The Cabin

Far Bank Pre-School

Inspection report for early years provision

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Far Bank Pre-School

Unique Reference Number 311309 Inspection date 05 October 2005 Inspector Helene Anne Terry

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Far Bank Pre-School

Setting Address The Cabin, School Terrace, Shelley, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD8 8HU Telephone number 01484 600519

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E-mail

Registered person Far Bank Pre-School 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?

Far Bank Pre-School was registered in 1991. It is a voluntary organisation and is managed by a committee. It meets in a portacabin in the grounds of Shelley First School and serves the rural village of Shelley which is on the outskirts of Huddersfield. A maximum of 16 children may attend the pre-school at any one time. It is open term time only from 09:00 to 11:30 Monday to Friday and 12:45 to 15:15 Monday and Wednesday. There are also sessions for younger children 13:15 to

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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 15:15 Tuesday and Thursday. The children have access to a secure outdoor play area. There are currently 41 children on roll between the ages of two-and-a-half and five years. Of these 27 children receive funding for nursery education. There are no children attending who speak English as an additional language and the setting supports children with special needs. The pre-school has five staff who work with the children. All staff have early years qualification to level 3 and above. The setting receives support from the local authority and is currently working towards an accredited quality assurance scheme.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children are cared for in a clean and well maintained environment where effective procedures and practices ensure that children's physical, nutritional and health needs are fully addressed. The staff provide good support and guidance to ensure that children develop a good understanding of hygiene, such as encouraging them to wash their hands after toileting. Children are effectively protected from cross infection through the use of good hygiene practices and procedures. This includes the regular washing of equipment and a sickness policy containing exclusion periods for various childhood illnesses. These are made available to parents. A good balanced healthy diet is promoted to foster children's health and development. They are offered drinks and snacks regularly throughout the session. Children are also beginning to understand about food that is good for them as they are encouraged to make healthy choices. Individual dietary needs are fully

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Helping children to be healthy

considered to promote children's well being. Children enjoy a wide range of physical activities, which contribute to their good health. They have regular access to physical activities both indoors and outdoors; such as the use of balancing equipment, small bikes, hoops and bats and balls. However, more able children are limited in their abilities to develop their large physical skills, owing to lack of opportunities to enable them to climb and swing.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children move around safely and freely in the well organised setting, where risks are identified and minimised by staff through very good practices. Access to the provision is monitored very well. Doors are locked at the start of the sessions and staff ensure children leave at the end of sessions with a known adult in order to protect children. Staff fully comply with health and safety requirements to keep children safe. Children are also learning well about their own personal safety.

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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 Children use a broad range of good quality, developmentally appropriate resources that foster all areas of their development. Resources are age related within the pre-school. Most resources are very well organised into specific areas of learning within the playroom at child height; encouraging children to make choices and promote their independence skills. Other items are stored neatly in the storage area. This enables staff to ensure that children play with developmentally appropriate resources. Children are protected because the staff have updated their knowledge and understanding of child protection by attending training. However, their roles and responsibilities are not clearly defined in their policy regarding allegations of abuse made against a member of staff.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Staff provide a very good range of activities and play opportunities to foster all areas of children's development. Activities and resources in the playroom are age specific for children attending and these are all easily accessible ensuring children have free choice, which promotes independence. Children were observed to move between activities freely spending as much or as little time as they wished, depending on their interests. This ensures that children take responsibility for their own stage of learning by the ways in which they interact with materials available to them. The daily routine is varied and flexible, with times for children to have snacks and take part in activities both indoors and outdoors. The interaction between staff and children is very good, ensuring that warm trusting relationships are developed and that children are very happy and settled. Staff spend

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

all of their time playing with the children, giving support, using playful talk and encouraging them to explore their environment. Staff are sensitive to individual needs, for example, a child not wishing to take part in a game outdoors had individual attention when she looked at books with a member of staff. Nursery Education The quality of teaching and learning are good. All staff have good knowledge of the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage and of how children learn effectively. The planning, which is informally linked to the children's assessments, enables staff to provide many challenging, interesting, practical activities to extend learning. However, planning is not differentiated for the differing ages of the children in the setting, nor is it linked to the stepping stones along which children are progressing towards the early learning goals. This hinders staff's ability to identify the intended

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

learning outcomes for some activities. Staff are good at using incidental activities to develop learning opportunities, such as expanding children's understanding about the emergency services, when a child mentioned calling 999 during role play. Methods used to engage children in the activities are very good. Staff are patient, they listen to the children, respect their views and create warm caring relationships, which gives children a sense of belonging and boosts self esteem.

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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 Overall the children are making good progress in all areas of learning. They are happy to attend the setting and enter the playroom confidently, as they seek out friends or their favourite activities. They display high levels of involvement in the activities and spend a good deal of time sat at their chosen activities, interacting with staff. For example, children concentrated very hard during playing dominoes and making biscuits out of dough for the other children. Children operate independently within the pre-school, seeing to their own personal hygiene, choosing activities from the shelves and helping staff tidy activities away. They are learning to share, take turns and be co-operative. This was demonstrated very well when two children confidently passed around the dish of cheese cubes at snack time; ensuring that

