Powick Preschool

Powick Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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205277 Unique Reference Number 10 October 2007 Inspection date Elenora Griffin Inspector

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Powick Parish Hall, Malvern Road, Powick, Worcestershire, WR2 4RT Setting Address

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E-mail

Powick Pre-School Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Sessional care Type of care

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E-mail

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality of childcare and, if applicable, of nursery education. The inspection was carried out under Part XA Children Act 1989 as introduced by the Care Standards Act 2000 and, where nursery education is provided, under Schedule 26 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004; the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding; and, where nursery education is provided, the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. The report includes information on any complaints about the childcare provision which Ofsted has received since the last inspection or registration or 1 April 2004 whichever is the later.

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

For more information about early years inspections, please see the booklet Are you ready for your inspection? which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are good. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Powick Pre-School opened in 1992 and operates from the village hall in Powick, in Worcestershire. A maximum of 24 children may attend the pre-school at any one time. The pre-school is open each weekday from 09:00 to 15:00 during school term times only. Children have access to a secure outdoor play area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 20 children aged from two to under five years on roll. Of these, 18 children receive funding for early education. Children come from the local village and surrounding areas.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The pre-school employs five members of staff. Of these, four hold appropriate early years qualifications and one is working towards a qualification.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children benefit from being cared for by staff who prioritise health and safety in their work. Children enjoy being cared for in a clean environment where staff generally follow good hygiene procedures. Staff check areas used by children throughout the day to ensure that they are clean and safe to use, and wipe down table tops before meals. However, children's understanding of good hygiene procedures may be limited because the messages they receive are not always consistent. Children do not always have plates to eat their food from. Mainly children wash their hands in running water at the sink, but during afternoon sessions they all share a bowl of water to wash their hands in before eating.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are very well cared for if they have an accident or become unwell. Most of the staff have completed first aid training and a fully stocked first box is easily accessible. The sick child policy, which is shared with parents and includes specific exclusion periods for illness, ensures that children are cared for appropriately. Children have their individual dietary and health needs effectively met. This is because children's needs and preferences are shared with all staff who ensure that snacks and drinks are appropriate for all children. In addition staff work with parents to develop action plans so that allergic reactions are responded to with urgency, following the correct procedures. Where necessary staff complete additional training to support children with specific health needs.

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Helping children to be healthy

Meal times are relaxed, social occasions when children and staff sit together to enjoy each other's company. Staff talk to children about the foods they have to eat and help children to identify which foods are healthy and which are not. Children know that they like chocolate but also know that it is cereal and fruits that are healthy for them to eat. Consequently, children are developing a good understanding of healthy eating and this is effectively extending through growing their own vegetables in their garden. Children talk about the runner beans they have grown and the tomatoes that cannot be eaten until they have turned red. Staff also support children to develop their understanding of the effect a healthy diet has on their body. They talk to children about how the food they eat shall make them big and strong and remark on how strong their muscles are as they help carry and tidy away equipment.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children have great fun in their garden, enjoying being active in the fresh air. They explore and learn about their natural environment as they dig and find worms which they examine in magnifying boxes. They look under logs and hide behind small trees as they play. Children develop their physical skills as they master the use of a good range of small and large equipment that is available, such as wheelbarrows and trowels. They kick balls with increasing accuracy and explore the natural slope of the garden as they move up and down it. There are different textures in the landscape for children to explore. They move over pebbles and mulch that are used to create footpaths around raised beds and play in the large sand pit. When weather prevents children from going outside they benefit from being active inside. Children have an increasing awareness of themselves and others. They turn with their arms out to check their

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Helping children to be healthy

space before they participate in large action songs. Children demonstrate their increasing control and coordination as they move safely in their own space, singing and moving to songs such as, 'Dingle Dangle Scarecrow', 'Here we go round the mulberry bush' and 'If you're happy and you know it', to which they enthusiastically shout, 'We are'.

