents comment favourably on the caring and supportive attitudes of staff and also the improvements they have noticed in their child's skills. Parents are actively involved in the running of the setting as members of the management committee and being involved in policy decision making, working alongside staff at some sessions and contributing to topics.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children are cared for in a secure and well organised environment that allows them the freedom to move around independently, develop confidence and make choices about their play. An additional room is available to enable staff to provide extra activities to meet the needs of all children. The key worker system is effective in enabling staff to get to know children well and ensure that appropriate care and support is given to them. There are appropriate procedures in place to promote children's health as a varied range of nutritious snacks is offered each day and daily routines generally help to reduce the spread of germs and infection. Children are kept safe through daily risk assessments that identify and address potential hazards.

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Organisation

Children's welfare is promoted through appropriate procedures for protecting them from harm. Also there is a sound system in place for recruiting staff to ensure that they are suitable to work with children. The management is committed to training and the professional development of staff. This helps to effectively support children within the setting. Staff are familiar with the procedures for dealing with complaints and are in the process of devising a system for recording complaints. All mandatory records are in place, confidential and well maintained. This guarantees the safe and effective management of the setting in order to promote children's wellbeing. The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Organisation

Leadership and management is good. The management and staff work well together to form a positive learning environment for children. This is because there is a strong sense of involvement as parents are encouraged to work in partnership in their children's learning. Many of the staff have worked together for a number of years and provide continuity of care for the children and their families. The system for planning ensures that children are provided with good opportunities and experiences across the full range of the curriculum, although it is not clear how activities will be adapted for all children. There are good communication systems in place, which includes the use of memos and a diary for disseminating information, as well as regular staff and key worker meetings that consistently evaluates practices. As a result of this, all staff are fully clear about their roles and responsibilities for promoting good quality care

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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

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last care inspection the setting was asked to develop children's independence at snack times; inform parents of staff's responsibilities with regards to child protection issues and provide opportunities for parent, where necessary to receive information in their first language.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The setting now operates a café style system that allows children to make choices for themselves. For example, children are able to choose when they want to eat as the provision for snacks is available throughout the session and they also self select from the range of food that is accessible to them each day. Detailed child protection policy now ensures that parents are informed about staff's responsibilities with regards to protecting children from harm. The welcome poster and some printed information on play and learning is available in a range of community languages. This helps to ensure that all parents have equal access to the information provided about their children's care and learning.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last nursery education inspection, the setting was asked to provide opportunities for children to develop their independence; investigate and experiment how and why things happen and learn about living things and develop children's understanding of mathematical concepts. Also, to develop the planning and assessment systems to ensure all aspects of learning are covered, the next steps for children are identified and incorporated into planning.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Children are provided with a good range of activities that enables them to explore and investigate the features of living things such as the planting and growing of seeds; observe animals on a farm and visit the Aquatic centre to discover different types of fishes. They also use magnifying glasses to explore and look closely at mini beasts and handle nuts and bolts construction sets to find out how and why things work. Independence is encouraged at snack times, during play and when children attend to their own personal needs. Children's understanding of shapes and measurements is developing well and they are confident in counting and recognise numbers. In addition to this they are supported to understand simple additions when singing number songs and using resources. Staff are making good links between their plans and the regular assessments they make of children's achievements and progress. As a result of these improved

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Improvements since the last inspection

practices the quality of nursery education for children is good.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since 1 April 2004 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 AND 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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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): • make sure that soiled materials are disposed safely and hygienically.

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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): • ensure that planning allows children to regularly use information technology to support their learning in all areas • improve the system for curriculum planning to make clear how activities are adapted to meet the needs of all children.

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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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