Happy Days Pre-School

Happy Days Pre-School

Inspection report for early years provision

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Happy Days Pre-School

Unique Reference Number EY295904 Inspection date 16 January 2006 Inspector Caren Carpenter / Beverley Jarrett

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Happy Days Pre-School

Setting Address St. Cuthberts Church, 214 Carlton Avenue West, Wembley, Middlesex, HA0 3QY

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E-mail

Registered person Anishah Shah 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?

Happy Days Pre-School was registered in 2004 and operates from two church halls. The premises are located within the London Borough of Brent. It serves the diverse local community. The nursery provides care for children from 2 years to 5 years. There are currently 22 children on roll, of which nine are funded children. Most children speak English as an additional language. The pre-school is open Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 12:30 during term time only.

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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 Including the manager, five staff work with the children. The manager and staff hold early years qualifications and one member of staff works as an assistant. The pre-school receives support from the Early Years Childcare Development Partnership.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children’s health is well promoted as staff have relevant first aid training. They implement procedures such as the recording of accidents. However, there is no system in place for recording medication given to children. Procedures are in place to minimise the risk of infection. For example, staff wear disposable gloves when preparing fresh fruits for snacks. Children follow good personal hygiene routines. They are encouraged to wash their hands after visiting the toilet and before eating their snacks. This helps to prevent the spread of infection. However, hand washing facilities are not adequate and there is a risk of cross-infection. Children enjoy eating a range of fresh fruits daily, which helps them to develop a good understanding of healthy eating. They help themselves to drinks of water and milk, recognising when they are thirsty. Children are developing a positive attitude to physical exercise which is enjoyed on a

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Helping children to be healthy

daily basis. They have fun as they run, climb, balance and jump with good control, developing their co-ordination and large muscle skills.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children are cared for in a safe and secure environment. They are greeted by staff with warmth and affection, which helps to develop their sense of belonging. However, the temperature in the bathroom is not adequately maintained. The space is organised and used effectively to allow children opportunities to engage in their play, and they move confidently around the environment. Children access a satisfactory range of play equipment and resources, which is organised to promote their self-help skills. Children’s safety is generally maintained as staff show a satisfactory awareness of safety issues. They are safeguarded as staff check toys and equipment used by the children on a regular basis. Daily safety checks are always implemented across the pre-school. Children learn to keep themselves safe as they are reminded not to run around in the play room and are encouraged to pick up objects off the floor. As a

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

result, children are developing their understanding of how to keep themselves safe. Children are safeguarded from abuse or neglect, because staff have a good

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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 knowledge and understanding of child protection issues. This helps to ensure that children are protected from harm and neglect.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children enjoy their time at pre-school. They arrive happy and confident and quickly settle into the routine. Children benefit from the routine, allowing them to initiate their own ideas and make their own choices about their play. Children play well independently and with their peers, as well as enjoying opportunities to work more directly with staff, such as while painting. They enjoy suitable and stimulating activities to promote their learning and development. However, further improvement is needed to provide children with more choices, and to extend the older and more able children's learning during activities. Children are happy, content and are forming close relationships with each other and staff. Staff are caring, approachable and kind, and they respond positively to the needs of the children. Children who speak English as an additional language benefit greatly because staff

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

speak Urdu, Gujarati and English. As a result, children's individual needs are well met. Children's independence skills are well promoted as part of the daily routine. For example, they initiate their learning and tidy away activities and toys. Funded children are making satisfactory progress. Staff plan for the six areas of learning to deliver a range of activities to help children make progress towards the early learning goals. The implementation of a successful key worker system helps to secure relationships between parents, children and staff, developing a strong sense of trust. Nursery education The quality of teaching for the setting is satisfactory. Children are making satisfactory progress towards the early learning goals, because staff plan interesting and stimulating activities. However, activities are not evaluated to ensure that the learning intentions are achieved. They enjoy suitable and stimulating activities to promote their learning and

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

development. However, further improvement is needed to provide children with more choices and to extend the older and more children's learning during activities. Staff know how to plan for the next stage in children's learning. However, staff would benefit from gaining further knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage to enable them to extend the older and able children's learning during practical activities. Staff are beginning to observe and record children's progress. However, these are not up to date and individual achievement and assessments reports are not yet fully developed. Children are practising their early writing skills as they paint and draw. They are

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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 learning to recognise their names and enjoy looking at books and listening to stories. However, they have limited opportunities to understand that print carries meaning and to write for different purposes. Children enjoy opportunities to express their imagination through role-play as they dress up in different clothes and have lots of fun as they play in the home corner. Children are involved in their chosen activities, for example during creative activities such as water play and when creating their own pictures with a range of art and craft materials. The older and more able children have access to a limited range of toys and learning resources to choose from, to support their learning in the areas of communication, language, literacy, mathematical development and knowledge and understanding of

