Peter Pan Pre-School

Peter Pan Pre-School

Inspection report for early years provision

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Peter Pan Pre-School

Unique Reference Number 221860 Inspection date 19 January 2006 Inspector Lorraine Hunt

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Peter Pan Pre-School

Setting Address King Edward Centre, Railway Lane, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, PE16 6NG Telephone number 01354 692 658

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E-mail

Registered person Peter Pan 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 satisfactory. 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 satisfactory.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Peter Pan Pre-School is a parent committee run group which has been registered since 1992. It operates from one large hall and an additional lobby area within the community centre in Chatteris. The centre is shared with other local groups and support services. A maximum of 24 children may attend the group at any one time. The pre-school is open 5 days a week from 09:00 to 11:45 during school term times. All children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area.

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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 There are currently 19 children aged from 2 to 5 years on roll. Of these, 16 children receive funding for nursery education. Children mostly come from the local area. Children may attend the group from the age of 2 years 10 months. The pre-school currently supports a number of children with special educational needs and is able to support children who have English as an additional language. The nursery employs 4 staff, 3 of whom, including the manager, hold appropriate early years qualifications. There are no staff currently working towards a qualification.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children are learning the importance of good personal hygiene through routines such as washing their hands after using the toilet and before eating their snack, and know that they need to wash their hands "so we don't get germs". Staff are all trained in first aid which enables them to provide appropriate care to children who have an accident or become unwell. Supporting documentation is in place, with the exception of written parental permission to seek emergency medical advice or treatment. This could delay appropriate attention being sought and put children at risk. Children enjoy exercise and develop a positive approach to this through daily planned outside physical play opportunities which include playing with balls, bean bags, riding trikes and bikes and also indoor activities such as parachute play, dancing and action songs. Children are learning to use a range of small equipment

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Helping children to be healthy

such as scissors, paint brushes and the computer mouse with increasing confidence, control and support from staff. Children benefit from the staff's knowledge and understanding of nutrition. Information is gathered from parents about children's individual dietary requirements which ensures their needs are met. Children are offered a varied range of small pieces of fruit at snack time which encourages them to try new foods and they are able to access regular drinks throughout the session which encourages healthy drinking practices.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children move around freely and safely in the large hall using a satisfactory planned range of safe equipment and resources that are appropriate for their age and stage of development. These are cleaned and checked regularly to ensure that they are safe, clean and in good condition. Children are able to self access limited resources from shelves and trays at child height to promote their independence, although staff rotate these regularly to provide children with additional opportunities to make choices and develop their own play. Children's safety is enhanced by suitable security procedures to restrict access to the

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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 setting, regular fire drills and staff's vigilance in their supervision of children. Although staff remind children of safety rules in the setting during the course of the session, they do not explain the dangers to them, for example, why they should not lean back on their chairs or run in the hall, to help develop children's understanding of hazards and to encourage them to take responsibility for themselves. Children are protected and kept safe from harm as the staff have a satisfactory knowledge of child protection procedures which includes recording existing injuries. Sound recording systems ensure that parents are informed of accidents, incidents or injuries their child sustains whilst at the setting.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children are happy and settled in the pre-school and benefit from the positive interaction from the staff, which develops their confidence and self-esteem. The needs of children new to the group are particularly well met through sensitive staff support. Children's independence is satisfactorily promoted. They move around freely accessing the activities and resources provided, although they have fewer opportunities to develop their own play and interests through independently choosing their own resources. They confidently choose songs to sing at group time, are learning to be independent with their own hygiene and to put on aprons for water play. Nursery education. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Staff have a satisfactory understanding of the Foundation Stage curriculum, and of how children learn, and use this to plan a suitable range of activities that cover all six areas of learning. Staff

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

have recently started to use a new pilot profile, in conjunction with the main feeder school, to assess children's progress towards the early learning goals. However, parents are not given the opportunity to share what they know about their child's abilities on starting at the group. As a result some activities do not offer sufficient differentiation or suitable challenges to meet the needs of all children. Three and four year old children are keen to share experiences with staff and other children. They communicate confidently and clearly, negotiating roles and ideas in role play situations as they talk about being "princesses" and "witches in the sky." They access books independently, handle them with care and understand that print carries meaning as they enjoy 'reading' books to each other. Staff use open ended questions to promote children's thinking, for example, as they ask children in the water play how they might be able to get the water into a tube without it pouring all

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

over the sides. Children display good levels of confidence and are eager to participate in activities such as making play dough. They use number names, count and recognise numerals as they follow the recipe. They are beginning to recognise shapes and understand quantity as they compare "full" and "empty" containers when playing with water. However, there are limited opportunities for children to develop and practise skills of counting using one to one correspondence, calculation and problem solving as part of everyday activities and routines.

