The Phoenix Pupil Referral Unit

Great Tew Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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133490 Unique Reference Number 03 July 2008 Inspection date Jill Milton Inspector

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Great Tew Primary School, Great Tew, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, OX7 4DB

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Setting Address

01608 683186 Telephone number office2104@great-tew.oxon.sch.uk E-mail Great Tew Pre-School Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Sessional care Type of care

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Setting Address

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?

Great Tew Pre-School has been established for over 23 years and is a voluntary group managed by a committee of parents and carers. The pre-school operates from within the grounds of Great Tew Primary School and children have access to various rooms indoors and some outdoor play spaces. The children attend from the village of Great Tew and surrounding rural communities.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

A maximum of 12 children may attend the pre-school at any one time. There are currently 15 children on roll between the ages of two and five years. Of these, 14 children receive funding for nursery education. The pre-school is open each weekday during school terms from 09.00 to 12.00 with an optional lunch club operating from 12.00 to 13.00. The pre-school employs three members of staff all of whom hold appropriate childcare qualifications. The setting receives support from the local authority.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

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

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children are playing in a very clean environment where the staff demonstrate a good understanding of how to keep them healthy. Staff interact well with parents to collect useful details about children's health so they can offer good standards of care. Children receive prompt attention if they have an accident and staff ensure they inform parents at the end of the morning. Children learn about staying healthy as they wash their hands in the well-designed bathroom area and the accessible soap and air hand dryers help to reduce sources of cross infection. Visual reminders to wash hands or to use tissues for nose wiping help children to become independent in their care routines. Children know to wash hands before cooking activities too and are able to describe the reasons why they do this.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are eating nutritious snacks at pre-school with a pleasant choice of various chopped fresh fruits. Their snack times are sociable occasions with support from staff. Children show careful skills as they pour drinks for themselves from jugs and they sit well to enjoy their refreshments. Drinking water is available at all times from an easily accessible water fountain in the pre-school room, encouraging children to learn to meet their own needs for refreshment. Staff are careful to note any special dietary requirements and they share the information between those preparing snacks in order to meet children's needs.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy an active morning at pre-school where they can access outdoor play areas. They demonstrate their growing skills at manoeuvring wheeled toys and are happy to provide a friend with a ride. There are extra opportunities for the children to take part in energetic play with the use of the school playing field and challenging climbing equipment. This good emphasis on physical activity means children are receiving positive messages about being out in the fresh air and enjoying exercise. Those children who prefer less boisterous play can access quiet areas within the pre-school room and garden.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children play in welcoming environment that is light and colourful. The staff are becoming more confident about how to make the best use of the available space to meet the children's needs. The children's time varies with visits to different rooms for small group activities or to see the computer suite along with access to outdoor play spaces. Storage of equipment is well thought out with plenty of low-level units to foster the children's growing independence and clear labels with words and pictures. The children have access to a broad range of good quality equipment and the early teething problems of the new setting are now addressed, for example, the computer is now operational with internet access and use of an interactive smart board.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The staff are working well together to keep children safe. They are fully aware of their responsibilities with regard to child protection and all the current team of adults have attended training recently. Children play safely since the staff ensure only those adults who complete the necessary checks work in unsupervised contact with them. Children are developing a good awareness of how to stay safe whilst they play, for example showing each other how to carry chairs safely. They also discuss safety with staff when they look at the florescent vests they will use when undertaking short outings together in the village. The children regularly take part in emergency evacuations of their building and staff sensibly timetable these events on

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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 different day so that all children are familiar with the procedure. Staff accurately record which adults and children are present during each session and they are clear about who is to collect each child at the end of the day. There are a number of successful systems in place to ensure the staff monitor the safety of the premises and equipment with good overall use of risk assessments.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. The children spend an active and busy morning session at pre-school. They are able to make their own choices and access many resources from the low-level units within their reach. Children settle quickly when they arrive and any child requiring support receives it from the staff member who is usually their key worker. Staff recognise the differing needs of the younger and older children within the group. They offer short group times for the older ones to help them develop their language and listening skills. The staff are aware of the framework to support children under three years and they use this in the planning documents to focus on different aspects.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. The staff are taking into consideration the interests of the children when they plan the range of activities. They gain information from parents about what the children like to do or which are their current favourite stories and they use the details from these 'happy days' sheets to inform their planning. The staff also have regard for the Foundation Stage curriculum on which to base their long and medium term plans so that the children receive help to make good progress along the stepping stones. There is also regard for the outdoor play spaces in planning so children are accessing a wide range of activities in this area too. Staff monitor the children's progress with new schemes to provide an individual scrapbook of their learning journey. Staff use a mix of dated observations, photographs and examples of artwork to build up a picture of each child's stage of development. Staff are not

