Warborough & Shillingford Pre-School

Warborough & Shillingford Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

p.1

EY351101 Unique Reference Number 08 May 2008 Inspection date Jan Leo Inspector

p.1

St. Laurence C E Primary School, 16 Thame Road, Warborough, WALLINGFORD, Oxfordshire, OX10 7DX

p.1

Setting Address

01865 859933 Telephone number wasps@smartemail.co.uk E-mail Warborough and Shillingford Pre-School Playgroup Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care, Sessional care, Out of School care Type of care

p.1

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

p.1

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.

p.2

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

p.2

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.

p.2

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

p.2

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

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

p.2

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.

p.2

WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Warborough and Shillingford Pre-School is run by a parent management committee. It has been in operation since 1966 and moved to new premises in 2007. It now operates from a new purpose-built building within the grounds of the local primary school.

p.2

WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The pre-school is situated in a village near Wallingford. A maximum of 26 children may attend the provision at any one time and there are currently 26 on roll. Of these, 14 receive funding for early education. The pre-school is open on weekdays during school term times from 09:00 until 15:00 for children aged from two to five years. An after school club operates on Mondays and Wednesdays from 15:00 until 17:30 and it accepts children aged from three to 11 years. Numbers attending the after school club vary. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area.

p.2

WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The pre-school currently employs eight members of staff, three of whom hold an appropriate early years qualification to level 3 or above. A further three members of staff are working towards a qualification.

p.2

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 The setting supports a small number of children who are bi-lingual and who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

p.2

Helping children to be healthy

The provision is outstanding. Children thrive because they form very secure bonds with their key workers and receive a high level of attention and support to meet their every need. They have free access to outdoors in order to benefit from fresh air and exercise while they have fun and they automatically take precautions to protect themselves from the elements. For example, the children routinely don sun hats before playing in sunshine and drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration. They talk about applying sun cream and understand about playing in the shade to avoid skin damage due to harmful rays. The children see good practice regarding hygiene all around them throughout the day because the staff are extremely good role models, washing their hands and wearing aprons to preserve hygiene whenever appropriate. The children need little help to attend to their own personal needs and independently remove dirt and germs effectively from

p.3

Helping children to be healthy

an early age. The children rest and sleep according to their needs and staff change nappies privately to preserve children's dignity. Several staff have a first aid certificate to equip them with the knowledge and skills to administer first aid if children are hurt, and children receive very prompt and caring treatment for their injuries.

p.3

Helping children to be healthy

The children are very involved in food activities, preparing their own snack and cooking in small groups to develop an interest in food. They learn the importance of cleanliness to prevent the spread of germs when making cakes for others, and eagerly help wipe tables and find an apron before starting work. The staff encourage children to try new foods to broaden their taste and they respect children's opinions, stressing that tasting is important in order to make their own decision about favourite foods. Most children bring packed lunches from home and sit sociably together to eat if staying for lunch club. Some, however, choose to have a cooked meal from school and they either select from a menu or fetch the meal with an adult and make their choice at the serving area. All wash their hands before and after eating to keep the setting clean and hygienic, learning very good habits to benefit them in later life.

p.3

Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is outstanding. The children play in a very pleasant and safe environment, receiving a sustained high level of supervision throughout the day. The staff routinely develop children's understanding of safety by talking about consequences and explaining, in simple terms, the reason for doing things. There is a secure entry system in operation and staff keep very accurate records of who is on site at all times. Both children and adults practise fire drills on a frequent basis to ensure all become familiar with the evacuation process and the manager varies the day, time and evacuation route to prepare everyone for the unexpected. The children have free access to much of the equipment because staff house it in low level boxes and trolleys around the room. The staff complete daily safety checks before children arrive in order to keep the setting safe and they monitor play closely to address hazards as they arise. For example, staff crouch low to talk to

p.3

Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

a child about sitting properly on a chair, pointing out what happened when his friend ignored the advice earlier in the session. The staff ask children to recall accidents and remember what caused them in order to adapt their behaviour and keep themselves safe. Adults skilfully use language that children understand and remember, consequently, the children play very sensibly

p.3

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 and safely. The staff have a heightened understanding of child protection issues and how to safeguard children from harm. They review training and reference material regularly, revising what they know during staff meetings to ensure all staff feel confident if they need to make a referral.

p.3

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is outstanding. All children thoroughly enjoy their day. The staff plan an extensive range of stimulating activities to help children begin play as soon as they arrive and they let the children lead the day. The children arrive enthusiastically, swiftly joining with friends and develop their games with ease. The children focus exceptionally well because the staff base activities on their interests. The staff join in children's games to develop ideas and they skilfully extend children's knowledge and ability at an appropriate rate and level for each individual child. As a result, the children are like sponges, soaking up knowledge from adults and their peers, and learning effortlessly while they socialise and have fun.

