Windmill Pre-School at Vaynor

Windmill Pre-School at Vaynor

Inspection report for early years provision

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Windmill Pre-School at Vaynor

Unique Reference Number EY302852 Inspection date 05 July 2005 Inspector Christine Lynn Williams

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Windmill Pre-School at Vaynor

Setting Address Vaynor First School, Tennyson Road, Redditch, Worcestershire, B97 5BL Telephone number 07759 350 156

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E-mail

Registered person Windmill Pre-School Midland Ltd (5309202) Type of inspection Integrated Type of care Full day 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 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?

Windmill Pre-school at Vaynor is one of 3 pre-schools run by the same owner and opened in 2005. It operates from a self-contained building within the grounds of Vaynor First School, Redditch. A maximum of 26 children may attend the pre-school at any one time. The setting is open each weekday from 08:45 to 15:00 during term time only. All children share access to a secure, enclosed outdoor play area. There are currently 41 children aged from 3 to under 5 years on roll, all of whom

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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 receive funding for nursery education. Children attend from the local area and for a variety of sessions. The pre-school employs six staff, of which four hold appropriate early years qualifications. One staff member is working towards a qualification. The group also receives the support of a mentor teacher from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children learn the importance of good personal hygiene through well-planned daily routines and learning from example. They wash their hands before food, after toileting and during messy play activities and are well supported in learning to manage their own personal care. Clear explanations ensure high levels of hygiene are always maintained, and daily cleaning routines are carried out at the beginning and end of each session to ensure these duties do not interrupt children's activities. Positive steps are taken to prevent the spread of infection when children become ill or injured, with children kept quiet and comfortable until their parents can collect them. Staff use their first aid knowledge effectively to cope with minor bumps and incidents and children turn to them readily for help, support and comfort. Their medication needs are carefully recorded and staff talk to parents daily to share health

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Helping children to be healthy

information and observations. Children enjoy an appropriate balance of rest and active times throughout the day with a separate "snug" area provided so they can sit quietly and cuddle teddy bears and soft toys while they rest. They benefit from being introduced to a range of healthy foods and fruit and are able to help themselves to drinks throughout the day by skilfully using a small water cooler. A gerbil and hamster further help children to learn to make the links between health, hygiene, food and drink as they watch staff clean out their pets' cages, talk about what foods they eat and discover how to care for them properly. Children are physically confident and enjoy a variety of active times throughout the day to practise moving creatively both indoors and out. They learn to move expressively and imaginatively during movement and music and action song sessions, while they practise balancing, crawling and rolling during indoor sessions

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Helping children to be healthy

with tunnels and balancing beams. Small equipment such as sit-and-rides, balls, bats and hoops help them to develop their control and co-ordination in the outside play area, however they have less opportunities to develop their climbing skills fully. They show a keen sense of personal space as they play alongside each other, find enough room to move freely during Yoga sessions or skilfully avoid obstacles and each other as they scramble through tunnels or run after balls and hoops. They show increasing skill and dexterity when using knives, garden trowels and building and joining resources, and daily use of paint, construction and drawing tools helps them

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Helping children to be healthy

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 develop good hand and finger control.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children enjoy a warm and supportive atmosphere where they move freely and safely around an open plan learning environment, decorated with colourful displays and examples of their craft and topic work. They play safely both indoors and out due to staff's keen awareness of safety issues, and are carefully supervised at all times. Detailed risk assessments are used to carry out daily safety checks on the building, toys and equipment and children know what to do if they need to evacuate the building in an emergency. They listen for the sound of a whistle and quickly line up to follow staff safely outside. Safety rules are sensitively explained such as being careful not to hurt each other when using balls or sit-and-rides in the outside play area. Children are well protected because staff know and understand child protection procedures. Some staff have received specific training and they all have access to

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

detailed policies and reference guides to help them implement correct procedures when necessary. Parents have received details of the group's child protection procedures so that they know what action they will take if they have any concerns about their children.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children enjoy their time at the setting and benefit from close adult support and a variety of interesting and stimulating activities that help them learn and develop. The daily routine is used effectively to make the most of their concentration and stamina and they use a varied and carefully chosen range of toys and resources. Nursery Education. The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children make good progress towards the early learning goals and benefit from the support of committed and enthusiastic staff. They question and prompt children effectively, join-in with their play and create a stimulating environment where children want to learn. Children are confident speakers.They see a wide range of familiar words displayed around their learning room and enjoy good quality story and reference books. Imaginative and effective methods help them to link sounds to letters through a

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

phonic learning system. Some four-year-olds are beginning to recognise simple words and all children enjoy taking home simple letter sound matching games and reading books to share with their parents. They are encouraged to express their thoughts, ideas and feelings widely, and develop strong communication skills as they talk about how they feel, what they are doing, and their dreams and wishes.

