Rainbow Pre School Playgroup

Rainbow Pre-School Playgroup

Inspection report for early years provision

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Rainbow Pre-School Playgroup

Unique Reference Number EY294245 Inspection date 30 November 2005 Inspector Claire Sheldrake

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Rainbow Pre-School Playgroup

Setting Address Community Gardens, Parkway, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA6 4QX Telephone number 01278 452306

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E-mail

Registered person Rainbow Pre-School Playgroup 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?

The pre-school opened in its current premises in 2004 and operates from a purpose built building. It is situated within a residential area, close to the centre of Bridgwater. A maximum of 24 children may attend the session at any one time. The pre-school runs two sessions each day from 09:00 to 11:30 and 12:15 to 14:45, term time only. All children have access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. There are currently 38 children aged from 2 to under 5 years on roll. Of these 28

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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 children receive funding for nursery education. The nursery supports six children who have been identified as having special needs. At present there are no children who speak English as an additional language. The pre-school employs four staff. Three of the staff hold appropriate early years qualifications. The pre-school has close links with the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership and other agencies such as the opportunity group.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children are learning about how to keep themselves healthy, through being involved in the daily routine at pre-school. They are learning how to be responsible for dressing themselves when putting on coats, doing zips, and putting on boots to go outside. Each child is then supported in trying to put back on their own shoes, attempting laces, Velcro and buckles. Children are encouraged to recognise their own needs when using the toilet and are familiar with the hand washing routines before snacks and after craft and painting activities. They join in with songs during each session; these are helping the children recognise different parts of their bodies and about washing routines and looking after their personal needs. The children play outside regularly. They take part in activities, such as pedalling bikes, running through the leaves and skipping around the garden, all contributing to

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Helping children to be healthy

their physical development. They learn about controlling their bodies through music and movement, balancing, stamping and creeping along to a musical tape. They are finding out about changes in their bodies. They talk about being wet, coming in from the garden, hot, after running around in the garden, and tired, after finishing the music and movement tape. Staff extend this by asking the children how they feel, and ask the children to feel their heart beat after the exercise.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children are kept very safe in a purpose built premises with good attention to safety details. The entrance gates, which are locked, and can be opened from inside the building, and a large secure fence in the garden area, ensure that children's safety is well met. Children play in an open plan play room, which allows them to play freely, whilst under good supervision. Staff deploy themselves well to supervise the children and they in turn play safely.

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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 are aware that they are not allowed to run whilst in the play room and are quick to point out to the staff if there is something spilt on the floor. This ensures that any risk to children is then minimised. On wet days, children play on a climbing frame in the play room. This is well monitored and children are aware of the need to replace the bean bag at the bottom of the slide, for the next child. They take turns on this well and are learning about waiting within a queue system. Children are beginning to understand what is right and wrong, and understand the consequences of their words and actions. Staff are quick to respond to incidents and take time to help children consider other peoples feelings. Documentation covering safety is available and a risk assessment is carried out. The

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

written evidence does not include the outside area or doors.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children benefit from a well organised, well resourced environment where they are encouraged to be independent in their choices of play. The children are enthusiastic and confident as they play. They move between the activities and enjoy trying out new experiences, like the water play in the garden, as well as choosing to play with favourites. They are beginning to form strong relationships with each other and communication skills are being developed. The current topic is about 'transport' and the children are enjoying looking at different modes of transport, past and present. They have talked about how they work, and have even been able to travel on a bus into town. Children use familiar songs and rhymes to explore and learn about their bodies and the environment. They join in with words, sounds and repetition, enjoying the richness of language. Children enjoy exploring a wide range of activities which contribute to their creative

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

development, such as dancing, listening and moving to music, painting, baking and model making. Nursery Education. The quality of teaching and learning is good and the children are making sound progress towards the Early Learning Goals. The children are involved in a broad range of activities contributing to their development, they communicate well, they listen and respond to stories and rhymes, and sing along to the music and movement song tape. Children explore books in the book corner, they turn pages, identify images and count them. They also have fun seeing how the print and pictures