p.4

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is outstanding. The staff know the children exceptionally well and dedicate their full attention to helping them join in and make progress. All staff, without question, successfully judge when to stand back and when to intervene. They devise a very varied and interesting activity plan with activities to suit all interests. The staff prepare themselves well to ensure they understand the benefits of all activities and know how to challenge each child appropriately. The children receive a significant amount of individual attention as well as opportunities to work with staff in groups. As a result, all feel fully included, valued and confident. The children know it is their pre-school and they follow their interests without inhibition, some struggling to fill a large container of water without dropping it, testing their muscles, while others develop their physical skills by squeezing the trigger on a spray gun

p.4

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

as they clean the windows of the play house with water. The children concentrate for considerable amounts of time and get immense pleasure from everything they do. The staff's tireless interaction and involvement results in children becoming very confident learners and having high self esteem. The children make friends easily and show concern and consideration for others. They use what they know during free play and in routine tasks, counting how many pieces of fruit they have at snack time and discussing the colour of different foods as they eat. The children enjoy books, listening well to stories and remembering what comes next at the exciting points. The children move well and show a high degree of control when using tools and equipment. They count freely and have a good understanding of mathematical concepts, taking small amounts of butter to ensure there is some for everyone and telling a visitor which

p.4

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

way puzzle pieces need to be in order to fit. The staff consistently make full use of every learning opportunity to ensure learning is linked and relevant to the children. For example, they imaginatively incorporate new words in conversation with a child who liked the word 'huge' saying, 'I've got a huge knife now' after fetching a larger knife to cut fruit for snack, and then saying 'a gigantic one' comparing it to another before discussing safety issues.

p.4

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The children progress at their own rate and feel no pressure to do what others do. The staff keep their plans flexible to allow time to extend favourite activities or curtail any that do not work. They monitor the success of the activities in order to develop improvements in the learning programme and identify children's next steps. The staff consistently observe and record what children do to ensure they receive appropriate challenges and opportunities to extend their

p.4

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 interests. Whilst the current observation records are a little unwieldy, this has no impact on teaching and learning because the staff successfully pitch learning to be of optimum value.

p.4

Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is outstanding. Children feel completely secure and fully valued because of the exceptionally successful key worker system that operates within the setting. All staff show a high degree of concern for, and genuine interest in the children resulting in a family feel within the pre-school and closeness to the wider community. The setting forges strong links with the school to ease children's transition, with valuable two way visits arranged for both adults and children on a regular basis. The staff link very closely with children's families in order to tailor care to suit individual needs and they relish the opportunity to develop their own skills in order to help children overcome specific difficulties. For example, some staff endeavour to extend their signing skills to develop communication with hearing impaired children and they learn words in children's home language for those who are bi-lingual, sharing their new knowledge with the whole group for everyone's

p.5

Helping children make a positive contribution

benefit. All children receive a lot of individual attention to help them reach their potential and the staff work with outside agencies and health professionals to devise individual learning plans when specialist knowledge is required.

p.5

Helping children make a positive contribution

All children learn to be considerate towards others and play fairly. They join in card games in order to understand turn taking and they play exceptionally well together in harmony. Some very minor disputes over resources inevitably occur but these are quickly resolved without upset after providing children with an opportunity to stick up for what they feel is right. The children mix well regardless of age and make lasting friendships. They willingly help with routine tasks, eager to take some responsibility for keeping the setting tidy and are very happy to please adults. The staff form very strong relationships with families using the setting, providing comprehensive, good quality paperwork to inform them of how the pre-school operates and making useful contact numbers easily available.

p.5

Helping children make a positive contribution

As far as the nursery education is concerned, the partnership with parents and carers is good. Whilst staff promote open communication with parents and carers, children's profiles are not used to full advantage. The staff issue written reports on children's progress and talk to adults on a daily basis about what the children do. They use a vast quantity of information from observation notes to update children's progress records on only a termly basis, resulting in no ongoing record of children's rate of progress for parents and carers to see. A helper rota is in operation to provide adults with first hand experience of how children learn and enable them to continue learning at home if they wish. The staff have a comments and suggestion book to encourage parents to be more involved in the care and education of their children, and adults are welcome to linger when dropping off their children, as part of the customer satisfaction

p.5

Helping children make a positive contribution

monitoring process. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

p.5

Organisation

The organisation is outstanding. The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides. The organisation of the care aspect of the provision is outstanding. The children are fully motivated and actively involved because of the sheer dedication and tireless energy the staff bring to the setting. Children routinely learn about health and safety, and receive support to seamlessly develop ideas and bring in the widest possible range of relevant, related issues to extend their knowledge

p.5

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 and skills. The children behave exceptionally well because they receive consistent messages from the uniformly skilful staff group. All of the documentation, required by regulation, is in place and of a very high standard. The staff receive the full support of the committee resulting in robust recruitment and appraisal procedures, effective monitoring and review systems, and a commitment to ongoing training and personal development. The nursery education aspect of the pre-school is also well run but the limited value of children's profiles results in planning being unnecessarily onerous for the staff and of limited value to parents and carers. As a result, the leadership and management of the provision are good for the nursery education.

p.5

Complaints since the last inspection

Since registration 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.

p.6

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.

p.6

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

p.6

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

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

p.6

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.

p.6

The quality and standards of the care

No recommendations for improvement are made because the quality and standards of care are outstanding.

p.6

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): • ensure profiles are updated regularly to provide parents with an ongoing written record of children's rate of progress and ease planning

p.6

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

p.6

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

p.6