NZO Academy of London & Surrey

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. St Augustine of Canterbury Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 136075 Inspection date 28/04/2009 Inspector Jeffery Plumb

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Setting address St. Augustine Church School, Boscombe Crescent, Downend, Bristol, BS16 6QR Telephone number 01179561166 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 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

St Augustine of Canterbury Pre-School opened in 1978 and operates from a self- contained building owned by St Augustine of Canterbury Roman Catholic Church, and is situated on the site of the primary school of the same name. There is disabled access via a ramp at the front and a ramp at the back of the hut used by the children. A maximum of 21 children may attend the pre-school at any one time. The pre-school is open each weekday from 09.00 to 11.30 for the morning session and 12.30 to 15.00 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. There is a secure outside play area for children to use. There are currently 57 Early Years Foundation Stage children on roll, aged from two to under five years. Of these 47 children receive funding for nursery education. Children come from the local urban area of Bristol. The pre-school currently supports children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The pre-school employs 10 staff. Of these six staff, including

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Description of the setting

the manager, hold appropriate early years qualifications. There is one member of staff working towards a qualification. There is a partnership with the Early Years Foundation Stage teacher on the St Augustine of Canterbury Roman Catholic (VA) Primary School site. This provider is on the Early Years Register, compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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Overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the provision is good and meets the needs of the children well. It is an inclusive setting and all children are engaged enthusiastically with learning through fun and challenging activities and so make good progress. Children with speech difficulties and behavioural difficulties are exceptionally well supported and participate in all activities with their peers. Self-evaluation is good as is the capacity for further improvement. The whole staff team is skilled at gathering ideas from the children about what interests them and this information is used effectively to plan to accelerate their learning.

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further?

To further improve the early years provision the registered person should:

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further?

 implement the action plan to enhance children’s learning  improve the outdoor play area to support children in their development of mathematical skills

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provision

Good systems are in place to ensure children are secure and safe. The door to the room used by the children is secure, with a buzzer system, to prevent unwarranted entry. Toys in each of the distinct learning areas are checked regularly and any broken ones with sharp edges are thrown out and replaced by new ones. The outdoor play area is checked thoroughly before each morning session and any This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 litter which may have blown over into the area overnight is picked up and put in a refuse sack. The sand pit is cleaned daily and topped up with fresh sand. Child protection procedures meet government regulations.

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provision

Self-evaluation is good. The play leader, in partnership with the local advisory teacher for the Early Years Foundation Stage, makes good use of the Ofsted self- evaluation tool. Robust and thorough evaluation has shaped an action plan with clear priorities to improve the quality of educational provision for the children. However, it is too early to evaluate the effectiveness of this plan because the play leader has not yet had time to implement it fully. However, leaving the action plan aside, as a reflective practitioner, the play leader takes immediate action in the interest of the children when she spots a difficulty. For example, she observed at the beginning of term that the children were often very restless during the ‘Hello song’ at the start of the morning session. She discussed this with the staff team and a decision was made to allow the children to engage in fun and robust physical activity at the start of each session, then go into the ‘Hello song’. All of the

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provision

children now concentrate and enjoy this activity.

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provision

Partnership with parents is good. Six times a year the key worker for each child meets with the parent of that child and they discuss the child’s progress in the learning story. This supports parents effectively in helping the learning of their children at home. There is an open door policy and parents feel very comfortable in talking through issues about their children with the setting’s staff. Recently parents have been invited to fill in a detailed form about the interests their children have at home and the play leader intends to use this information to plan to accelerate the children’s learning. At any time parents can ‘pop’ an idea that they have about how the provision can be improved in the suggestions box in the foyer to the hut used by the children. The play leader reads the suggestions left in this box regularly and uses them to plan fun and challenging activities for the children.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children make good gains in their learning. Their learning takes off because they thoroughly enjoy participating in an exciting and wide range of activities based on their interests. To motivate children’s learning the dedicated staff team latch on to children’s interests and let them flow. For example, on the creative table children were making masks when one said that she wanted to make a card for her mummy because she was expecting a new baby. The deputy play leader allowed her to create a card and she wrote her name accurately and independently and the language of all the children around the table was developed well as they talked about what to expect when a new baby is born into a family. Good use is made of fun and challenging games to develop children’s counting skills. They enjoy matching the number on a dice thrown with the number on the snakes and ladder board and a few count confidently to 17 and recognise numbers to 20. Good use is

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

made of children’s interests and assessment observations made by staff to inform planning to accelerate the children’s learning. Noticing that a group of boys struggled with numbers, but enjoyed playing with cars the staff painted numbers on the cars and also on the spaces in the garage. This group of boys then enjoyed matching the cars to the right parking lots in the garage. Their recognition of This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 numbers improved significantly. The outdoor play area is used for, climbing and riding trikes. These activities contribute well to children’s physical development. Although the outdoors is used for measuring and writing activities the lack of painted number games on the floor limits what can be done to promote children’s mathematical skills outdoors.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

The provision for children’s welfare is good. They have healthy fruit snacks daily and understand that fruit is good for them. Their humour is wonderful. One boy when asked why he was eating fruit said with a glee in his eye and a smile on his face, ‘Because there is no chocolate cake’. But, then he said immediately, ‘Because fruit is healthy and good for me’. Children clear up their plates and cups after snack without being prompted and they wash their hands after using the toilet without being asked to do so. Their independence is good. They carry scissors in a safe manner to their tables and use real tools safely, under careful supervision. Through celebrating festivals such as Diwali and Chinese New Year they have good experiences of cultural diversity. They play pretend shops with plastic coins and visit the post office to post letters. They create an office space with a telephone and note pad to take down messages and confidently answer the phone and make

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

marks on paper as they note down what is said by the person at the other end of the phone. Good use is made of computers to develop pupils’ language and mathematical skills and they love reading picture books in the book corner. Children are involved in fund raising activities, for example at Children in Need time. Opportunities to develop children’s learning are relevant and by the time they leave this setting they are well prepared for the Early Years Foundation Stage at primary school. 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? 2 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? 2

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Years Foundation Stage promoted?

How well are children helped to stay safe? 2 How well are children helped to be healthy? 2 How well are children helped to enjoy and achieve? 2 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

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