Love Lane Pre-School

Lovelane Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 507889 Inspection date 20/01/2010 Inspector Caroline Hearn

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Setting address Love Lane, Donnington, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 2JG

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Telephone number 0790 0120202 or 0118 9713956 Email Type of setting Childcare on non-domestic premises to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It rates council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as

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you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann's Square Manchester M2 7LA

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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk 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

Please see our website for more information about each childcare provider. We publish inspection reports, conditions of registration and details of complaints we receive where we or the provider take action to meet the requirements of registration. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Description of the setting

Lovelane Pre-School has been established for many years, moving to its present location at Shaw-cum-Donnington Village Hall in 1988. This is adjacent to the Shaw-cum-Donnington Primary School and is situated in the north west area of Newbury. The pre-school is committee run and is open to all families within the local community.

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Description of the setting

The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register to care for 26 children aged from two to five years. There are currently 21 children on roll aged between two and four years. The pre-school opens four mornings a week, between Tuesday and Friday during school terms and sessions are from 9.00 to 11.30am.

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Description of the setting

Of the four full-time staff members who work with the children, three hold early years qualifications.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is outstanding.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children are eager to attend this well established pre-school and they play a dynamic role in their learning, offering their ideas and responding to challenges with great enthusiasm. Children demonstrate good to outstanding progress in their learning and development and are acquiring a wealth of skills that will help them in the future. Children's eagerness to learn is due to the staff's enthusiasm and commitment to provide an exceptionally stimulating and fun learning environment. Staff are supported in this through exceptional partnerships with parents and carers. The staff team constantly reflect on their practice and they have an excellent understanding of how to maintain continuous improvement.

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further?

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

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further?

 developing a whole staff approach to letter formation  undertaking an audit of staff qualifications, as defined by the Children's Workforce Development Council, to ensure they continue to meet the requirements

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the early years provision

Children's safety and safeguarding underpins everything they do. They have robust recruitment processes to ensure all adults are fully vetted before they begin working with the children and that existing staff are re-checked every three years. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 They have a designated child protection staff member who has undertaken additional training and ensures the polices and practice at the pre-school are in- line with current requirements. All areas used by the children are comprehensively risk assessed by the ever vigilant staff to ensure the children are able to safely explore their environment. A full range of relevant and detailed policies, procedures and all required documentation underpin the excellent daily practice. As a result of all these actions, children are safeguarded exceptionally well.

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the early years provision

The management team undertake constant evaluation of the pre-school and strive to maintain excellence in all they do. They ensure that staff and parents are consulted in the completion of their self evaluation. This ensures all stakeholders have an a clear understanding and an active voice when it comes to future plans for the pre-school. Although the self evaluation process is thorough they do not have a process for reviewing staff's professional qualifications to ensure they continue to meet current requirements. Great importance is however placed on staff training and the staff team have and continue to undertake exceptionally high levels of additional training and development. The knowledge gained from these is reflected on and incorporated into their outstanding practice.

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the early years provision

The pre-school is exceptionally well resourced and the volume of choice and ingenious ways of displaying children's work, in a room that has to be cleared at the end of each session, is a true testimony to the staff's dedication. The deployment of staff, and use of resources, promotes children’s learning and development exceptionally well.

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the early years provision

Awareness of issues of equality and diversity underpin everyday practice, staff get to know each child extremely well and understand how to meet their differing needs and promote fully inclusive practice. Partnerships with other early years settings such as childminders are used to best effect to ensure joint working is seamless. To achieve this they discuss children's progress, share development records and work together when setting future goals. Parents and carers are very well informed about all aspects of their children's achievements, well-being and development. The pre-school provides tailored guidance and information relating to how they can support their children's learning at home. Parents and carers have a strong sense of being a valued member of the pre-school and are keen to talk about and share their outstanding experiences of using this pre-school.

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and outcomes for children

All children show an extremely strong sense of security, they have formed close and trusting relationships with the staff. Children display an excellent awareness of safety issues and recognise and understand how to keep themselves safe. They know not to run indoors as they may slip and fall or that they need to alert an adult to spilt water to ensure others do not slip. Children work exceptionally well both independently and with their peers showing excellent negotiation and co- operation skills. They manage any minor disagreements, such as other children not sharing, remarkably well. Children’s behaviour is exemplary; their understanding of ‘rules’ is exceptional. Both stem from following the excellent examples set by staff. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Children show incredibly high levels of concentration when taking part in activities. They become truly absorbed in the tasks at hand. Children making craft models

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and outcomes for children

work alongside each other offering support and encouragement. Staff set out activities and have outline goals they hope to achieve from these such, as sponge painting to learn about shapes. The staff are confident in allowing children to follow their interests; children who start out painting shapes may decide to move on to painting their hands. Allowing children's interests to develop an activity results in children moving on to colour mixing on their hands and using excellent descriptive language. Children are offered a wide range of opportunities to develop their early writing skills. The pre-school does not have a whole staff approach to letter formation, however, which means the children do not have a consistent model to follow when learning to write their name.

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and outcomes for children

In addition to the excellent opportunities children have to undertake independent learning they are also exceptionally well supported by the staff. Children building models from a picture, work with staff and count how many blocks in the picture and discuss how many they need and which colours. The staff extend children's learning without giving them all the answers, encouraging them to undertake lots of critical thinking. Staff adapt their questioning to match children’s different levels of ability, so all are challenged appropriately, including the more able. Children are offered a wide and varied range of activities that comprehensively cover all the areas of learning.

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and outcomes for children

Staff discuss children's starting points with parents when the children start to attend the group and use these to build comprehensive logs of each child's learning and development. These logs are shared with parents and effectively used to inform future planning. As a result of the staff's excellent understanding of what motivates each child, all children are making excellent progress in their learning and development.

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and outcomes for children

Children develop their personal independence skills exceptionally well, putting on their coats before going outside to play and serving themselves snack. To help them promote their personal hygiene skills children are encouraged to wash their hands before snack and after outside play. They are also developing a excellent understanding of being healthy and know it is good to go outside to play and have fruit for snack. Children make excellent, all year round use, of the outdoor area. Their use of this space is highly effective in supporting children’s learning and development. 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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children in the Early Years Foundation Stage?

The capacity of the provision to maintain continuous improvement

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and managed?

The effectiveness of leadership and management in embedding ambition and driving improvement The effectiveness with which the setting deploys resources 1 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 1 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 1 The effectiveness of the setting’s engagement with parents and carers

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Stage

The quality of the provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage 1

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 1 The extent to which children feel safe 1 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 1 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 1

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Stage

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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