Henley Pre-School

Henley Preschool Centre Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 251517 Inspection date 24/03/2010 Inspector Sarah Johnson

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Setting address The Community Centre, Church Meadows, Henley, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP6 0RP Telephone number 01473 833 848 or 07979 468 467 Email enquiries@henleypreschool.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 0300 123 1231, 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: 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

Henley Preschool Centre registered in 1986. It is a registered charity and managed by a voluntary management committee made up of parents of children at the preschool. It operates from a room within a community centre in the village of Henley, close to Ipswich, Suffolk. An enclosed outdoor area is used for outdoor activities. The preschool opens each weekday morning during school term times from 9.00am to 11.45am. On Monday and Friday there is also a lunch club from 11.45am to 12.45pm and afternoon session from 12.45pm to 3.30pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions.

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Description of the setting

The provision is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register. A maximum of 25 children in the early years age range may attend the preschool at any one time. There are currently 32 children on roll. Children live in the surrounding area and some children also attend other nursery settings. The setting is in receipt of funding for early education for three and four year olds. There are strategies in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who are learning English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

There are four members of staff, including the manager, who work directly with the children. All staff hold appropriate early years qualifications and one member of staff is working towards a further qualification.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is satisfactory.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children make steady progress in their learning and development as the staff generally plan and facilitate an appropriate range of play opportunities. Most of the required documentation is in place to promote children's welfare and safety. Positive partnerships are fostered with parents as staff strive to provide meaningful opportunities for parents to get involved in preschool activities. There are secure strategies in place to ensure children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive the support they need to progress. With guidance from local authority advisors, the acting manager and staff team are beginning to work collaboratively together to self-evaluate the provision and identify areas for development that will improve outcomes for children.

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further?

To fully meet the specific requirements of the EYFS, the registered person must:

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further?

 keep a record of all accidents and any first aid treatment given (Safeguarding and promoting children's welfare). 12/04/2010 This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 To further improve the early years provision the registered person should:

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further?

 open up further opportunities for practitioners to work collaboratively within the setting; to share knowledge, question practice and test new ideas that will further improve the quality of the provision for all children  review the organisation of resources and materials in order to provide an environment that remains interesting, attractive and challenging to every child  improve the short-term planning to show how practitioners will extend children's thinking in everyday activities and support individual children to achieve the next steps in their developmental progress.

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the early years provision

All staff have a sound understanding of safeguarding children issues; the possible signs of abuse and the procedures to follow should they have concerns about a child in their care. Recruitment procedures are robust, ensuring all staff, committee members and students complete the required checks to confirm their suitability to be in contact with children. Daily risk assessments are effective and as a result, children are cared for in a safe and secure environment. For example, the entrance door and external gates are kept secure in order to prevent other users of the community centre from gaining access to the preschool room. A comprehensive range of written policies and procedures are in place, and in the main, these are implemented well in practice to ensure the setting runs smoothly. However, staff are not always sure of the policy with regard to dealing with accidents and occasionally the requirement to keep record of these is not met. Children are well

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the early years provision

supervised as they play; the required adult:child ratios are consistently met and the deployment of staff is flexible enough to respond to the flow and movement of children between the indoor and outdoor environments. Planning and use of available resources are sometimes inconsistent, resulting in planned goals in learning and development not being achieved as effectively as they could be. For example, children show little interest in the play dough as there are few modelling tools provided and staff do not intervene to ensure the activity offers sufficient challenge.

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the early years provision

Staff take time to chat to parents and carers and to form close partnerships with them. This ensures that relevant information is exchanged and continuity in children's care is promoted. Numerous displays, regular newsletters and informal meetings are offered to keep parents well informed about preschool activities and their children's ongoing developmental progress. Opportunities for parents to have hands-on involvement in preschool life are well promoted; they are invited to support sessions via the parent volunteer rota and encouraged to join the management committee. The staff have established good links with the local primary school to support children's transition into full-time school. For example, they organise visits so children can become familiar with the school environment and invite the teachers into the preschool to meet the children. The preschool's Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) also works closely with outside

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the early years provision

agencies, including a local authority Inclusion Officer, in order to support the needs This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, the staff are aware of how to access external funding when they are looking to source specialist equipment or resources to meet children's specific needs.

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the early years provision

The current manager and staff team are appropriately qualified and experienced for their roles. Positive support from local authority advisors has enabled the preschool to undertake some basic self-evaluation in order to prioritise key areas for improvement, however, this is undertaken largely by the manager without the full involvement of other staff, children and parents. Recommendations raised at the last inspection have generally been addressed. For example, children are now supported to understand the importance of personal hygiene practices through daily activities, and the procedure for administering medication is more secure.

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and outcomes for children

Children make sound progress in their learning and development given their starting points, ages and stages of development. An effective key person system ensures that children experience sound continuity of care and are supported throughout their time at the preschool. For example, staff take time to find out about children's starting points in learning when they first join the setting and continue to track their progress through frequent observations and assessments. Many of these observations are collated in the children's well presented 'learning journey' records, along with several meaningful photographs. Although this information is used effectively to identify the next steps in children's learning, these learning priorities are not always considered in the short-term planning to ensure activities are tailored for individual children.

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and outcomes for children

Staff prepare and plan the environment in order to provide a reasonable balance of experiences across all areas of learning and development. There is good provision for daily access to the outside learning environment, where children enjoy pedalling different ride-on toys, and groups of boys have space to design and build houses and football goals using various large cardboard boxes. There are some sensory experiences available for children through art and craft activities and discovery trays filled with ice, sand and water. For example, children enjoy making marks with blue paint in the snow and learn how to handle plants carefully as they transfer them into pots. Although staff are generally attentive to the needs of all the children, they do not always make the most of opportunities to ask open questions and to inspire children's deeper thinking. For example, there are sometimes missed opportunities to encourage children to test their concepts of

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and outcomes for children

space, shape and measures as they make snakes from play dough. Well resourced imaginative areas are established to promote children's role play, for example, a group of girls follow the same theme as they build a farmyard to accommodate the small world animals. Children make sound progress in communication and literacy. For example, they are able to recognise their name in print on their name cards, and enjoy singing familiar songs to their friends. Diversity is reflected in some areas of the preschool, mainly through displays and books featuring people of different genders and from various cultural backgrounds. This means that children are beginning to understand the society they live in and the wider world. Children This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 behave well; they like to be helpful towards others as they pass their friends an apron before reaching for their own, and they are keen to help when it is time to

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and outcomes for children

Children benefit from a healthy lifestyle at the preschool, with a balance of nutritious snacks, freely available drinks of water and access to fresh air. Staff work closely with parents to ensure children's individual dietary needs are respected, and they actively seek advice from outside healthcare professionals to enable them to administer medication via an EpiPen. Children are learning to manage their own personal hygiene routines; taking themselves off to the accessible hand washing facilities and explaining the importance of using the soap provided. Some children use their initiative and take responsibility for their own safety, whilst some require prompting by the staff. For example, they are encouraged to consider the risk of tripping over an apron when they leave it on the floor. 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 3 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 3 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 2 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 3

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 3 The extent to which children feel safe 3 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 3 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 3 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 3

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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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