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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

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children enjoy being cared for in a friendly and welcoming environment. They are able to move about freely in the large hall that they use, benefiting from the ample space they have in which to spread out with activities. Mats and cushions provide an area in which children can relax, read a book or play musical instruments. Children have fun exploring the good range of toys, resources and equipment that are set up for them each morning. Children are very well supervised and effective procedures are in place to keep them safe as they access areas of the hall that are also used by other community groups. Staff are vigilant and ensure that children's safety is prioritised at all times. They carry out daily safety checks, review and update risk assessments regularly and complete detailed risk assessments for outings.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are developing a very good understanding of how to keep themselves safe. They know that they must hold on to the rope as they walk from the hall to their garden to keep them safe from cars going in and out of the car park. Children know that the bell raises the alarm if there is a fire and repeated practices each term ensures that all children and staff know exactly what to do if they need to evacuate in an emergency. Children are generally well safeguarded from harm and neglect because staff have a sound understanding of child protection issues. However, children's well-being may potentially be compromised. This is because the detailed child protection polices and procedures still refer to the Area Child Protection Committee, which has been replaced by the Local Safeguarding Children Board, and procedures to be followed if a child is uncollected lack detail about the stages involved.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are very happy and settled in the friendly and welcoming environment of the pre-school. They are well supported right from the start to feel comfortable and secure in their surroundings. This is because parents are able to stay for as long their child needs them to help them settle. Consequently, children are quick to feel at ease and develop close relationships with staff and other children. Children have their needs well planned for because staff use an approach in line with the, 'Birth to three matters' framework when children first start. As a result, children have their abilities acknowledged and consolidated before moving on to the Foundation Stage curriculum for children aged three to five years.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Staff have a solid understanding of the Foundation Stage curriculum and they use this effectively to plan activities and experiences to promote children’s learning and development. There is an effective key worker system in place that ensures that ongoing observations are used appropriately to assess children’s abilities and to identify their next steps in learning. Staff talk to each other regularly about the progress children are making and key workers feed their knowledge into planning meetings so that weekly plans support children’s next steps. Weekly planning provides a good range of activities and experiences for children that cover all areas of learning and development. Children actively make decisions about what they want to do as they choose from the range of activities available to them. Staff effectively use a good range of methods to support children’s learning and follow

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

the lead of children as they sensitively become involved in their play. For example, as they encourage children to use appropriate mathematical language as they weigh, buy and sell food in their fruit and vegetable shop.

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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 are interested and eager to explore the activities in their environment and they quickly become absorbed in their self-chosen activities. They confidently engage with adults, asking and answering questions as they talk about what they are doing. Children are also enthusiastic about joining in group activities and excitedly join in as they play, ‘Farmer’s in the den’. Children are developing a good awareness of their own needs and views. They are clear about what they do and do not want to do, and are eager to make decisions as they play. For example, making decisions about who the next character to join the Farmer in the den should be and what roles they should each have as they play imaginatively. Children are forming good relationships with staff and other children. They play harmoniously together as they build and play with train