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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 develop strong and positive attitudes to counting and numbers. Counting is threaded through most of their learning with older children able to count reliably to 10 or more. They are keen to participate in number puzzles and are beginning to develop an understanding of solving simple number problems as they work out how many more pieces they need to complete a jig-saw. Computer games add to their knowledge and enjoyment as they talk about how many ducks are left in the pond when they have already removed two. They are given excellent opportunities to design and make things and use large cardboard boxes to make their own towers, laughing loudly as they topple over and rush to build them back up again. Smaller boxes covered in attractive wrapping paper help them to use their imagination and learn to recognise shapes such as cube,

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

cuboids and sphere. They explore freely as they use sand and water and dig in the garden, and observe and question as they watch, feel and observe changes in the weather. However, there are fewer opportunities for children to question why things happen and how things work. Children express themselves freely through paint, crafts, music and role play. They make up their own games and stories during their imaginary play and their art work is widely displayed around the room to show it is valued. They join in enthusiastically with singing times and use a wide variety of musical instruments to play along to their favourite songs. Children benefit from staff's clear understanding of how children learn. They make the most of space and resources with toys and activities laid out for children daily and themed resource boxes adding greatly to children's imaginary play experiences. Some low level storage aids children's choice and decision making, however this has

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

not been fully developed to allow children to use resources freely to develop and extend their own play ideas. Planning is effective, clearly shows the stepping stones for progression and draws on sound assessments of what children can do in order to ensure they move forward with their learning.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children are confident, self-assured and often show excitement and pleasure as they play and learn. They show a strong sense of self-worth and develop sensitively towards others through use of puppets and soft toys. Activities are carefully planned to ensure all children take part, and staff get to know children well so they can value them as individuals and plan to meet all their needs. Children develop an understanding of their own backgrounds and a diverse society through carefully planned resources, topics and discussion times. They also learn to care for others as they help with the group's pets and learn to recognise how other people feel from their facial expressions. Self-care and independence is supported extremely well as children learn the routines they will need when they move into school. They hang up their own coats, find their own lunch bags, line up for outside play and learn to take off and put on

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Helping children make a positive contribution

their own socks and shoes during Yoga sessions. They behave very well, responding

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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 positively to the clear guidelines and expectations set by staff and showing pride and pleasure at receiving stars for being kind, helpful and achieving. They sit quietly and concentrate at story times and work cooperatively and harmoniously together, sharing resources and waiting their turn. As a result children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered well. Partnership with parents and carers is good and significantly enhances children's care and learning. Parents are well informed and given good quality information to help them understand how their children are cared for. They are encouraged to share what they know about their children through an initial child profile form, and daily discussions ensure there is a constant two-way flow of information. They share in

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Helping children make a positive contribution

their children's learning, as they read simple books and play phonic letter games with their children at home and are supported in this through advice letters. They make comments in a home/pre-school reading diary and help their children to care for the group's special soft toys at home, involving them in outings, taking photos and describing their adventures in a diary. They work with staff to develop a collaborative approach to behaviour issues and are kept well informed about how their children are progressing through open days, daily discussion and receiving copies of learning assessment forms.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The leadership and management of the setting is good. Staff and management have a shared purpose and collaborative approach to children's care and education. They work closely together to plan, develop practice and monitor and extend the educational programme. There is a strong commitment to improvement, training and the development of staff, while practice is rigorously monitored through meetings, observations and close working relationships. Detailed documentation, records and plans ensure children's health, safety and well being are carefully considered and the setting works closely with parents to ensure children are well cared for and learning effectively. As a result, the setting meets the needs of the range of the children for whom it provides very well.

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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

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 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): • review storage arrangements to allow children to use resources more freely to develop and extend their own play ideas.

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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 opportunities for children to practice climbing and moving over, under and through objects; • extend opportunities for children to ask questions why things happen and how things work;

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

procedures set out in the leaflet Building better childcare: Compliments and concerns about inspectors' judgements 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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