Rayner Stephens High School

Maytime Playgroup Inspection report for early years provision

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144622 Unique Reference Number 10 June 2008 Inspection date Catherine Greene Inspector

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101 Clapton Common, London, E5 9AB Setting Address

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E-mail

Hackney Muslim Women's Council 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?

Maytime Playgroup opened in 1981. It is owned by the Hackney Muslim Women's Council and is managed by a board of trustees and associates. The playgroup operates from two base rooms on the ground floor and basement of a three storey house in Clapton within the London borough of Hackney. A maximum of 20 children may attend the playgroup at any one time. The playgroup is open each week day for 48 weeks of the year. Morning sessions are from 09.30 to 12.30 and afternoon sessions from 13.30 to 16.00.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 40 children from two to five years on roll. Of these, 26 children receive funding for nursery education. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The playgroup supports children who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The playgroup employs eight staff to work with the children and of these, six hold appropriate early years qualifications.

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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 the positive measures in place to ensure their physical and health needs are promoted. Staff supervise children as they visit the toilets, whilst encouraging their independence and privacy. Children follow effective hygiene practices as they learn to wash their hands independently. Good supplies of liquid soap and hand towels are easily accessible.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's health is well promoted as a clear sickness procedure is in place and discussed with parents. Details of children's individual heath needs are recorded, including any food allergies. A good complement of staff hold up-to-date first aid certificates and permission is given by parents in case of emergency advice or treatment. Consequently, children are well cared for if they become ill.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children’s health is promoted by wholesome, nutritious and balanced snacks. Healthy snacks, including fresh fruits and regular drinks, are provided for each session. Children's physical development is promoted well through good opportunities for exercise and activity outside in the garden. They develop large physical skills as they run and jump. They enjoy playing with water and sand and have opportunities to climb, move under, over and through equipment. Children are using their bodies to explore space, weight and strength. They enjoy transporting each other around and chasing each other as they roll and throw balls into the basketball net. The outdoor curriculum is currently being reviewed to ensure activities meet all areas of learning consistently throughout the year. Thorough risk assessments are conducted, in consideration of the major renovation works being carried out to the adjoining house, which have affected

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Helping children to be healthy

the nursery garden. Indoors, children use a range of equipment and exercises to develop small muscle control and coordination. They pour quantities of water accurately, transfer objects and handle tools safely, such as scissors and pencil sharpeners.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children benefit from the warm and welcoming way in which the staff greet them as they arrive. Children's art work and photographs are used to make the environment interesting and welcoming. This contributes to the children's sense of self worth and a feeling of being valued.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children play in a clean and well maintained setting. The space is organised effectively, creating a child-friendly environment which enables them to explore and take risks while being appropriately supervised. Staff are aware of their responsibilities to keep children safe. Clear, comprehensive policies and practices are in place to promote children’s safety.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are able to make choices in their play as the resources are attractively displayed at the children’s level. As a result of the renovation works in the garden, children have been very creative, painting the temporary fence to make it as attractive as possible. Staff plan to do some planting during the summer to make the environment more natural and attractive. Children are learning to keep themselves safe as they know how to carry their chairs safely and tidy and sweep up sand after their play to prevent accidents happening.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Emergency evacuations are practised regularly. Clear records are kept for each practise. Staff ensure that details of children's arrival and departure and records of any visitors are in place. Consequently, staff know who is on the premises at all times. Children are safeguarded from

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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 abuse because there are clear procedures in place for staff to follow if they have child protection concerns. Appropriate procedures are available in case an allegation is made against a member of staff.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children benefit from an effective settling-in procedure which is carried out in partnership with parents and key persons. This promotes children's sense of security and helps to develop a welcoming atmosphere at the nursery. Children arrive happily and quickly become involved in creative activities, such as painting using a variety of brushes and rollers. They have further opportunities to make early marks as they use white boards, collage and sand. Children's self-esteem is encouraged through their art work, displayed throughout the group room and garden. These impressive displays of children's creative work cover different topic work and themes the children have been working very hard on. They have painted self portraits and are fascinated as they look at themselves in a mirror and talk happily about their different features and colour hair.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are developing their vocabulary as staff sing and read stories with them during circle time and before snack and home time. Children are very attentive and listen well during circle time. However, at times noise levels in the group room are very high with staff and children competing over each other to be heard.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The overall quality of teaching and learning is good. Staff have attended appropriate training and are supported by the local Early Years Service. Staff work well as a team and plan the children's curriculum in advance. Systems for recording children's achievements are in place and examples of children’s work are used well to illustrate several areas of their progress. In general, most records show examples of how children have met their early learning goals, the starting points for children at the beginning of the Foundation Stage and the next steps for their learning are known by their key member of staff and are mostly clearly recorded.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children have effective opportunities to strengthen their self help skills and foster their independence. They enjoy the home corner and dressing up clothes and are fully engaged in imaginative play for long periods. They independently find their name cards and post them in the box and enjoy serving themselves at snack time. Opportunities for spontaneous learning at snack time are encouraged by staff, who sit with children, listening to their questions and supporting their discussions about the morning’s activities. Children develop their communication as they talk to each other during role play. Staff are skilled when talking to the children and pose questions to extend their thinking and vocabulary. The book and writing area are attractively presented to encourage children’s interest and involvement. Children are provided with organised activities to promote their understanding of shape, space, numbers and colour,