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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 Children are beginning to make sense of the world around them by investigating and exploring through first hand experiences, for example by looking at the features of their environment during local walks, scooping out a pumpkin at Halloween and exploring technology through daily opportunities to use the computer. Topics such as 'Autumn' and 'All about me' help to develop children's understanding of time, place and changes and an awareness that they are part of families and the setting. Children enjoy playing together and make positive relationships; they are developing an awareness of their own needs and those of others. They help to find pieces of duplo for each other's models and four year olds understand about taking turns and valuing one another as they talk about 'reading' a story "after you" and wanting to sit

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

next to another child "because you are my friend". Children enjoy experimenting with sounds from musical instruments and join in enthusiastically with familiar songs and rhymes. However, there are limited opportunities for children to express their own thoughts and ideas in art and craft; children are not challenged to develop their creative and imaginative skills as most activities are predominantly adult led and focus on the product rather than the process, which impinges on children's creativity.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Children behave well; staff praise and encourage children's efforts and achievements which helps to develop children's confidence and self esteem. Staff generally use effective strategies to manage children's behaviour. This means children are beginning to understand what is expected of them. Children are learning to take turns and play harmoniously together. They show pride at being the day's 'special helper'. Children share experiences about their families and are beginning to gain an awareness of the wider world through the use of appropriate positive resources, planned activities and celebrations, local visits and visitors to the group. As a result, children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is being fostered appropriately. Children benefit from the flexible settling in procedures to support them in the transition between home and pre-school. This ensures that they feel secure and

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Helping children make a positive contribution

settle readily. Children with special educational needs are well supported; key staff have taken up relevant training opportunities to develop their knowledge and practice to ensure children with special needs are suitably supported in order to make progress. The partnership with parents of children who receive nursery education is satisfactory. Parents receive basic written information about the Foundation Stage curriculum and have termly opportunities to discuss, and contribute to, their child's assessment of progress towards the early learning goals. However, parents are not invited to share information about their child's abilities when they start at the setting. Information is shared informally with parents on a daily basis and they are also given information sheets which indicate to parents what they can do with their child at home to support topics and activities and enhance their child's learning.

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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

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Children are cared for in a well organised environment. Staff know their roles and responsibilities and implement routines which give children a satisfactory range of experiences and a sense of security. Children benefit from the above average adult:child ratio and the deployment of staff, who interact with them to give suitable support and encouragement at indoor activities. This helps to make them secure and confident. However, staff are not as effective at identifying and meeting all children's needs during outdoor play. Children are kept safe and healthy because staff attend training opportunities to develop and update their knowledge and practice, for example health and safety, first aid, behaviour management and special needs courses. Ofsted have not been informed of changes to the committee who constitute the 'Registered Provider' which has overall responsibility for the running of the group.

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Organisation

This is a breach of National Standards regulations. Procedures are followed to ensure that adults who have not been vetted never have unsupervised access to children. Most documentation is in place to underpin practice but the systems for recruitment and induction of staff are not sufficiently robust and policies are in need of reviewing and updating. The quality of leadership and management of nursery education is satisfactory. Staff meet regularly to share information and exchange practice ideas. They are eager to attend further training to improve their understanding and practice in early years education and to enable them to help all children achieve well. Most staff hold appropriate early years qualifications but there is no formal evaluation of staff performance or appraisals to monitor staff development. Similarly there is no system in place for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the early years curriculum,

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Organisation

although the staff found the recent self evaluation exercise useful in identifying their current strengths and weaknesses. Overall the provision meets the needs of the children attending.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the provider agreed to develop an operational plan and lost child and outings policies and to ensure that adults were aware of children's dietary needs. An operational plan is still being completed which now contains these policies. Procedures have been put in place to ensure that adults are made aware of any dietary requirements, if and when they arise. The registered provider also agreed to develop the system of planning and assessment and to provide opportunities for children to write for a purpose. Planning now covers all six areas of learning and assessment shows children's progress towards the early learning goals. Children have accessible writing materials to encourage them to name their work and most role play activities provide children with writing opportunities to support their imagined ideas.

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Improvements since the last inspection

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 1 April 2004. 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 satisfactory. 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 satisfactory.

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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): • obtain written parental permission to seek emergency medical advice or treatment • ensure that Ofsted is informed of all changes to the committee and that all committee members undergo the necessary checks • ensure that robust systems of staff recruitment, selection and induction are in place

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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): • further develop the system for assessment by obtaining information from parents about children's starting points • ensure that children's creativity and imaginations are promoted through activities which they can freely access and which focus on the process rather than the product • develop the systems for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the provision

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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 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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