Opportunity Pre-School

Opportunity Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 259068 Inspection date 29/06/2010 Inspector Dianne Andrews

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Setting address Kempsfield, Primrose Drive, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY3 7TP Telephone number 01743 247600 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 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as

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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

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

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

Opportunity Pre-School was established in 1989. It is situated in the Reabrook area of Shrewsbury in Shropshire and serves the Shrewsbury area. The purpose-built nursery has one activity room and secure outdoor play areas. The building has disabled access, disabled parking and disabled toilet. Adaptations are in place for the visually impaired.

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Description of the setting

The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register to care for up to 20 children in the early years age group. There are currently 42 children aged from two years to under five years on roll. This includes 31 funded three and four-year- olds and two funded two-year-olds. The pre-school supports children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language. The pre-school is open Monday to Friday during term-time only. Session times are from 9.00am until 11.30am and from 12.15pm until 2.45pm. There is a lunch club facility between 11.30am and 12.15pm for children wishing to stay all day. Children attend a variety of sessions.

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Description of the setting

There are six members of staff working with the children. The pre-school leader is a qualified teacher and has Early Years Professional status. All other staff hold suitable early years qualifications. The pre-school is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance.

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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

The organisation and management of the pre-school is highly effective in promoting excellent outcomes for all children. They flourish with the support, care and dedication demonstrated by each member of staff; they are extremely happy, confident and settled and have great fun in an environment where their welfare needs are consistently and effectively promoted. Highly valued partnerships with parents and others ensures individual needs are closely met. Management and staff are highly successful in ensuring that all children are well integrated and achieving as much as they can, and in overcoming barriers which may prevent this. The proficient and accurate systems of monitoring and assessment show considerable capacity to maintain continuous improvement. Fresh and resourceful ideas implemented following identification for improvements, enables the setting to accomplish the outstanding quality that they 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?

 promote children's understanding of why rules exist further when explaining boundaries and limits to them. 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 and her staff plan their work in great detail and provide outstanding provision to promote the children’s excellent learning and development during their time in pre-school. An excellent range of policies and procedures are implemented diligently to ensure the efficient management of the setting and to safeguard the children's well-being effectively. Staff have designated roles and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding children and attend training opportunities to update and secure their knowledge and understanding. There are very effective procedures in place for identifying any child at risk of harm and liaising with the appropriate child agencies. Robust recruitment and vetting procedures and continued professional development support the high motivation of staff, ensuring that children are cared for by enthusiastic and valued adults.

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the early years provision

The manager uses a variety of ways to review the setting's practice regularly and through this ensures that they are highly successful in continuing to make improvements. The constructive methods of self-evaluation enable the valued opinions of staff, parents and others to be listened to and acted upon. For instance, parents complete questionnaires to review aspects, such as the key person system, to ensure that it is working effectively; they made comments such as 'having a key worker has helped give my child confidence in being in a different environment.' Children also have opportunities to contribute to the reflective practice as they evaluate their visits to the Forest School provision, this enables staff to effectively plan for future activities.

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the early years provision

The excellent leadership, management and staff relationships promote efficient team work. All staff are proactive in the implementation of their roles and daily responsibilities; their use of initiative ensures all areas of the premises remain safe and secure throughout the session. Cohesive staff deployment ensures children are closely supported and supervised and are kept active and involved. Key persons are assigned to individual children to ensure their needs are met, to monitor their development and to form notable relationships with parents. The considerable importance the setting gives to the partnership with parents is inspiring. Parents are unanimous in their praise and appreciation of the pre-school. They particularly benefit from the close working relationships formed and are actively involved in many social events such as local arts festivals. They are invited to sessions to help them become familiar and learn more about how the setting delivers the

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the early years provision

educational programme or to innovative relaxation evenings with an alternative therapist.

