Covingham Kingfisher Pre-School

Covingham Kingfisher Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 511586 Inspection date 21/10/2009 Inspector Rachel Edwards

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Setting address Covingham Library & Playschool, Lovell Close, Covingham, Swindon, SN3 5BT Telephone number 01793 434221 Email childcare@covinghamkingfisherpre-school.co.uk 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 08456 404040, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as 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: 08456 404040 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

Children only attend this setting before and/or after the school day and/or during the school holidays. The judgements in this report reflect the quality of early years provision offered to children during those periods.

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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.

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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

Covingham Kingfisher Pre-School is a privately owned group. It opened in 1996 in its present name, having been Dorcan Playgroup since 1971. The setting comprises of three rooms plus a kitchen, hallway and toilets in St Paul's Church centre. It also has access to a fourth large hall. All children share access to a secure, enclosed outdoor play area. The setting serves a wide area.

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Description of the setting

The group is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register to provide care for a maximum of 42 children from two to under eight years at any one time. In addition to the pre- school session, the setting has a breakfast club, lunch club and wraparound session (for children up to eight years), a toddler group and a stay and play session for parents, each week. The group opens five days a week during term times. Sessions are from 08.00 to 15.00. There are currently 35 children on roll, of whom 25 are in the early years age range. The pre-school is registered to receive nursery education funding. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The group supports children with special educational needs and children who speak English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

The setting employs six staff to work with the children. The manager has an early years degree and three of the other staff have appropriate 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

This pre-school is successful because the owners have set themselves high standards and they pay great attention to detail, to ensure they know each child and their family circumstances very well. The dedicated and skilled staff work highly effectively with each child, to challenge and extend their learning so that all make very good progress in relation their starting points. The whole staff team have an ethos of critically examining all that they do and the environment they create, and then refine ideas and take action to achieve the best outcomes for all children. The very well developed systems for monitoring and evaluating all aspects of the provision ensure that the group continues to develop and improve.

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further?

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

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further?

 further developing the outdoor area to promote all areas of learning and to allow children the choice of playing inside or out at all times  ways of involving staff more in drawing up risk assessments This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

The manager, supervisor and their staff form a close knit team, working together very effectively to provide high quality childcare. All adults have undergone Criminal Records Bureau checks to ensure their suitability to work with children and senior staff have attended safer recruitment training. Staff are fully aware of their responsibility to protect children from abuse or neglect and have undergone training in child protection. All staff are responsible for checking the safety of the premises and equipment on a daily basis. They do not, however, fully contribute to the detailed written risk assessments, which would heighten their awareness of potential hazards. The staff constantly remind children how to keep themselves safe, without making them fearful to try new challenges. For example, children carefully clamber over chairs, as they solve the problem of how to cross the room without touching the floor. They are quick to point out dangers to others, for

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the early years provision

example, a child warns the member of staff to be 'very, very careful' as she lights the birthday candles with a match.

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the early years provision

The owners and staff routinely reflect on all that they do. Weekly staff meetings focus on children's progress and any issues relating to individual care needs. Activities are evaluated and plans made based firmly on children's interests and developmental needs. There are excellent systems in place to capture the views of children, parents, carers, staff and outside professionals and these are used to draw up action plans which are well targeted to bring about improved outcomes for all children. The owners and staff demonstrate a very firm commitment to further improving the already high quality provision. Most of the staff have worked at the setting for several years and all work as a very close knit team, making good use of their individual skills. They regularly attend training and are eager to increase their knowledge for the benefit of the children.

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the early years provision

Exceptionally good use is made of the resources available to the group, despite the challenge of having to completely pack away two of the three play rooms at the end of each session. The group work hard to ensure that children have ready access to a wide range of high quality play materials. Each room has a different atmosphere, comfortable and cosy or plenty of space for more boisterous and noisy games and they have long periods when they have free access to the enclosed outside play area. On days when two-year-olds attend, they mostly use a separate room so that appropriate activities, and resources can be provided specifically for this younger age group. A large hall is also used for dance sessions with a specialist teacher, which the children thoroughly enjoy. Children move confidently between all the spaces, selecting things they need and they become highly independent, with most needing little adult help to visit the toilet and wash

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the early years provision

their hands. There is a public library within the building and staff visit this with children each week, choosing books to take home and share with parents.

