Quinton PlayschoolOfsted inspection, 17 Nov 2005

Quinton Playschool (Great Wyrley)

Inspection report for early years provision

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Quinton Playschool (Great Wyrley)

Unique Reference Number 218209 Inspection date 17 November 2005 Inspector Elaine Poulton

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Quinton Playschool (Great Wyrley)

Setting Address St Andrews Church, Hilton Lane, Great Wyrley, Walsall, West Midlands, WS6 6DS Telephone number 07944 442587

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E-mail

Registered person Marjolyn Brown Type of inspection Integrated Type of care Sessional care

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E-mail

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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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.

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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 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.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

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

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Quinton Playgroup has been registered since 1992. It operates from the main hall and adjoining room at St Andrews Church Hall in the village of Great Wyrley. The group serves the local area. There are currently 48 children from 2 to 5 years on roll. This includes 6 funded three-year-olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting supports children with special needs.

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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 group opens for four days per week during school term times. Sessions are from 09:30 to 12:00 Monday to Thursday and 12:30 to 14:45 on Thursday only. The group employs ten part-time staff to work directly with the children. Over half the staff have appropriate early years qualifications. The setting receives support from a teacher/mentor from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children's good health and well-being is promoted well in the pre-school group. Their individual dietary needs are met effectively. Snacks are planned to offer a well-balanced range of food which includes fresh fruit. There is a constant supply of water throughout the session and the children help themselves to a drink from the full tray if they are thirsty and return their cups to the empty tray when they have finished. While the outdoor area is accessed less often, an inviting indoor area enables children to participate regularly in a variety of physical activities and exercise. Planned daily movement sessions encourage children to be active and move in a variety of different ways, jumping like kangaroos and slithering like snakes. Children have good opportunities to enjoy active play including climbing, riding on wheeled toys, throwing and chasing after balls and balancing on equipment to develop their

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Helping children to be healthy

physical skills. Hygiene practices are well-established and most are appropriate. Nappy checks and nappy changing arrangements ensure younger children are protected from cross infection, as there are appropriate hygiene systems in place. Older children are familiar with the need to wash and dry their hands regularly after visiting the bathroom. Children do not always have access to appropriate hand-drying resources and therefore their health is compromised. There are good procedures for managing accidents, giving medication and caring for children who may become ill. Staff are effective in ensuring that children are well cared for and that their individual needs are met.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children use a wide range of safe, good quality and developmentally appropriate resources. They can access resources themselves, easily and safely from a selection put out by the staff each day. Most chairs available are adult sized, although there are tables and chairs at different heights to ensure that children of all ages can sit, eat and play safely. The safety of the children is a high priority in this pre-school setting. Security is good, with staff being vigilant with external exits ensuring that unwanted visitors do not gain

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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 access to the setting, or present a risk to the children. The children practise emergency evacuations, there are fire precaution signs and risk assessments are in place to minimise hazards and prevent accidents to the children. Safety precautions such as socket covers and safety gates are in place to help keep children safe in the setting. Staff are aware of child protection procedures and are clear what they should do in the event of allegations being made against staff and the steps they should take to protect children from harm.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. The care, learning and play experiences for children in this setting are good. Those children who are new settle well and enjoy good relationships with the staff. Regular discussions with parents ensure that children benefit from and experience familiar home routines helping them to feel safe and secure. The pre-school group has recently started to use the 'Birth to three matters' framework with young children. Assessment and planning systems are in their early stages but do not fully link together. This means that while young children experience a good variety and balance of activities these are not always planned for accordingly to ensure they become competent young learners. Children enjoy experimenting with paint and are beginning to explore different mediums. They enjoy smelling and watching the ingredients being mixed together when making cakes. Older children enjoy using the different role-play items in the

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

home corner. One child mixing and serving food to two other children in the home corner was delighted when a member of staff recognises he has been making food, adding to the children’s enjoyment in their imaginative play. Board and floor games such as jigsaws, stencils and combing dolls and horses hair, encourage children to participate and work together. They use construction blocks, train tracks, car and garage, small world people and farm animals purposefully. Children play alone, alongside one another watching and listening to each other. Children are beginning to learn how to share resources in a small group situation. Nursery Funded Education. The quality of teaching and learning is good. Staff ensure that resources are accessible and activities are stimulating. Most staff are knowledgeable about how children develop and support children’s learning across most areas of the Foundation Stage. Some staff are further developing their skills and understanding of how

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

children learn and the stepping stones, through take up of training. Not all staff are clear about offering appropriate challenges or how to extend more able children’s learning. All staff support children's behaviour well and they are consistently praised for their achievements. Staff are presently reviewing and establishing a more robust system for assessing children's progress based on observations of what they can do.

