The Lenches Pre-School Group

Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated. The Lenches Pre-School Group Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY377612 Inspection date 17/03/2009 Inspector Sally Wride

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Setting address Church Lench Village Hall, Main Street, Church Lench, Evesham, Worcestershire, WR11 4UE Telephone number Email Type of setting Childcare on non-domestic premises This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of the registered early years provision. ‘Early years provision’ refers to provision regulated by Ofsted for children from birth to 31 August following their fifth birthday (the early years age group). The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and welfare, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Introduction

The report includes information on any complaints about the childcare provision which Ofsted has received since the last inspection or registration whichever is the later, which require Ofsted or the provider to take action in Annex C.

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Introduction

The provider must provide a copy of this report to all parents with children at the setting where reasonably practicable. The provider must provide a copy of the report to any other person who asks for one, but may charge a fee for this service (The Childcare (Inspection) Regulations 2008 regulations 9 and 10).

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Introduction

The setting also makes provision for children older than the early years age group which is registered on the voluntary and/or compulsory part(s) of the Childcare Register. This report does not include an evaluation of that provision, but a comment about compliance with the requirements of the Childcare Register is included in Annex B. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Description of the setting

The Lenches Pre-School originally opened in 1963 in Church Lench village hall. After operating for a short time in the local first school, from 2008 the group operates from a newly built village hall in the village of Church Lench. Within the hall, the pre-school have the use of the main hall, a meeting room, a kitchen and male, female and accessible toilet facilities. The pre-school serves the local area and has strong links with the school. There is a fully enclosed play area available for outdoor play.

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Description of the setting

A maximum of 25 children aged from two to under five years old may attend the setting at any one time. There are currently 16 children attending who are within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Of these, 14 children receive funding for early years provision. This provision is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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Description of the setting

The group opens Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday during school term- times. Sessions are from 09:00 until 12:30. These hours are due to change from the 2009 Easter term from 09:00 until 14:00 on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The group runs a toddler group on a Thursday from 09:00 until 11:00 which runs alongside the pre-school group in the settings meeting room. For part of the school year children aged 3 and 4 years old may attend Forest School sessions from 11:00 until 14:00 on a Tuesday. Children are able to attend for a variety of sessions.

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Description of the setting

The setting supports children with learning difficulties and disabilities, and have procedures in place to support children who speak English as an additional language. The building is accessed via a short ramp. The setting employs six members of child care staff. All staff hold appropriate early years qualifications. There is one member of staff currently working towards a degree level early years qualification. The setting receives support from the local authority and is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance.

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Overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall, the quality of the provision is outstanding. Children are extremely happy, confident and settled and have great fun in an environment where their welfare needs are consistently and successfully promoted. They make excellent progress in their learning and development and relish taking part in meaningful, exciting and stimulating activities and spontaneous play. Children's individual needs are well known by experienced and well qualified staff who cater for these extremely well in the inclusive care environment. Children benefit greatly from the strong relationships that their parents and carers enjoy with staff. Systems for evaluating the provision through reflection are robust, with areas requiring further improvement recognised and actively planned for. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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further?

To further improve the high quality early years provision the registered person should consider:

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further?

 develop further opportunities for the promotion of children's independence at snack time.

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provision

Children benefit from the high quality leadership and management of both the committee and management team. They are very well supported by enthusiastic parents, carers and volunteers who help in sessions and with fundraising and marketing tasks. The committee are extremely well informed of their roles and responsibilities and work in direct partnership with both the current and previous manager, who remains involved at the group. Together, they strive for continuous development and improvement. They have a solid understanding of their many strengths and also of how they wish to develop their provision in the future. This is achieved through ongoing reflection and forward planning. They proactively seek the views and wishes of children, parents, carers and staff, using these to inform their plans. This demonstrates the provisions strong capacity to maintain continuous improvement.

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provision

The manager and staff work very well together as a committed and enthusiastic team. Excellent and continuous communication enables information to flow effectively, ensuring consistency and continuity for all children. Staff use their time extremely well to ensure that every child's individual and unique needs are well met. Adult to child ratios are well maintained and ensure that children receive high levels of care and support. Staff have ongoing access to training which ensures they remain up to date with current good practice and changes within the early years field. As a result, they are fully informed of the EYFS and implement this extremely well to provide an excellent service that promotes positive outcomes for children.

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provision

Children's welfare is promoted and safeguarded because all required policies and procedures are current and effective in practice. Recruitment, vetting and induction procedures are robust and risk assessments are thorough. Staff are vigilant about ensuring the premises are secure. Ongoing visual safety checks are carried out and recorded each day with positive action taken to ensure that all perceived hazards are minimised. All staff have an excellent knowledge of the setting's child protection policies and procedures, which are reflective of Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) guidelines.