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the early years provision

The staff create a welcoming family environment, where every child is made to feel an important member of the group. Each member of staff acts as the key person for a small number of children. They help parents complete a very comprehensive 'all about me' book for their child, so that the care and learning can be tailored to This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 meet each child's needs. The setting further promotes equality and diversity by involving the parents of all children, to allow everyone to enjoy the benefits of different cultures, such as food, music, stories, festivals and clothing. This welcoming, inclusive environment helps children to value differences in their own community and the wider world. Children with special educational needs and those who do not speak English at home are given additional support to ensure they progress well.

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the early years provision

Exceptionally effective systems are in place to record what children do and identify individual targets for each child. The staff involve parents in their children's development by inviting them to continue observations at home and contribute to plans for future learning. The parents have easy access to all records relating to their children's development and are welcome to stay and see first hand what their children do. Some bring in items of interest or share their knowledge with the group, such as providing a recipe for traditional Indian sweets for the children to make. Parents are made very welcome, for example, by providing a coffee club for parents to stay and chat together and access child related information. This helps build close relationships and values the role that parents have as their child's primary educator. They also establish firm partnerships with local schools and other carers that children may have throughout the week, such as using a link

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the early years provision

book to share information with childminders. They liaise fully to ensure consistency in the children's learning and care and help children to make a smooth transition into school.

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and outcomes for children

Children very happily attend the group. They clearly feel safe and secure and settle quickly because of the friendly and welcoming attitude of the staff and other children. The high adult to child ratio means that all receive plenty of individual attention, giving them the confidence to try new experiences and play alongside other children. Children are exceptionally well behaved. They show a high level of maturity as they follow guidance from staff and play cooperatively with others. For example, they happily agree who should play which character, as they act out the story of the Three Little Pigs. They are sensitive to others' feelings, for example, quickly telling a member of staff when one of the children is upset, and eagerly celebrating each other's birthdays.

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and outcomes for children

Staff have a thorough grasp of how children learn and how to extend their play. They are relaxed and interested in each child, introducing new ideas and skills so that children make very good progress in their learning. Children's language and communication skills are particularly well developed. Staff speak slowly and clearly to children, which is especially beneficial to those learning English a second language. Staff encourage children to talk about what they are doing and introduce new vocabulary. For example, whilst playing with dough, a child tells others she is coiling a snake and this has made a circle, another thumps her ball of dough and says 'I've made a circle too'. In this way children learn rapidly, whilst they play. They take part in many activities that develop good hand eye coordination and strengthen their fingers, ready to start to write. They help This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

themselves to writing materials and make lists and cards, giving meaning to the marks that they make.

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and outcomes for children

Staff always pick up on children's interests and use these to provide exciting activities that children really enjoy. For example, staff noted children enjoying role playing cafés in the home corner and so for the next session provided a café role play area with real cakes and buns, tables laid with cloths and pretty china, and money and helped them make menus and take orders. Activities such as these, build on what children already know, using the familiar to help children develop in all areas of their learning and develop skills to prepare them for future life. Staff use interesting and imaginative ways of teaching children. For example, they encourage children to work together to solve problems, such as inviting children to cross a 'river' of blue material, using only the pile of logs and planks to stop them falling in the 'water'. Children become confident in expressing their ideas and trying new ways of doing things.

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and outcomes for children

Children become very aware of the importance of healthy living. They join in very enthusiastically with the skilfully taught dance session, moving and balancing in many ways as they pretend to surf the waves or swim underwater. They know they must warm up their bodies before exercise and drink when they are thirsty. Staff tend the pre-school allotment but children are involved in many other ways, for example, choosing the seeds to grow and seeing photographs of the plants growing. They handle, cook and taste a wide variety of produce, which encourages them to eat healthily. They also learn about the problems of vegetable growing when staff bring in cabbage leaves covered in caterpillars. The children have free use of a computer and learn to use the internet safely to find out information. For example, they find a video of cabbage butterflies emerging from pupa, so learn more about the whole lifecycle at a time that is relevant and interests them. The

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and outcomes for children

pre-school has now built vegetable beds at the setting so that children will be able to grow plants themselves next year. 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 2 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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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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