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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 change when looked at through a magnifying glass. Children are learning about writing their own names. They are encouraged to write their name on each of their paintings and pictures and are then able to see it written by a member of staff. There are further opportunities for children to write on lists and note pads in the home corner. Children are experiencing play using malleable materials such as clay, corn flour, and play dough. These encourage children's small muscle development and improve their dexterity skills. Dressing up and role play activities and experiences in the home corner promote children’s imagination, and help them learn about themselves and their family’s lifestyle. One child decided that she wanted to pretend to be a squirrel and designed a map for the staff to follow, in order to find her at home in her tree house.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are introduced to early mathematical skills through counting and songs after snack time. This encourages the children to calculate, recognise sequences and begin to compare numbers. They enjoy learning about how properties change when corn flour is mixed with water, and about volume, when pouring with jugs in the water play. They also learn about floating and sinking using the shells, plastic fish and pebbles. The children are able to explore and investigate objects and find out about living things, such as keeping African land snails and a nest box. They are learning about how things grow and change, through activities such as growing cress and hyacinth bulbs. They know about everyday technology, when in the home corner using the telephone, microwave and tills, as well as a computer with a suitable education package. The children are able to build and construct using a large range of objects, and they

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

enjoy staff helping them design a road track for the cars. Children move around confidently, they show good balance and co-ordination skills and are able to travel along, up and over the indoor climbing frame. This really helps children to develop their physical movements.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children are encouraged to learn about themselves and how they fit into their own community. The topic this month is travel and movement, and the children have all been taken on a bus trip into town. This hands on practical experience allows children to link the topic with real life experiences. Children are treated with equal concern and each of their individual needs are met. The staff know the children well and respond to their needs, giving recognition of their age and understanding. Children with special needs are identified and supported. The staff use signing, as well as verbal commands, when talking to the

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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 children, and in turn the children are using these signs back to them. Good adult ratios, and good staff deployment, allow children to thrive with in the group, and supports each of the children to participate in all activities. Children's behaviour at times can be challenging; however, staff remain calm, give clear messages and are consistent, to help children recognise what is, and what is not, acceptable within the group. The children are interested and excited to learn and are keen to be involved in new activities, for example, the corn flour. Some children sit together in a group, taking turns, and concentrate well with this activity whilst others are happy to select resources from around the room, and play independently. The partnerships made with parents are good. Strong relationships and links are in

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Helping children make a positive contribution

place, to keep parents informed of their child's progress. Regular opportunities are made for liaising with parents to ensure children's needs are met. Parents are encouraged to be involved in the group's fund raising activities, and dressed their children up in pyjamas for Children in Need. The provision fosters children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The children benefit from being looked after by a strong team of staff, who have worked together for a substantial amount of time, and know each other well. They move around the play room well and spend time with the children talking, answering questions, instigating games and supporting their play. The group run a high scope system, which encourages children to choose what they would like to play with. They get together at the end of the session to recall what they have played with, and what they have enjoyed doing. Long term plans identify the learning objectives and learning experiences for children to cover all areas of their development. These are then recorded and evaluated in the children's individual development folders. Together with the long term plans, the short term, daily planning is displayed in the entrance lobby. However, parents are not always aware of these displays.

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Organisation

Leadership and management is good. There is a strong identity to the group and staff are confident about their roles and responsibilities. Staff are committed to the group and are encouraged to attend training. The staff are very well supported by the committee, who actively take part in the day to day running of the group. This allows for an even better adult to child ratio, and the opportunity for some children to interact with a male member of staff. The staff are committed to improving the care and education for all its children and are working with other agencies, such as liaising with the opportunity group to support each child's needs. The provision meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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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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Complaints since the last inspection

There have been no complaints made to Ofsted 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.

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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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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 risk assessment, to identify and record each of the checks that have been carried out.

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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): • develop the short term planning to identify activities and learning objectives for the 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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