Warborough & Shillingford Pre-School

Warborough & Shillingford Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY351101 Inspection date 26/05/2010 Inspector Peter Callow

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Setting address St. Laurence C E Primary School, 16 Thame Road, Warborough, WALLINGFORD, Oxfordshire, OX10 7DX Telephone number 01865 859933 Email wasps@smartemail.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

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

Warborough and Shillingford pre-school opened in 1966 and moved to new premises in 2007. It is run by a parent management committee and operates from a purpose-built building within the grounds of St Laurence Primary School in the village of Warborough, near Wallingford, Oxfordshire. The setting is registered on both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The Pre-School and the primary school are in a Partnership Foundation Stage Unit (PFSU) agreement. The majority of children attending the pre-school come from the village and go on to attend the primary school. A small number do not have English as their first language.

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Description of the setting

The Pre-School is open from 9.00am to 3.00pm for children aged from two to five years. It is registered for 26 children and there are currently 34 on roll. Of these, 21 receive early years funding. Numbers attending vary in each session, with an average of 24 attending during the morning, 16 for lunch and 12 children during the afternoon session. The pre-school also runs a holiday club for two weeks at Easter and three weeks during the summer. This is open from 9.00am to 5.30pm each day, with numbers restricted to 16.

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Description of the setting

The pre-school building is single-storey, with a ramped entrance. It consists of an open-plan main room and kitchen, with a separate office and computer suite. The children have access to a secure enclosed outdoor area, which has a substantial part that is decked and roofed. Eight members of staff are employed, four of whom hold an appropriate early years qualification to NVQ level 3 or above. Two members of staff hold a level 2 qualification and one has qualified teacher status and teaches French.

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Description of the setting

An after-school club operates from 3.00pm to 5.30pm each day, accepting children aged from three to eleven years. On average 10 children attend the after-school club each day, but there is a wide variation in numbers throughout the week.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is good.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Warborough and Shillingford Pre-School is a good setting which provides an attractive, stimulating and safe environment in which all children can learn and play. They are extremely happy and confident because the adults know them really well, take good care of them and respond to their individual needs. As a result, children feel very safe and secure and make good progress in both their personal and academic development. The manager's outstanding drive and commitment, together with the support of a hard-working and loyal team, provide good capacity to improve.

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further?

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?

 ensure that every opportunity is taken for adults to challenge children's thinking and understanding, through skilled questioning  develop the outdoor environment to the same high quality as the indoor environment in order to maximise children's learning in all six areas of the curriculum.

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the early years provision

Children enjoy coming to the pre-school because it is bright and welcoming and there are exciting, good quality resources to help them learn. They also feel very secure because of the extremely rigorous and effective systems to keep them safe. Clear and comprehensive procedures are in place, including those for the vetting of new staff, and adults demonstrate throughout the day how seriously they take their responsibilities, for example when securing the entrance and kitchen doors. The staff's knowledge of safeguarding procedures is continuously updated and risk assessments of the premises and the activities to be undertaken are carried out at least twice a day.

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the early years provision

Leaders have a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development in the provision at the setting and the manager is very determined to bring about further improvement. Whilst the action plans are appropriate, they are not always sufficiently focused on the outcomes for the children. The manager displays a very strong sense of purpose amongst the staff which ensures high morale and good team work. Sessions run smoothly and efficiently because of the effective organisation and established routines. There is a good range of policies in place but leaders are aware that some have not been reviewed for some time and need to be updated.

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the early years provision

Children of all abilities and backgrounds achieve well because of the inclusive nature of the setting and the staff's understanding of their various needs, including those who do not have English as their first language. Every effort is made to identify a child who might need additional support for their learning and there are good links with outside agencies to provide this. The setting has a range of effective partnerships with others, particularly St Laurence Primary School and they share facilities and take part in activities together. There are good opportunities for children who are moving up to the school to visit. Leaders acknowledge that their links with other pre-schools are under-developed.

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the early years provision

Parents are keen to say how engaged they feel with the pre-school. They are able to stay with their child when they want, they can volunteer to help and they regularly get information about their child's progress. They are given helpful guidance about how to support their child's learning and development, for example the display in the foyer on Every Child a Talker gives suggestions on how to encourage talk with young children. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

From the moment the children enter the setting it is evident that they are very happy to be there and feel extremely safe and secure because of the good welfare arrangements. They know the routines, such as finding their own name and posting it into the attendance box, and immediately settle to the wide range of activities that have been carefully planned to interest them and meet their needs. The attractive environment, both inside and outside is used well to develop their skills across the six areas of learning and the children move independently from one activity to another. A lot has been done to develop the outdoor area since the last inspection but leaders are aware there is scope for further improvement, and the action plans reflect this. There are missed opportunities to encourage large scale mark-making outside.

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and outcomes for children

The children behave well and there are excellent relationships with the adults who are responsive to their individual needs. The children are cooperative with one another, share their toys and wait to take turns on the equipment. They also show a great awareness for each other's safety, for example when they are doing the actions for ‘Sticky Kids' they move away from those children closest to them so they don't get hurt. Children have a good understanding of ways to keep themselves healthy and explain confidently about the need to wash their hands before eating their snacks because of germs. Snack time is used well to encourage children's social skills, their feelings of being part of the pre-school community and also their language and numeracy skills. For example, they learn to wait until it is their turn to receive the food, they have a conversation with the adult about the food they would like and they count the plates as they are given out.

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and outcomes for children

Children make good progress and the wide range of skills that they will need for the future are developing well. This is because the adults observe the children carefully, plan well and generally know when it is helpful to intervene in their play and ask questions. There are examples of outstanding learning, for example when children were observed engaging with an adult in discussion about beach towels. As a result of the adult's interventions the children not only learned how to fold a towel but how it could be folded into different mathematical shapes and what the names of the shapes were. Skilful questioning facilitated this learning but it is not consistently at this high level and so opportunities are missed to challenge the children's thinking and understanding and so move their learning on quickly, particularly for those who are older or are more able. The use of the Every Child a Talker programme is making a good impact on pupils' language development but

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and outcomes for children

also on enhancing adults' skills of teaching. Leaders are aware of that some of the strategies involved, such as the focus on group work, have the capacity to improve learning further in other areas. 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 2 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 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 2

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 2 The extent to which children feel safe 1 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 2 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 2

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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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