Chapelbreak Pre-School

Chapel Break Pre-School

Inspection report for early years provision

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Chapel Break Pre-School

Unique Reference Number 254013 Inspection date 20 February 2006 Inspector Tessa Margaret Betts

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Chapel Break Pre-School

Setting Address Chapelbreak Village Hall, Bowthorpe, Norwich, Norfolk, NR5 9LG Telephone number 01603 442059 E-mail sara.harrison7@ntlworld.co.uk Registered person Chapel Break Pre-School Type of inspection Integrated Type of care Sessional care, Out of School care

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Chapel Break Pre-School

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?

Chapel Break Pre-School is a well established, committee run group which registered in 1992. It operates from the village hall providing a sessional and out of school facility. A maximum of 47 children aged 2 to under 5 years may attend the sessional group, and 80 children from 3 to under 8 years may attend the out of school facility, at any one time. The group have sole use of the village hall during each session and use a variety of

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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 rooms which includes the main hall, the smaller room, the bar, toilet facilities, a small office, kitchen, storage facilities both inside and outdoors and an enclosed play area outside. They make use of a playing field, adjacent to the village hall, for supervised group activities. There are currently 59 children on roll attending the sessional group, of whom 39 children receive funding for nursery education. There are 172 children on roll attending the out of school facility, which includes a summer playscheme. Children with English as an additional language and those with special needs are welcomed and included in all provisions. The sessional care facility is open each weekday, during school term time, from 9.00 to 11.30 and 12.30 to 15.00, with breakfast club offered between 8.00 and 9.00. After

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

school care is provided from 15.00 to 18.00, during school term time, and 8.00 and 18.00 during school holidays and inset days. Nine staff members are employed, all of whom hold relevant early years qualifications. Students and volunteers are welcomed from the local college and schools, in addition to the employed staff members.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children's health is well-promoted as a good standard of hygiene is maintained throughout the premises. They learn about the importance of personal hygiene through daily routines, such as washing their hands before joining in with the cookery session and snack time. They are reminded by staff that by washing their hands it gets rid of the germs. Children's medical needs are well met as staff are trained in first aid, and all relevant documentation is in place, such as accident and medication records. A first aid box is easily accessible during all sessions, which ensures that children who have an accident can be dealt with effectively. Written consent from parents seeking emergency treatment or advice has been obtained for the pre-school provision, however this is not up to date in the out of school club records. Children benefit from very nutritious snacks and healthy choices, which promotes

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Helping children to be healthy

their growth and development. Children help prepare and choose fruit and savoury snacks at the refreshment bar and water is available throughout the session to ensure children do not go thirsty. Older children enjoy light meals for breakfast and tea, which includes cereals and toast, fruit juice, baked potatoes, soup and scrambled eggs. Children's dietary needs are well met as individual allergies and dietary requirements are recorded on their registration forms, and this information is prominently displayed for all staff. Children have opportunity to enjoy physical play both inside and outside, when the weather is fine, otherwise large physical equipment is presented in the hall, which contributes to a healthy lifestyle. They are able to run, balance on beams, practise their throwing skills and negotiate pathways with ease when riding the bikes, avoiding obstacles. Their small physical skills are actively promoted through the use of child

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Helping children to be healthy

size tools, such as scissors, spatulas for gluing, spoons and cutting implements at

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Helping children to be healthy

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 the play dough table. Younger children display a healthy range of emotions as they have secure relationships with staff, such as whooping with delight when not being found hiding, during a battleships game, and enjoying a cuddle with staff when needing reassurance.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children are generally safe and well cared for in premises that are suitable for their purpose. The environment is welcoming with displays of children's art work, promoting a sense of belonging. Daily risk assessments are conducted, and staff understand how to minimise most risks, however, the security of the children attending the breakfast club is not fully assured. Children of all ages have direct access to an outdoor play area, which promotes opportunities for them to enjoy a safe outdoor environment. High staff ratios ensure that children are supervised at all times, and older children benefit from activities such as playing battleships, where upturned tables are used as bases, allowing children take safe risks. Operational procedures for the safe collection of children after school are not sufficiently robust to ensure all risks have been considered, so that parents have a clear understanding of

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

the arrangements for collection. Children's development and learning is promoted through free access to a suitable range of activities and play opportunities that provide a stimulating and interesting environment. They use furniture competently because it is child size and safe. Children self select art and craft materials, jigsaws and building resources from low level trolleys, demonstrating well their independence skills. Children are learning how to keep themselves safe because the setting encourages them to develop an understanding of their own safety, as they role play how to cross the road safely, and then practise this in the outdoor environment. Children's welfare and protection is generally promoted, as staff have a sound understanding of their role in child protection, and put appropriate procedures into practice, however procedures give little detail in the event of an allegation being made against a member of staff or volunteer and contact details are out of date. As a

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

result, this could cause a delay in the referral process.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are happy and settled in a supportive and caring setting where relationships between children and staff are good. Children gain a sense of value as staff get down to their level physically and make time to involve themselves in children's play, such as helping to enjoy exploring the corn flour. All children eagerly join in with a broad range of developmentally appropriate indoor and outdoor activities and demonstrate their developing skills well, for example, they show a keen ability to play imaginatively as they dress up as builders and pretend to

