Harbury Pre School

Harbury Pre School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 200616 Inspection date 08/01/2010 Inspector Lucy Showell

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Setting address The Wight School, High Street, Harbury, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV33 9HW Telephone number 07833 597973 or 01926 613786 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 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

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

Harbury Pre-School opened in 1972. It operates from part of a converted Victorian school in Harbury, Warwickshire. The front of the building is the library and the pre-school uses kitchen and toilet facilities in the library area. The pre-school is open on Monday from 12.25pm to 3.25pm and on other week days from 9.00am to 12.00noon. Children are offered the option to stay for lunch until 13.00pm. The pre-school is open in term time only. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There is a fully enclosed outdoor area available for outside play.

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Description of the setting

The provision is registered on the Early Years register and on the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. A maximum of 20 children may attend the setting at any one time. There are currently 22 children within the early years age range, some in part-time places. The setting supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and is able to support children who speak English as an additional language. The setting receives funding for the provision of free early education to children aged three and four years. Children generally come from the village and the surrounding villages and rural area.

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Description of the setting

The setting employs six members of childcare staff. All of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications. A regular volunteer works every Friday morning and several trusted supply staff are used in contingency. The setting receives support from the local authority.

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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

Harbury Pre-School makes excellent provision for children in a vibrant and homely environment. Children’s individual needs are successfully met through the support, care and dedication demonstrated by each member of staff and the highly valued partnerships with parents and others ensures all children flourish. Staff have extensive knowledge and substantial understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and the welfare requirements. Their proficient and accurate systems of monitoring and assessment show considerable capacity for continuous improvement. Innovative and flexible ideas implemented by the staff, following proactive identification of further improvements, enables the setting to accomplish the outstanding quality that they continually strive for.

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further?

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

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further?

 adapting policies and procedures to reflect current terminology. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

Staff have accurate understanding of child protection procedures and confident knowledge of reporting concerns and dealing with allegations if they occur. This, and extensive health and safety procedures informed by recent training, ensures all children who attend the pre-school are safeguarded. Children show great independence and confident knowledge of their own and others safety. For example, they share space and equipment such as scissors with precision, are very careful of themselves and each other whilst exploring the sliding possibilities on the ice and snow and are significantly well-behaved. The setting maintains comprehensive policies, procedures and records to support the safe and effective management of the provision. For example, thorough risk assessments are conducted and recorded efficiently and daily records are accurately maintained. All policies and procedures are read and agreed by staff and committee members as

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the early years provision

part of the regular review process although recent changes made to the terminology in two of the documents have not been consistently updated. Productive recruitment and vetting procedures, from staff to committee members, and successful systems for continued professional development support the very low turnover and high motivation of staff. Consequently, children are cared for by enthusiastic and highly valued adults.

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the early years provision

There is an inspired vision and high aspirations shared by the managers, committee, staff and volunteers at the pre-school. They feel very privileged to be caring for the children and state what a ‘magical’ experience it is. New and durable equipment, exciting resources, such as many natural and handmade objects, and staff’s knowledge and experience of current funding initiatives ensures the sustainability of the pre-school. They have proficiently addressed recommendations raised at previous inspections which promotes the welfare and extends ongoing opportunities for children’s learning and they constantly look for ways to further enhance quality of the provision. There are constructive methods of self-evaluation and detailed action plans in place. Extensive questionnaires inviting honest views and comments are completed by parents and regular discussions enabling the valued opinions of all staff, children and advisory professionals to be listened to

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the early years provision

The pre-school’s engagement with parents and carers is exceptional. All parents, carers, grandparents and siblings are clearly involved, well informed and express their delight as they ‘feel welcome to spend time in the pre-school’ and ‘feel part of the family’. Parents are clearly very comfortable within the setting and are often observed reading and playing with the children, sharing their expertise at purposeful sessions and are invited to many special events throughout the year. For example, several family members take part in the successful outings and are involved in the Christmas concert and others have attended sessions to share information with the children about their differing cultures, home languages, festivals and traditions.