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

tracks, play in the shop and join in circle games together.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are beginning to make up and to act out their own stories as they use puppets to put on shows for their friends, prompted by inquisitive staff. Through activities such as these children are able to begin to use speech to organise and explore real and imagined experiences, ideas and feelings. Children are beginning to understand that print carries meaning and they enjoy looking through a variety of both story and reference books. They are beginning to learn initial sounds as they are encouraged by staff to identify the initial letter and sound of their names as they find their printed name tags. Staff scribe for children and encourage them to make attempts at writing their own name. Children are able to access pencils and paper and they use these to make marks for a meaning. For example, as they attempt to write their names and write shopping lists as they look through cookery books.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are able to say and use numbers in familiar contexts. For example, they count, one, two, three, into the start of songs, count the number of children with red coats and how many fingers that are being held up. Children are able to count up to ten and are beginning to make the connection between numbers and quantities. For example, they attempt to count ten fish, finding eight of them and then successfully count eight pencils. Children are beginning to explore the concepts of addition and subtraction as they sing songs and read books. For example, as they read a story about ten caterpillars that reduce by one on each page of the story, until they all become butterflies. Children know the story well and enjoy joining in, counting and predicting how many are left. They also enjoy singing songs such as, ‘Five little speckled frogs’ and hold their fingers up to represent how many are left, following the example set by staff.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children use mathematical language appropriately in their play and through the daily routine, describing and comparing shape, size and quantity. For example, they compare a real and a plastic carrot on balance scales and identify which is the heaviest.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children know about the uses of everyday technology. They use the computer to listen to stories and use checkout tills to swipe vegetables and to take credit card payments. Children enjoy opportunities to find out about and identify some features of living things as they explore their garden, finding worms and insects and examining them in magnifying boxes. Children grow their own vegetables and are encouraged to observe the seasonal weather through theme based activities. Children explore similarities and differences as they play with a mixture of real and pretend vegetables and staff encourage them to explore them with their senses, feeling textures and smelling their unique scents. Each day children are provided with a construction resource and an art and craft activity. For example, constructing train tracks and vegetable printing. However, learning outcomes available through construction and creativity are not

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

always maximised for children. This is because the range of objects, materials, tools and resources that children can independently access is limited to those set out for them. Although there is a cabinet of creative resources in the room children tend not to access this for themselves.

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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 Through the planned art and craft activities children are able to explore colour, texture, shape and form. They have great fun making prints with vegetables and paints. They choose from a selection of materials as they cut and stick them to fill in outlined pictures of umbrellas and tractors. Children are able to identify different colours and choose the coloured paper they want for their prints, the colour they want their names written in and the colour they want to paint with. Children are also creative with sound and enjoy playing the instruments left out for them each day, such as the symbols and tambourines. They recognise and sing simple songs from memory such as, ‘Twinkle, twinkle little star’ and ‘Bob the builder’. Children match movements to actions songs and actively listen to instructions. Children are able to use their

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

imagination as they role-play imaginatively and they have lots of fun dressing up, being shoppers and shop keepers, caring for babies and bandaging themselves and their soft toys as they play doctors and nurses.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered. Children are developing a good sense of community and of belonging. They enjoy learning about and getting involved in community festivals and celebrations, and made their own scarecrow for the Mr Scarecrow festival. As children learn about diversity and the wider world through a variety of festivals and celebrations they are encouraged to make connections with their local community. For example, as part of their Chinese New Year celebrations a local restaurant brought them traditional Chinese food to sample. As a part of their daily routine children give thanks before lunch for the things that they have and staff encourage children to be kind and considerate to one another. Children respond positively to the ongoing praise and encouragement of staff who calmly and sensitively reinforce rules with children that keep them safe. Children are well

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Helping children make a positive contribution

behaved and play harmoniously together, taking turns and sharing. For example, as they play cooperatively in their shop taking turns using the tills and being shoppers.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children are treated with equal concern and have their individual needs well met by staff who get to know children and their families well. Written policies and procedures promote inclusion within the pre-school and ensure that appropriate support is given to children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Staff carefully monitor children's development, and through discussions with parents and support from the outside agencies they ensure that all children make good progress and that they can actively participate alongside their peers. Children feel comfortable and settled and develop good relationships with staff and other children. This is because they see parents and staff developing positive relationships, working together to provide consistency for children. Right from the start children and families are well supported through excellent settling-in procedures that ensure that children and their parents are happy

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Helping children make a positive contribution

and comfortable in the pre-school. Parents receive good quality information about the setting when they first start, and policies and procedures are available on the parents' notice board at all times. These include information through the complaints procedures about how parents can express any concerns. Although management endeavour to respond promptly to any concerns raised, the procedures do not inform parents about the time frame in which the pre-school is required to notify them of the outcome, and this has the potential to impact on children's well-being.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents and carers is outstanding. Through notice boards and written information parents are very well informed about the provision for children's learning and development. Parents are given an informative overview of the areas of learning, detailed sheets of the stepping stones and early learning goals are displayed and weekly planning is

