The Ursuline Prep School Ilford

Stepping Stones Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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102874 Unique Reference Number 06 November 2007 Inspection date Linda Janet Chauveau Inspector

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Parish Rooms, Falmouth Road, Chacewater, Truro, Cornwall, TR4 8LP Setting Address

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E-mail

The Trustees of Stepping Stones Pre-School Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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E-mail

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

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

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

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are 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?

Stepping Stones Pre-school is managed by a voluntary committee made up of parents of children attending the setting. It opened in 1995 and operates from The Parish Rooms in the rural village of Chacewater, Cornwall. A maximum of 16 children may attend the pre-school at any one time. The pre-school is open each weekday from 09:00 until 15:00 during term time only. All children share access to an enclosed outside play area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 31 children from two to five years on roll. Of these, 14 children receive funding for nursery education. Children generally come from the local area and surrounding villages.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The pre-school employs four staff, all have appropriate early years qualifications. The setting receives support from an advisory teacher from Family Services and is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance (PLA).

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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's health is supported by staff who follow good hygiene practices in order to keep the areas used by them clean. For example, they wipe surfaces used by children regularly throughout the session and keep children's toilets clean and fresh. Children are becoming independent and confident in their personal care, visiting the toilet and washing their hands with minimal adult support. Staff ensure that children are able to access a plentiful supply of disposable tissues to wipe runny noses, which reduces the risk of cross infection through childhood coughs and colds.

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Helping children to be healthy

Staff record accident information accurately and share the information appropriately with parents to ensure the well-being of children. However, the information available to parents regarding the care of sick children does not cover procedures to follow in the event of an outbreak of an infectious disease on the premises. All staff hold current first aid certificates and take note of information about children's health and dietary needs. Children have access to fresh drinking water, readily available throughout the session. They eat a healthy mid-session snack of fresh fruit and enjoy discussing their preferences of the fruit selection. Children may also stay for lunch and bring their own meal. The pre-school does not provide parents with information about what food can be stored safely on the premises.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children have good opportunities to exercise and spend time in the fresh air. They make regular use of the adjacent village play area, where they are able to use a challenging range of equipment, such as a climbing frame and slide, swings, rockers and a small roundabout. This helps develop physical control, co-ordination and spatial awareness. Additionally, children regularly visit the nearby primary school, exploring the local environment on the way; there they manoeuvre their sit and ride toys and play group games, helping to develop their spatial awareness. Children competently use a variety of tools, for example, paintbrushes, glue-sticks and construction sets to develop small muscle control.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children are cared for in a welcoming playroom housed in the Chacewater Parish Rooms. Staff work hard to make the premises a safe and child friendly environment. Staff carefully organise the inside space available to be exciting and stimulating, with many examples of children's artwork on display throughout. Children move freely and in safety between activities, with good opportunities to access toys and resources from child-height storage units and boxes. Children play with a good variety of well-presented activities on floor level and at tabletop. The outside play area used by children is well presented with the large equipment sited on safety surfaces; however, as this is a public area, children's safety is compromised. Staff do not have effective systems in place to stop children leaving through the unsecured access gate or from preventing unwanted visitors entering the playground and pre-school entrance area.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Indoors, children benefit from a comprehensive range of measures designed to keep them safe, for example, external doors are fully secured and staff use the pre-school reception area to carefully monitor all visitors to the premises. All staff are vigilant in following the pre-school's safety procedures and carry out daily health and safety checks, as a result, risks to children are minimised. Children are kept safe from harm. The manager co-ordinates child protection issues,

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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 she has a good understanding of the possible signs and symptoms of abuse. All staff are made aware of what to do if they have concerns about a child. The child protection procedure and incident record keeping systems are designed to keep children safe from harm. The pre-school has access to government and local authority guidance on reporting child protection concerns.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children of all ages arrive happily, settle quickly and enjoy making independent play choices from the range of activities set out by staff. Younger children are well supported to help them take part in all activities and daily routines. Staff are aware of the guidance, the Birth to three matters framework and of the new practice guidance, The Early Years Foundation Stage, which will be effective from September 2008, and refer to these documents when planning the curriculum. Planning is comprehensive and shows differentiation of activities for younger and older children.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children receiving funded nursery education have many opportunities to achieve and make good progress due to the staff's understanding of the Foundation Stage curriculum to plan an environment for care and learning. Children are enthusiastic and eager to participate. They are familiar with the pre-school's routines and co-operate willingly with tasks, such as tidying up before sitting down for snack. Children benefit from warm relationships with staff and enjoy chatting with them and each other. Children are well behaved, staff show lots of interest in them, giving plenty of praise and encouragement throughout the session and, as a result, children develop in confidence and self-esteem.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and children's learning is good. Planning is detailed and links to the stepping stones towards the early learning goals. Staff use information provided by parents on their child's capabilities at registration, in conjunction with the records they make on children aged under three years, as a starting point to monitor progress. Key workers observe, monitor and record children's progress during sessions and use this information to plan the next steps in children's learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are confident and are learning to co-operate whilst playing with each other. They enjoy taking part in group activities and are developing their levels of concentration when listening to stories or taking part in registration time discussions. Staff encourage children's independence by providing them with a variety of free play choices which allows them to initiate their own play. Children learn self-discipline as they play, for example, by knowing and regulating how many children may play with sand or water at any one time. Staff support children in developing self-care skills, encouraging independent visits to the toilet and finding tissues to blow their noses but they do not make the most of children's snack time to teach them personal skills, such as pouring their own drinks or preparing soft fruits.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are learning to recognise their own name; older children find name cards to self-register on arrival. Photos of children along with their name help younger children to find their allocated coat peg. Children enjoy using the well-presented role-play area, which is set up as a farm shop. Its price lists and labelled displays help children to understand that words have meaning and the resources provided to make shopping lists help encourage emergent mark making. Children enjoy listening to stories in large and small groups.