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the early years provision

The pre-school is highly committed to providing a fully inclusive provision and as a result successfully ensure that all children’s needs are met. Children with special This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 educational needs and/or disabilities are fully involved at the setting as staff seek advice, support and welcome regular visits from outside agencies to improve their knowledge and ability to ensure all children thrive in this adaptable environment. The excellent leadership, management and staff relationships promote efficient team work. All staff are proactive in the implementation of their designated roles and daily responsibilities. Key persons are effectively assigned to individual children to ensure their needs are met, to monitor their development and to form valuable relationships with parents.

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and outcomes for children

Children's welfare is extensively promoted within this very safe and clean environment. Children are successfully encouraged to develop their own personal hygiene skills such as independent toileting and automatically washing their hands before snacks. They develop an understanding of the importance of healthy eating as they choose freely from a daily variety of savoury snacks and fresh fruits, skilfully spread butter onto toast and help to pour their own drinks during a very sociable ‘café style’ break time. They learn about their own ‘worlds’ as use the pre- school camera to take photographs of the local environment whilst on walks to share and talk about together and develop good awareness of the wider world as they celebrate various festivals through creative and informative experiences such as making rangoli patterns in large paint trays and printing onto paper to display.

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and outcomes for children

All children achieve significant potential in this dynamic and child-centred atmosphere. They thoroughly enjoy the resourceful balance of child-initiated freely chosen and adult-led activities. The space is imaginatively organised allowing children to explore and investigate the wide ranging experiences on offer. Staff skilfully interact with the children, coming down to children’s eye level and extending discussions and challenging the children with realistic achievements across the six areas of learning and development. Staff have clear and considered knowledge of individual children which is informed by cherished information from parents, valuable systematic and spontaneous observations and assessments and is used efficiently to plan for their next steps for future learning. Planning is very flexible and activities and experiences are adapted to reflect children’s interests and abilities. For example, a new planting area was changed to a digging area

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and outcomes for children

when the children decided that they preferred to explore the soil rather than put things in to grow and the bulbs were used elsewhere. There is a true sense of belonging as the children immerse themselves in their surroundings with anticipation of what is to come whilst reminiscing about the previous days events. Beautiful displays of the children’s own ‘work’, such as their individual interpretations of pumpkins and drawings of events and people important to them which children have put on the wall themselves and wonderful colourful creations adorn the whole room. Children appreciate seeing their pictures, paintings and collages and confidently share relevant information with others. For example, they recognise their own ‘work’ and explain to friends who is in the picture and what is happening with great enthusiasm.

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and outcomes for children

In the role play area children select from some wonderful resources as they take This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 orders and prepare ‘meals’ for their friends and the staff. They have great fun whilst building roads with large wooden blocks and working together to fit the appropriately sized piece into the spaces available to create a super route for their trucks. In focused sessions they sit with staff to count, sort and match various buttons onto laminated pictures and try to work out how many more or less are needed to finish the picture. They choose from a variety of fact and fictional books to sit and ‘read’ to each other or share with staff and take part in acting out favourite stories using props such as soft toys or costumes to make the story come alive. They develop early writing skills as they draw using varied pencils, pens and stencils and improve dexterity by selecting appropriate materials for their collages.

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and outcomes for children

A large table is set out with several different shades of blues, silvers and white paints, shiny and textured strips of tissue and sugar paper, ribbons and trims, glitter, glue and a variety of scissors and paper and children are engrossed as they each make wonderful creations to display in the ‘winter wonderland’. They explore the properties of ice in the large tray in the centre of the room and challenge one another as they discuss what will happen to the ice and how it feels to hold and scoop.

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and outcomes for children

They collect their coats, gloves, hats and scarves ready to go outside. Here they investigate natural objects such as the icicles that have formed below the play house. They are amazed at these and are eager to touch and tap to see what happens. They show great interest in the frost that has appeared on a mirrored panel and watch others who make spirals and patterns with their fingers before inquisitively asking what is on their gloves as the ice forms on them. Others are excited by how the ground is slippery and that they are not able to push their friends around on trikes or in cars because they are sliding safely on the ice. These incidental learning opportunities are fully appreciated by staff who eagerly observe and participate when appropriate providing additional challenge as they ask questions or respond to the children with great interest. 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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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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