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provision

Excellent procedures are in place to identify and support children with learning difficulties and disabilities. Strong partnerships between staff, parents and carers and external agencies effectively promote children's well being and help each child This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 develop to their full potential. Well detailed individual education plans are produced to identify short term targets for children. These are regularly reviewed in partnership with parents and carers in order to assess the progress of the child. As a result, all children make outstanding progress in their learning and development. Parents and carers are able to view and contribute to their children's assessment and observation records at any time and these are formally shared at regular times throughout the year. The setting is proactively developing relationships with other providers delivering the EYFS to ensure that appropriate

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provision

information is effectively shared, promoting children's progression and continuity of learning and care.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children relish their time at pre-school and the vast range of rewarding activities and play opportunities available. These offer a wealth of choice and capture children's interest and imaginations. As a result, children are purposeful in their play, concentrate well and readily make decisions about how they would like to spend their time. Children are supported by a capable, skilled and experienced staff team, assisted by parent helpers, which creates a stimulating learning environment. Consistent observation, monitoring and assessment of children's progress results in staff having a clear vision of each child's learning needs. Plans incorporate children's differing needs, identifying how their learning will be consolidated or moved on to the next stage. Staff are very supportive in enriching and extending children's play and learning as additional toys and equipment are readily available, for example, to further develop their artwork, exploratory play or

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children are confident and have excellent opportunities to use their independence throughout the session. However, there are further opportunities for children's independence to be developed during snack time. Children are confident speakers, encouraged by staff who provide effective explanations to children's questions and encourage meaningful conversation. Children express themselves clearly, readily joining in discussions and answering questions. They listen and respond very well to stories and enjoy looking at books. Children relish the many opportunities for mark making, for example, in the sand, drawing, painting and chalking outdoors. Some children are able to write their own names whilst others form recognisable letters. Children are all making very good progress in recognising their own names, for example, self-selecting their name card at snack time. Children's problem solving, reasoning and numeracy skills are fostered very well in practical contexts.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Each day they count how many children are present, finding the total number in written form on displayed number cards. They compare different groups to explore more and less and how many there are in total when added together. They use a range of toys or items, such as, Easter eggs to compare numbers, sizes and weights. Attending Forest School activities provides children with superb opportunities to investigate and examine features of their local environment and seasonal changes, in addition to taking self-calculated risks in a controlled setting.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children are busy in the well resourced role play area, using their imaginations well to recreate a recent visit to a nearby farm. They act out taking care of a range of This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 farm animals and talk about the vehicles that they saw and rode on whilst there. Children handle tools well, competently managing scissors. They are physically confident and energetic, as a result, of regular outdoor activities, music and movement sessions and through the challenges presented during Forest School. Children are creative. They draw, paint and colour expressively, using different medium and techniques. They competently operate the laptop computer, making excellent use of age-appropriate programmes. Children benefit greatly from daily physical exercise. They are able to freely flow between the indoor and outdoor environment, closely supervised by staff. They develop their skills on the climbing

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

frame in addition to using a range of wheeled toys and trikes, throwing and rolling balls.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children are busy and occupied in their play and behave very well. They receive warm praise and encouragement for their efforts and achievements which positively fosters their self-esteem. They develop an appreciation of the wider world as they explore cultural and religious events throughout the year. They access a suitable range of toys and resources which reflect positive images of diversity. Children have an excellent knowledge of the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle. They openly talk about exercise and eating healthy foods, recognising that this will help to keep them healthy and well. Children wash their hands at appropriate times and understand that this is to remove germs which may make them ill. They are growing increasingly aware of perceived dangers and of how they can keep themselves safe, for example, through practising road safety techniques. Staff encourage their understanding extremely well as they carefully

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

explain potential hazards and how children can keep themselves safe as part of the daily routine. Children enjoy healthy and nutritious snacks each day which offer variety and choice. Their dietary needs and preferences are known by staff and well catered for. At lunch time children manage the contents of their lunch boxes well, aided by staff who sit with them. Fresh drinks are provided throughout the session, ensuring children are well hydrated. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Annex A: record of inspection judgements

The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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Annex A: record of inspection judgements

Grade 1 is Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Grade 2 is Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Grade 3 is Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Grade 4 is Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage?

How well does the provision promote inclusive practice? 1 The capacity of the provision to maintain continuous improvement.

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Foundation Stage led and managed?

How effective is the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement? How well does the setting work in partnership with parents and others? How well are children safeguarded? 1

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Years Foundation Stage promoted?

How well are children helped to stay safe? 1 How well are children helped to be healthy? 1 How well are children helped to enjoy and achieve? 1 How well are children helped to make a positive contribution? How well are children helped develop skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being?

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Years Foundation Stage promoted?

procedures set out in the guidance available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are: Met

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are: Met This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Annex C: complaint/s made to Ofsted

This section of the report includes details of any complaint/s made to Ofsted when:  we took action for the provider to meet the requirements of the Early Years Register; or  we asked the provider to take action in order to meet the requirements of the Early Years Register; or  the provider had already taken any necessary action to meet the requirements of the Early Years Register.

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Annex C: complaint/s made to Ofsted

We will not report on any complaint where the provider met the requirements of the Early Years Register or did not require any action by Ofsted or the registered provider.

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Detail of the complaint/s

There have been no complaints made to Ofsted since registration.

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Detail of the complaint/s

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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