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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 participate in activities to learn about mathematics, they count the number of children at registration and use their fingers to represent the number of boys and girls present. Colourful number lines around the room and matching and sorting activities introduce children to numerals and counting; the play money and cash register show children how mathematics and number are useful in everyday life. Children learn about technology, staff assist children to complete simple programs helping them to understand the connection between the computer's mouse and the arrow on the computer screen. Children see change as they mix up the ingredients to make their play dough, kneading and moulding the mixture, delighting in getting their fingers sticky and messy. They investigate magnetic shapes and use them to make models.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children develop their imaginations by using small world play, cars, garages and train tracks in the well-presented role-play area. They use a variety of media and recycled materials to explore colour and textures, for example, making models of rockets for bonfire night. Children enjoy singing songs and nursery rhymes, choosing a picture card to depict the rhyme, which they then recite with obvious enjoyment. In large groups, they sing and dance, using actions to accompany themselves, for example during 'Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush'. They enjoy experimenting with a variety of musical instruments shaking, beating and tapping to make different sounds and rhythms.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children's behaviour is good; they benefit from high levels of adult support and interaction and have good relationships with staff and each other. All staff act as positive role models and lead by setting clear examples. Children respond quickly to staff and happily follow simple instructions, for example when tidying up mid-morning, helping them to gain a sense of achievement. Children are caring and considerate of each other, they offer to help their friends and know that they should share toys; as a result, all children develop self-esteem and good manners. Individual key workers take responsibility for children; they show good individual knowledge of them and all staff value and respect children.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children have access to an appropriate range of resources and a variety of planned activities to learn about their local community and the wider world. For example, the community police constable and local health visitor come and see the children. Children have very good links with the local primary school and benefit from visits to the reception class in order to pave the way for transition from pre-school. The group have had limited experience of supporting children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities but have good contact with professional support agencies should their advice be needed. The setting fosters children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers is good. This contributes to children's well-being at the pre-school. Staff have friendly relationships with parents, ensuring regular verbal exchanges of information take place. New parents receive a comprehensive prospectus providing detailed information about the operation of the group and complete registration and consent forms, which provide staff with good information on children, enabling them to provide appropriate care. Parents have completed many positive comments forms and questionnaires providing constructive feedback to staff on the standards of care provided. Newsletters provide parents with basic information on the education curriculum but do not offer suggestions to develop children's learning at home. Staff complete detailed records on children's progress, which are used to plan the next steps in their learning. Parents do not have access to these records in

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Helping children make a positive contribution

order to contribute their thoughts on their child's development.

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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

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Organisation

The organisation is good. A voluntary committee manages the pre-school. Children currently benefit from care by an established and supportive staff team, who are well qualified and keen to attend additional training for professional development. The operation of the pre-school is underpinned by a set of policies and procedures, written to demonstrate how National Standards will be met, however, the procedures relating to the care of sick children have not been updated to reflect changes to regulations. High ratios of adults to children ensure very good levels of supervision are provided. Children make good use of the resources presented to them to initiate their own play, be active or spend time with a member of staff or each other. The wide range of activities provided, supported by good staff interaction, means that children are stimulated and engaged throughout the session. Staff have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities

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Organisation

within the setting, as a result children are safeguarded, well cared for and the setting operates successfully.

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Organisation

The leadership and management is good. The manager and her staff work together very well to present an effective care and learning environment. All staff work together to evaluate both care and the education curriculum; additionally, the pre-school receives support visits from local authority staff to help improve standards. The manager clearly directs her staff; staff work well as a team and share responsibility for planning and implementing the education curriculum. Strong links between Chacewater School and the group are used to support staff, extend the children's learning environment and smooth the transition between pre-school and reception class. The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection, the pre-school was asked to improve aspects of their procedures to promote children's health and safety. They now have information for parents regarding the exclusion of children who are sick or infectious, but need to include procedures to cover outbreaks of contagious diseases at the setting. Children's safety is now improved as staff carry out daily health and safety risk assessments of the premises, make daily records of children's arrival and departure times and are able to follow their comprehensive child protection procedures if they have concerns about a child. Parents are now provided with information so that they can make a complaint about the setting.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The group have also improved their provision for nursery education. Parents now complete initial entry profiles to help staff form a picture of children's starting capabilities in order to assess their progress and planning and resources now provide children with opportunities to be creative through music and art.

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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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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): • up date sick children's policy to include procedures to inform Ofsted of cases of notifiable diseases • ensure that, when children are playing outside, there are effective systems in place for monitoring visitors access to the premises and to ensure that children cannot leave the area unless under adult supervision

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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): • develop systems to work together with parents in order that they are aware of and have access to their children's developmental records, agree individual progress targets for their children and become more involved in their children's learning • use snack time to provide children with opportunities to develop independence, for example, pouring their own drinks, preparing their own fruit

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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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