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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 posted on the parents' notice board. Staff develop an excellent picture of children's starting points through discussions with parents when they first start and through the completion of information forms that include the things children can do, their likes and their dislikes. Parents continue to be actively involved in their child's progress through daily chats with staff and meetings twice a year with their child's key worker to review their nursery profiles. These meetings provide a wonderful opportunity to celebrate children's individual progress and achievements. Parents are encouraged to be actively involved in the setting and many parents participate in the management committee, go on outings with the children, support fundraising events and enjoy social evenings together. Consequently, children thrive from being cared for

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Helping children make a positive contribution

in close, friendly community atmosphere.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The organisation of the pre-school positively contributes towards children's health, safety, enjoyment, achievement and ability to be activity involved. Children are protected and well cared for because the thorough recruitment and vetting process ensures that staff have the appropriate qualifications and experience for the post they hold, and that they are suitable to care for children. Generally effective documentation, policies and procedures are in place that work well in practice. However, not all policies and procedures reflect current practice and requirements, and therefore have the potential to compromise children's well-being. For example, child protection, uncollected child and complaints procedures. Children's development is well supported through the key worker system, which effectively ensures that each individual child has their needs carefully considered and planned for. Children benefit from being cared

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Organisation

for by staff who work well together in a supportive team atmosphere. Staff have a high regard for children and maintain high ratios.

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Organisation

The leadership and management is good. The staffing team are highly committed and motivated towards providing good quality care and education for children. Children benefit from being supported by staff who access ongoing training and information in order to continue their professional development. They participate in Foundation Stage training, get regular updates from their Early Years and Childcare Service, and receive ongoing support from their mentor teacher. Children make good progress because staff communicate well together sharing their knowledge about the children on a daily basis and through regular staff meetings. As a result, planning is responsive to children's needs. Staff are reflective and keen to improve what is provided. For example, through developing a picture catalogue of resources so that children are able to make choices from a wider range of options and purchasing waterproof clothing so

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Organisation

that children can spend more time in the garden area, experiencing it to the full throughout the year. Consequently, staff are continuously developing what is offered to children, ensuring that it remains interesting and stimulating and encourages children to develop positive attitudes and dispositions towards learning.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the provider was asked to keep parents informed about their child's progress and to make improvements to medication records and to lost and uncollected child procedures. Improvements have been made and the provider now ensures that parents are well informed about their child's progress through daily chats and meetings between key workers and parents that take place twice a year. Parents sign detailed instructions for the administration

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Improvements since the last inspection

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 of medication and therefore staff are clear about the dosage to be given. Detailed lost child procedures have been developed and these help to promote children's safety. However, the procedures to be followed should a child be uncollected do not contain the same detail and this has the potential to compromise children's well-being.

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Improvements since the last inspection

In order to improve the provision of nursery education the provider was asked to develop planning to cover a wider variety of curriculum areas. The provider was also asked to develop role play activities with opportunities within them for practising number skills and writing for a purpose, and to provide opportunities for children to explore living and man-made materials and objects on a regular basis. Improvements have been made and children make good progress. This is because staff ensure that planning incorporates a wide variety of activities that cover all areas of learning. Children explore various role play activities and have great fun shopping in their fruit and vegetable shop and bandaging themselves and soft toys as they become doctors and nurses. They look at cookery books in their play house and write shopping lists, they identify numbers on shop tills and count the pieces of fruit and vegetables they buy.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Throughout various activities children are encouraged to explore a wide range of materials and objects. For example, they dig in dirt and sand, examine worms and collect items for their nature table where they can compare real and toy insects.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since the last inspection there have been no complaints made to Ofsted that required the provider or Ofsted to take any action in order to meet the National Standards.

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Complaints since the last inspection

The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints record may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are good. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • improve hygiene procedures and practices • review policies and procedures to ensure that they are maintained to reflect current practice and requirements.

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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):

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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 • increase opportunities for children to independently construct and create with a wide range of tools, objects and materials.

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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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