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the early years provision

The pre-school is highly committed to providing a fully inclusive provision and excels in ensuring that all children's needs are met. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language are fully involved at the setting. Staff seek advice, support and proactively welcome regular visits from outside agencies to improve their knowledge and ability to ensure all children thrive in this adaptable environment. Communication with other early years settings and local primary schools is This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 excellent. The manager shares her knowledge, skills and good practice with others during informal visits and training sessions; following a successful educational visit to Reggio Emilia in Northern Italy she is enabling other practitioners to share in the Reggio philosophy, focussing on the 'Unique Child' in order to enhance children's

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and outcomes for children

Children's welfare is extensively promoted within the safe and secure environment. Children are welcomed at the door by an enthusiastic, familiar adult and settle easily into the pre-school routines. Staff’s proactive, consistent and efficient systems for monitoring safety ensure that children are not at risk. Risk assessment posters prominently displayed highlight and remind staff and any visitors about how to keep children safe. Children learn about their own and others safety through purposeful experiences and discuss safe practices at various times during the day. However, occasionally staff do not take full opportunity to reinforce to children the reasons rules are in place. Children are busy and occupied in their play and are supported by staff to behave well. They readily respect and tolerate each other’s differences and most demonstrate exceptionally positive behaviour. They receive warm praise and encouragement for their efforts and achievements, which

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and outcomes for children

There is an excellent range of resources, which are well used by children as they develop their own play and learning. The storage of the resources is well planned and enables staff and children easy access. Children help to maintain a safe play environment as they tidy away resources after sessions, staff use soothing music as a vehicle to signify this time, particularly to aid children with communication or comprehension difficulties. Children are successfully encouraged to develop their own personal hygiene skills such as independent toileting and automatically washing their hands before meals or after messy activities. Children are encouraged to eat healthily; an attractive plate of vegetables and fruit is quickly devoured at snack time because all children thoroughly enjoy the healthy food. The outdoor area, which children access regularly throughout the day, provides excellent opportunities for children to engage in energetic activity and develop

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and outcomes for children

their physical skills. They use a variety of wheeled toys, negotiating turn-taking and developing their awareness of space as they manoeuvre around obstacles and other children at play. Children are guided to use the equipment sensibly and safely. There is always a generous ratio of adults to children and this helps to create a safe and supportive environment.

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and outcomes for children

All children thrive in this vibrant and child-centred atmosphere. They thoroughly enjoy the resourceful balance of adult-led, freely-chosen and child-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 extending discussions and challenging the children with realistic achievements across the six areas of learning and development. They have clear and considerate knowledge of individual children, which is informed by valuable systematic and spontaneous observations and assessments and is used efficiently to plan for their This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 next steps for future learning. Planning is very flexible and activities and experiences are adapted to reflect children’s interests. For example, the relaxation area in the outdoor environment is developed into fairyland where children

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and outcomes for children

imaginatively make use of a range of resources to create roles and characters. Children develop an appreciation of the wider world as they explore cultural and religious events throughout the year and are introduced to unfamiliar foods from different countries and cultures. They access an excellent range of toys and resources, which reflect positive images of diversity and see a variety of simple words written in different languages displayed on posters.

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and outcomes for children

Most children are confident speakers, encouraged by staff who provide effective explanations to children's questions and encourage meaningful conversation. They discuss topical subjects such as the world cup football games and their descriptions of where the games take place are recorded, showing their critical thinking skills. Those with communication difficulties are fully included in the sessions as staff use sign language, actions or pictorial images to convey messages. Children listen and respond very well to stories and enjoy looking at the wide variety of books on offer. They relish the many opportunities for mark making, for example, in the sand, drawing, painting and chalking outdoors. Some older children are able to write their own names on their art work whilst others form recognisable letters as they write shopping lists and notes for their parents.

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and outcomes for children

Children's problem solving, reasoning and numeracy skills are fostered very well in practical contexts. They take part in interesting activities such as number treasure hunts to recognise and match numerals and use a variety of receptacles to collect water, using mathematical language as they experiment with volume and quantity. Attending Forest School activities provides children with superb opportunities to investigate and examine features of their local environment and seasonal changes, in addition to taking self-calculated risks in a controlled setting. Children are very creative, inspired by the Reggio approach to promote respect, responsibility, and community through exploration and discovery, children have daily opportunities to experiment with an array of natural materials and artefacts and to begin to capture their creations using a digital camera. Children delight in bringing 'found items' and

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and outcomes for children

scented flowers to add to the area and celebrate the use of their senses to appreciate the fragrance of herbs such as lavender in it's natural form and when added to the play dough. They are fully supported in their experiences by enthusiastic, caring and interested adults who very obviously enjoy being with the children and giving the very best. 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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