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

yet fully confident at time managing and using the new ideas though there are some promising initiatives.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are forming friendships and the singing of greeting and farewell songs to help them to learn names. The children are co-operative with staff and follow simple instructions. They receive support from staff at group times to help them sit still for short periods and to listen to others. Children develop good levels of independence as they visit the bathroom or change shoes. During their time at pre-school, the children are becoming aware of print and letter sounds as they recognise their own names and see many laminated notices in play areas. They take part in mark-making and creative activities from the selection that is available everyday. Children bring objects from home that begin with the letter of the week and this popular activity is a way of sharing their learning with parents.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The children are curious to explore new experiences, a good example being the installation of new technological equipment. They demonstrate their ability to take on fresh ideas and are quick to explain to friends how to make equipment work effectively. Children enjoy practical number games as they fish for numbered plastic ducks in the water tray or sing rhymes that involve counting down and taking away. When the children showed interest recently in the school fete the staff set up the role-play area as a stall 'selling' produce made by the children. This brought together many aspects of learning including mathematics and creative play. Children are becoming familiar with many different textures using their senses, for example when making royal icing fruits for their imaginative play. This activity is also a good example

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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 of the many times children use their developing co-ordination and control over fine movements. During the week, there are regular music activities though currently the children have little free access to a range of instruments to explore for themselves.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children receive a warm and personal welcome from the staff at the preschool. New families have some time with the staff who explain how the setting supports the children's development as they are looking around on a visit. Children who are settling in may also have a home visit by staff and their self-esteem is built up very well when they share a photograph record of the visit with the whole group. Children develop a good awareness of their local community and topic work includes trips to the village post office, for example so that they become familiar with their surroundings. The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the children is fostered. Children celebrate a wide range of festivals in the year including some special days from cultures different to their own. There are resources that promote diversity within the setting though they are not very wide-ranging.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

There are no children attending the preschool currently who have identified learning difficulties or disabilities. The staff team have a good range of training and experience between them to offer support to families if the need arises. The children are learning how to distinguish right from wrong and the staff have an effective range of strategies in place to manage behaviour. The children receive many messages to encourage their good behaviour with plenty of praise from staff and recording of events on the 'kindness tree'. The children discuss their laminated pictures of what actions contribute to good behaviour and they show good recall of ideas like 'we listen when other people are speaking'.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers is good. The families receive encouragement to involve themselves in the life of the pre-school with an active committee and helper's rota. The parents report on their satisfaction with the group and their opinions are regularly collected by the staff through questionnaires and a suggestion box. Staff develop some innovative ideas to improve opportunities for communication with families about the children's learning. A home-school diary, for example, allows parents a quick and easy way of providing staff with information to help them care effectively for the children. Parents now contribute regularly to children's records of development as they complete sheets to tell staff about the children's current interests. Staff are proactive in developing their displays and written information for parents to enable them to find out about the educational curriculum on offer.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The pre-school is currently organised very well to provide children with a comfortable and stimulating setting in which to play and learn. The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides. An extensive review of many documents that make up the operational plan means that the staff, committee and parents now have access to up-to-date information. Staff are building up neat files to reflect, for example staff training qualifications and important issues like proof of clearance checks on those adults working with young children. Documentation is stored sensibly with regard to confidentiality.

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Organisation

The leadership and management is good. The team of staff are working effectively together on a day-to-day basis. They meet regularly within their small team and at other levels, with

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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 school staff, for example, to exchange ideas and receive support. The pre-school staff also work closely with the keen set of parents who make up the committee. In discussions, all the adults associated with the group demonstrate their positive attitude to improving and developing the pre-school. There are competent measures in place to support any recruitment and induction of new staff and annual appraisals that are being established allow staff to plan their professional development. Staff reflect on their own work and are adjusting the new indoor and outdoor play areas as they find effective ways of presenting activities to promote learning.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection, the care and nursery education were judged inadequate. All the adults involved in the setting have worked extremely hard to turn the situation around and to improve the standards of both care and education for the children.

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Improvements since the last inspection

There is now a full operational plan in place that includes an update of all relevant policies. The documentation is clearly and systematically arranged so that staff and parents can access the information. All the records relating to day care are now in place and staff monitor the information from parents on a regular basis to ensure essentials like contact details are still relevant and accurate. Staff carefully record all visitors to the setting and keep daily registers of children's attendance. The team's knowledge of the area of child protection is greatly improved with updates to training and more appropriate wording of the policy for this area. Staff also now conduct more effective risk assessments and have more rigorous procedures regarding the safe collection of children at the end of the session. The impact on the children of these improvements is to ensure they can play in a safe environment, cared for by staff who

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Improvements since the last inspection

have implemented more robust procedures when promoting the outcome on staying safe.

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Improvements since the last inspection

With regard to nursery education, the staff have responded well to advice from other professionals and they have improved the standards of teaching. This is helping the children to achieve more appropriately. Staff have improved the way they plan the curriculum and they are establishing new ways of monitoring the children's development. The positive attitude of the staff has been a key factor in the group's improvement of the standards of nursery education and they are more aware of how to evaluate what they offer. They have introduced some promising new ideas to involve parents and children in the planning of the educational curriculum.

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

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

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

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

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

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • extend the range of visual images and resources accessible to children to promote positive messages about diversity that include culture, race, gender and disability

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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 to develop systems for recording the children's development so that staff are confident in their use and have sufficient time to complete them successfully • provide children with more opportunities to explore music freely for themselves

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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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