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

such as recreating patterns by painting and numbering the spots on ladybirds, recognising shapes and colour and opportunities for counting up to ten and above. Children are exploring their environment and developing an understanding of the world they live in. Children make good progress in their creative development as they enjoy a variety of creative work using lots of natural objects. They are motivated and have enjoyed recycling projects, making use of recycled materials for artistic creations. Drawings illustrate their understanding and interest and children are immersed in their play. During a collage activity children are praised for their achievements as they make models and wall hangings using different printing techniques. This

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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 stimulates a conversation about the father’s day cards they made earlier in the week using glitter hand prints. Children have regular opportunities to develop their fine motor skills during activities such as, cutting shapes and as they draw with pencils and pens using shape templates.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children are learning about the world around them through celebrating cultural festivals with the local community. Resources in the nursery reflect positive images of race and culture and disability. Useful information is recorded for each child at the beginning of their placement. This helps staff to provide individual care. There are appropriate systems in place to identify and support children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children are very well behaved and enjoy their time here. They are busy and content and enjoy playing in small groups and pairs. They are regularly praised and encouraged, one child is told 'you are very helpful, I have always said so'. They listen as they are gently reminded to be careful as they wave some construction toys around during their play. They are learning to have good manners as staff remind them to say please and thank you. The social, moral, spiritual and cultural development of the children is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents of children receiving nursery education is good. Written information is provided for each child for parents to read at the end of the day. Staff use notice boards to record important information and health education literature, which is updated regularly to ensure it remains current. Termly meetings provide parents with information about any changes occurring at the nursery and children's ongoing progress. A key person system is in place to ensure children's individual needs are met and to promote good relationships between staff and parents. A clear complaints procedure is in place with details of the regulator.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Formal meetings are arranged for parents to discuss their child's record of achievement. Important details of children's starting points are communicated at the beginning of the Foundation Stage and the next steps for their learning are planned from this point.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Appropriate recruitment and vetting procedures ensure that staff are suitable to care for children. Staff hold relevant childcare qualifications and all staff have opportunities to extend their knowledge through further training. A range of policies and procedures are in place and are regularly updated to promote the smooth running of the setting. The manager has a good understanding of the National Standards for Day Care and has devised good systems to ensure staff work in partnership to promote children's safety and well-being. The environment is organised to maximise play opportunities and to enable all children to make choices. Information about children's needs and progress flow well between staff and parents.

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Organisation

The leadership and management of the setting is good. The manager is working very closely with Hackney Learning Trust advisors and the other staff members. She has taken positive steps to develop leadership and management within the nursery to enhance the care and learning for children. She is aware that further development is needed. She is working closely with the Local Authority, to make sure rigorous systems are in place to monitor, assess and evaluate the quality of nursery education.

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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 Time is regularly set aside for staff to plan and assess children's development. Records of achievement are made available to parents throughout the year. Starting points of children at the beginning of the Foundation Stage and the next steps for their learning are recorded. Observation and assessments are used for staff to develop children's thinking, vocabulary and understanding through suitable questioning and discussion. The manager has a commitment to ongoing training and staff are encouraged to continue developing their professional knowledge and expertise. Record keeping and documentation is appropriate, policies and procedures are in place, they comply with current legislation and promote children's health and well-being. Including the documentation for recording complaints, which is in line with changes

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Organisation

to legislation. However, accident and incident records do not maintain privacy by naming individual children.

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Organisation

The setting is meeting 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 judgement was inadequate. The provider was asked to provide evidence to show adults providing day care are suitable to do so and to show they are suitably qualified. Current staff have now been vetted and disclosures and qualifications are kept on site. In addition, they were asked to increase staff knowledge of how to use the snack times to help children develop independence skills and to provide more opportunities for children to explore and investigate how and why things work and to use information communication technology to support their learning. Resources have been developed and children are encouraged in their independence by serving their own drinks and snack. In addition, they were required to further develop planning to make clear what resources are to be used and how activities can be adapted to meet the individual needs of children and to improve the system for monitoring and evaluating the provision for nursery education. Staff are now working closely

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Improvements since the last inspection

with the Local Authority Early Years advisors in order to provide a thorough curriculum and new resources have been provided.

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Improvements since the last inspection

In addition, they were required to ensure that the fire safety officer is notified of any changes to the premises. The fire safety officer has been notified and staff carry out regular health and safety risk assessments, both indoors and outside, during renovation works. They were also required to develop staff knowledge and understanding of child protection issues and ensure that the child protection procedure complies with those of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB); to improve knowledge and understanding of the requirements set out in regulations and set in place a procedure to notify Ofsted of significant changes or events. Staff have attended Local Safeguarding children training and senior managers are aware of their responsibility to report any significant changes or events to Ofsted.

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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 complaint 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): • encourage children's positive behaviour by keeping noise levels reasonable and providing a calm and consistent atmosphere • continue to develop the outdoor area (during the extensive renovation works), ensuring children are supervised and safe from hazards • ensure confidentiality is maintained in accident/incident records.

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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): • continue the development of systems to record children's development, ensuring children's starting points and how they will be supported in achieving their next steps, are identified consistently (relates to care also).

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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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