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

everyone had a fair share. Children are beginning to make good attachments to others in the group and have friends they like to be with. They speak clearly, confidently and have the self confidence to speak with others about their wants and needs. More able children ask staff for help and ask questions about what they see. Children's emergent reading and writing skills are developing well. They know how to handle books appropriately, turning pages from left to right. More able children are beginning to write recognisable letters of the alphabet, particularly when they write their own names. Children's progress in their mathematical development is a strength of the setting. They count very well and some children can recognise numbers up to five. They talk about numbers and shapes in their play and more able children are beginning to do simple calculations during singing and actions rhymes. Children are beginning to find out more about the world in which they live. They enjoy

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

looking at changes to materials, for example, as they mix paints. They are beginning to use tools effectively and safely; when they use scissors, shape cutters and rolling pins to effect changes to materials. They construct well with a purpose in mind, as they build towers, people and animals. They talk about their home life and holidays they have had, demonstrating that they can recall significant things that have happened to them using past and present terms. Children also know how to use simple equipment on the computer, to enable them to attempt simple programmes. Children move freely with pleasure and confidence both indoors and outdoors. They negotiate space well and can adjust their speed to avoid obstacles when playing on the wheeled toys, so as to avoid injury to one another. They enjoy physical games and jump and hop competently. However, the more able children are restricted in developing their large physical skills owing to the limited opportunities for them to

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

climb and swing. Children confidently explore a very good range of creative materials, such as paint, malleable materials, collage, sand and water. They freely access these materials to represent their feelings, thoughts and ideas and staff effectively support them to extend learning as children enter in dialogue about what they have created.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children's individual needs are very effectively met through a variety of means

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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 including information received from parents at the gradual induction of the child. Staff are pro-active in identifying areas of development in which some children may need extra help and discuss issues with parents to enhance development. Children with specific needs are very well supported. A very good range of resources positively represent diversity in society and children celebrate a variety of festivals from around the world. This enables children to develop a positive attitude towards others and enables them to make connections between different parts of their lives. The staff have a very good awareness of positive behaviour management techniques to enhance children's well being. Children learn to share, take turns and learn about the consequences of their behaviour on others. Lots of praise and encouragement

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Helping children make a positive contribution

was observed to be offered to children; boosting confidence and self esteem. This fosters their spiritual, moral and social development. Children benefit from the sound partnership developed between staff and parents. Children are cared for according to parent's wishes which promote continuity of care and their well being. There are effective systems in place to ensure information is shared on a regular basis about the children's progress and daily activities, for example, through daily chats with staff, access to the child's key person and development records. Policies and procedures are available to parents about the setting and a newsletter is used to update on any changes and forthcoming events. This promotes the two way process in enhancing children's progress. Parents are also actively encouraged to be involved in their child's learning by bringing in items related to themes being followed. However, information on how parents can extend

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Helping children make a positive contribution

learning at home, to enrich their child's development, is limited.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Space, resources and deployment of staff are used very effectively to meet the needs of the children and enhance their well being. Adult child ratios are consistently maintained and children benefit from the experience of good qualified staff, who hold level 3 or above qualifications in care and education. The good range of policies and procedures effectively underpin the setting. However, the new regulations introduced in October 2005, to further protect children and inform parents have yet to be implemented, owing to the delay in the setting receiving this information. Leadership and management within the setting are good. Management is motivated and enthusiastic and all staff take full advantage of the training opportunities available to them. Managers reflect effectively on their practice within the setting, which enables them to identify the settings strengths and weaknesses and implement

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Organisation

beneficial plans to make changes. However, systems for evaluating the curriculum are limited, which compromises staff's ability to identify gaps in individual children's learning. Staff work very well as a team and are aware of their roles and responsibilities in most areas. Everyone is committed to the continued improvement of the care and education of the children. Overall the provision meets the needs of the children who attend well.

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Organisation

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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Improvements since the last inspection

The previous care and nursery education inspections recommended that the setting improve some of their documentation with regard to their child protection policy, systems for the induction and monitoring the effectiveness of staff and the accident records. It was also recommended that they obtain more resources reflecting positive images of disability in society. To improve nursery education it was recommended that children have more opportunities to write for a purpose and use numbers in practical activities. It was also recommended that planning and children's assessments be further developed. Satisfactory improvements have been made. The child protection procedure now includes a statement regarding allegations of abuse being made against a member of staff, however, it is limited in information on the procedures to follow. Management are currently in the process of developing systems to improve the effectiveness of

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Improvements since the last inspection

staff. Accident records are now maintained effectively to enhance children's well being and the resources representing positive images of disability in society have been increased very well, ensuring that children develop a good understanding of people's differences and similarities. Children are beginning to use writing for different purposes around the setting when they use clip boards and diaries during play. They use numbers extremely well during practical activities and some more able children are doing simple calculations during number action songs and games. Staff have made little progress in differentiating planning for the different stages of development of children. However, they have developed children's assessment records to link in with the stepping stones and do use these to inform future planning. This helps children progress well towards the early learning goals.

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Complaints 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. There are no complaints to report.

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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 MUST BE DONE TO SECURE FUTURE IMPROVEMENT?

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

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • extend the child protection statement to clearly define procedures to follow should allegations of abuse be made against a member of staff or volunteer • update policies and procedures in line with the new regulations, including the recording of complaints and the recruitment and vetting procedures of staff.

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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): • provide more challenging opportunities for more able children to climb and swing to develop large physical skills • provide more information for parents on how they can extend learning at home; to enrich their child's development • develop planning for activities; linking learning outcomes for children to the stepping stones and differentiating for younger and more able children.

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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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