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

the world. There are few opportunities for children to develop their mathematical knowledge in calculation and to use their ability to solve problems. Children have limited opportunities to build and construct with a wide range of objects. Children enjoy the range of physical activities outdoors and are becoming skilled at their climbing and balancing skills. Children are learning about their local community and the wider world as they discuss each others' different cultures. They participate in celebrating some of the cultural festivals such as, Diwali, Eid and Christmas. Warm relationships are evident between staff and children. All children are eager to learn, self-assured in their play and confident to try new experiences. Behaviour is good and children are able to share, take turns, and play co-operatively together. The setting has developed a special educational needs policy and receives good

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

support and training from the Early Years Childcare Development. A staff member is specifically designated to work closely with relevant agencies to provide appropriate care to meet the needs of the children.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. All children are welcomed and play a full part in the pre-school because staff value each child as an individual. Children are cared for by staff who know their individual needs and home circumstances, for example, their dietary and health requirements and special needs. Children learn about themselves and the wider world through planned activities and discussions, for example, around a variety of cultural festivals. This helps them to understand and value the similarities and differences between themselves and others. Children are caring towards one another and recognise that they each have different needs. They become aware of their own and others' needs through discussions with staff, and themed activities. This positive approach fosters children’s social, moral, spiritual and cultural development. Children are well behaved, polite and courteous to each other and know what is

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Helping children make a positive contribution

expected of them. Children are developing a good understanding of the difference

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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 between right and wrong. The partnership with parents is satisfactory. Children benefit from the good relationships between staff and parents as their individual needs are met. For example, staff provide daily feed-back to parents about their children's developmental progress and activities they have participated in. Regular newsletters are provided to parents, which keep them informed of events. Parents are provided with written reports when their children leave to start nursery school. However, they do not have opportunities to meet formally with staff to discuss their children's written achievement reports and to be involved in planning the next step in their learning. The manager values parents' input, and invites comments and suggestions, encouraging them to be involved in the pre-school. For example,

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Helping children make a positive contribution

parents spoken to on the day of the inspection are happy with the care, education and the progress their children are making.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Children’s care and learning is supported by deployment of staff and satisfactory leadership and management of nursery education. Staff understand their roles and responsibilities within the group and work well as a team to promote satisfactory outcomes for children. The organisation of the pre-school and deployment of staff is effective across most parts of the session, ensuring children are happily engaged in activities and secure in their surroundings. Children’s care and learning is supported well by staff. However, staff would benefit from gaining further support in planning challenging activities to extend the older and more able children's learning during focus activities. Children benefit from activities that are planned to promote their learning towards the early learning goals. However, the role of evaluating practice and children’s achievements has yet to be

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Organisation

fully developed, which is the future goal of the staff. Good communication systems are in place. For example, staff meetings and planning meetings are used well to share and discuss issues. The manager is clear about her role and responsibility and clearly knows the strengths and weaknesses of the setting. Policies and procedures are implemented to promote children’s care and well-being. The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the setting was required to continue to develop planning to provide a broad based curriculum. It was required to develop the assessment procedures to inform planning and to provide sufficient challenge for more able children, particularly mathematical development. It was required to provide

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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 opportunities for children to explore different types of music and movement and to arrange the book corner so that it attracts the children's interest and encourages them to handle and enjoy books. It was required to provide an environment, which reflects an interest in print of all kinds to help children to understand that print carries meaning. The planning of the educational programme to provide more challenges for the more able children in mathematical, communication, language and literacy development continues to need more improvements. The group is working closely with the Early Years and Childcare Development Partnership in reviewing and planning the educational programme. However, the role of evaluating practice and children’s achievements has yet to be fully developed.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Children have good opportunities to explore different types of music and movement. They select from a range of musical instruments and participate in music and movement sessions. Children handle books well and enjoy looking at them independently in a comfortable book area. However, there are few opportunities for children to understand that print carries meanings, for example there are no prints on display to support children's learning and understanding of prints.

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Complaints since the last inspection

There are no complaints to report. The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints 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): • improve hand washing facilities to reduce the risk of cross infection. • provide a medication book to record medication given to children including times and dates

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The quality and standards of the care

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 • ensure that the temperature in the bathroom is adequately maintained.

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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): • improve the programme for communication, language and literacy by providing opportunities for children to explore and experiments with sounds; to understand that print carries meanings and to write for different purposes. • improve the programme for mathematical development by extending children's learning during practical activities and to develop mathematical ideas and methods to solve practical problems. Provide opportunities for children to build and construct with a wide range of objects. • provide opportunities for parents to meet with staff to discuss their children's written progress reports and to plan for the next step in their children's learning and evaluate activities to ensure that the learning intentions are achieved. • evaluate activities to ensure that the learning intentions are achieved.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

• improve opportunities for staff to develop further knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage

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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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