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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 They plan to use this information to provide activities built on what children are interested in and need to do next in their learning. Children are well behaved and have opportunities to develop their independence. Their self confidence is growing and they are beginning to help and take turns with toys and games. They are building good relationships and are helped to understand right and wrong. Children are interested and respond to stories and enjoy exploring real and imagined experiences. They are beginning to attempt and practise mark making. There are fewer opportunities for children to hear and sound out initial letters. Children are developing an understanding of numbers through both practical and adult led activities. Not all children are able to recognise numbers or develop their

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

ideas through use of visual aids, such as number lines and friezes in the setting. Children explore and investigate objects and materials, using all their senses. They look closely at resources, such as the battery operated globe and magnifying glass and are interested to find out about how things work. There are fewer opportunities for children to identify features in their local community and the natural environment. Children enjoy active play sessions and are able to move safely in different ways. They explore and use different textures and shapes and express their thoughts and ideas through a widening range of materials. They use tools and equipment imaginatively.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Information about children’s individual care needs is shared between staff and parents and this means children are supported effectively in the setting. Staff have a good understanding of equal opportunities and use this to introduce activities to interest children in other cultures and beliefs. Occasional visits into the local community, for example to distribute Harvest Festival items help to foster this interest. Children behave well in the setting because staff use suitable methods to explain feelings and to deal with unwanted behaviour. Children are supported in sharing and taking turns and are helped to learn what is right and wrong. Children are praised consistently when they are behaving well and this in turn promotes and reinforces good behaviour. Children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is fostered. Staff support children with special needs effectively and work closely with parents

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Helping children make a positive contribution

and other professionals such as a pre-school teacher to ensure that they are included in the life of the pre-school and can access all activities and all areas of the provision. Partnership with parents and carers is good. Staff are continually developing systems

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Helping children make a positive contribution

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 to ensure that parents are kept fully informed about their child's progress towards the early learning goals so that they can become involved in their child's learning.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Policies and procedures which support practice are in place and staff are fully aware of their roles and responsibilities to care for children and to ensure that children's good health, safety, enjoyment and ability to make a positive contribution is promoted well. The setting employs experienced, qualified and vetted staff to ensure that children are cared for and are well protected. Staffing ratios are maintained and children's care, learning and play is well supported. Children behave well as staff reward their good behaviour with praise. There is a consistent staff team which helps children to settle in well, develop good relationships and enjoy their play and learning. The manager has a sound knowledge of the Foundation Stage and offers direction to staff to ensure a consistent approach to children’s learning. Individual staff appraisal and evaluation systems are in place to support staff and identify further training to

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Organisation

ensure children continue to make good progress across the Foundation Stage. Consequently the leadership and management is good. Overall the provision meets the needs of the children who attend.

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Improvements since the last inspection

There were four actions placed on the provider on 31/12/2003. To devise and implement a policy for lost and uncollected children; to request written permission from parents for seeking emergency medical advice or treatment; to ensure staff are familiar with notifiable diseases and implement appropriate procedures; and to improve knowledge and understanding of Area Child Protection Committee procedures in the event of an allegation being made against a member of staff. All of the four actions have been met. The providers have devised appropriate policies and procedures for lost and uncollected children and emergency medical treatment and advice. Staff are familiar with the list of infectious notifiable diseases and appropriate procedures and have a sound understanding of child protection procedures.

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Complaints since the last inspection

There have been no complaints made to Ofsted 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.

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Complaints since the last inspection

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

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

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • explore suitable alternative resources to enable children to practice hygienic hand-drying routines • improve outcomes for children under three by embedding the 'Birth to three matters' framework into practice

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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): • increase staff knowledge of the Foundation Stage to ensure children are sufficiently challenged and learning is extended in all areas to make progress towards the early learning goals • further develop activities for children to see, hear and begin to link spoken sounds to letters, for example sound out initial letters of names or familiar objects • increase opportunities for children to see and talk about numbers to support and extend their mathematical vocabulary and ideas, through, for example friezes and number lines • provide more opportunities for children to find out and identify features in their local community and in the natural environment

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

procedures set out in the leaflet Building better childcare: Compliments and concerns about inspectors' judgements which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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

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