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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 mend the road, serve tea and care for the baby dolls in the home area. Children dig in the sand excitedly, as one child shouts with delight and a sense of achievement, having made a castle. Children show good design skills as they build a railway and roadway and drive their vehicles around to collect passengers. Children enjoy listening to music, as a child sways rhythmically to a tape machine playing in the background. Children display creative skills as they paint, glue and enjoy squeezing corn flour through their fingers when mixing water, sugar and food colourings. Children of all ages enjoy looking at books and relish opportunities to take part with puppets and prompts in group story sessions. Children also enjoy opportunities to be outside and discover new physical skills when riding bicycles, enjoying water play, crawling

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

through a tunnel and climbing a slide. Staff are beginning to look at the 'Birth to three matters' framework to continue to develop the younger children's play experiences. Nursery Education The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children are making good progress towards the early learning goals, as staff have undertaken training and have a good knowledge of the curriculum guidance for the Foundation Stage. The setting has developed a useful approach to supporting children's learning, where they assess children's skills and plan a range of purposeful activities. These are linked to the six areas of learning however, the information held on children's assessment records is not used effectively within planning, and children do not always enjoy appropriate challenge to extend their thinking, initiative and questioning skills. Children show a sense of belonging and are interested and eager to learn. They take

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

part in activities that capture their imagination, as they role play working on a builder’s site and dressing as a favourite television character. The children make friendships, when they invite others to join in their play, and develop their mathematical skills as they count the number of children during register time, talk about how many more pieces are needed when making large constructions, and consider size and shape when completing jigsaws. Children speak with increasing confidence and show some interest in sounds and letters, however there are too few routine activities that help to familiarise children with sounds and link these to letters. Children enjoy looking at books and are eager to try out pens and paper, marking with confidence. Many children are beginning to write their names, forming recognisable letters. They are developing an understanding about their natural environment, enjoying projects such as learning how to look after the birds in winter.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

They have some opportunities to demonstrate confidently their skills in technology when they learn to use a remote control toy, and build with exceptional skill as one child designs a complicated Lego space ship. Children enjoy regular opportunities to learn about change through activities that discuss the weather, but have too few opportunities to develop their questioning skills and extend their thinking through taking part in experiments and discussing results. Children show their increasing skills when using tools, as they use sticks and rollers with play dough. Children enjoy physical activities to develop fully their skills with large play equipment and movement within space. They respond enthusiastically to music and readily join in with songs, displaying good rhythm. They experience a range of craft and art

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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 activities where they are able to develop their own creativity and knowledge about colour. Children initiate their own role play, and find out what it is like to be a parent, when taking the dolls on an outing.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. All children receive a warm welcome and take part in a full range of activities, being supported by staff who are keen for all to make progress and develop their self-esteem. Staff manage a wide range of behaviour consistently, to ensure children grasp a strong sense of right and wrong and as a result, they are very well behaved and polite. Children share and take turns well when playing games and respond appropriately to the staff. Children are beginning to develop their awareness and understanding of others. The setting increases the range of meaningful resources and projects, such as celebrating festivals from all faiths, encouraging a child to bring in special biscuits to celebrate his own cultural festival with his friends. This positive approach fosters children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The partnership with parents is good. All children benefit from the positive

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Helping children make a positive contribution

partnership, which starts at the initial enquiry with clear information available for parents, and a flexible settling in procedure, ensuring all families feel valued and included. Children settle quickly, as they are well supported by staff who understand and follow requests from parents about children’s individual care. Parents and staff throughout the setting have relaxed relationships, where they exchange information effectively in the form of daily feedback. Parents receive some information about the Foundation Stage curriculum, through newsletters, brochures and notice board displays, and staff are currently looking to develop this to ensure parents have fuller detail. Parents have regular opportunities when children’s individual assessment records are sent home each half term to gain an awareness of, and make contributions to their children's learning and progress. Parents comment positively

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Helping children make a positive contribution

about the setting, the attentiveness of staff and their children's progress.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children's welfare is supported and well-promoted as the setting employs an established group of staff with whom they feel secure and happy. The manager and administrator use effective recruitment procedures to ensure staff are suitably checked and hold appropriate early years qualifications. Children are actively encouraged to show initiative and independence as staff effectively organise the use of indoor and outdoor space and resources. The high adult to child ratio ensures children receive good levels of individual attention, making them feel valued and settled. A range of well written policies and procedures are in place to guide staff and inform parents, however some of these are out of date and

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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 do not fully comply with the new amendments to the National Standards. Leadership and management is good. Children benefit from the settings clear aims and strong partnership between staff to ensure children receive a good quality service. The setting has now developed an internal audit systems which offers formal and informal opportunities for parents, children and staff to give their views about the care and education provided. In this way the setting is beginning to evaluate the sessions, to ensure they are fully effective in meeting children's individual learning needs. Overall, the needs of the children attending are met.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last care inspection in 2003, the group were asked to ensure Ofsted was informed of all committee members, so that checks could be completed. This has been completed to ensure those having direct contact with children are suitable. At the last education inspection in 2005, the group were asked to monitor and evaluate the provision for nursery education, develop the use of questioning to extend children's thinking and improve opportunities for spontaneous creativity in everyday situations. The group have now attended relevant training, are working closely with the link teacher, and recording children's progress which is then shared on a regular basis with parents. Staff are working hard on their use of extending children's learning through asking open ended questions, however this is ongoing from this inspection to ensure sufficient challenge is offered to all children. Children are now provided with a good range of creative materials within everyday play

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Improvements since the last inspection

activities, which encourages early letter formation, and an understanding of the importance of writing for a purpose.

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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 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 AND 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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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): • continue to monitor the premises to ensure children are secure and not able to leave them unsupervised. • update records to ensure they fully comply with National Standards, in particular, written permission from parents to seek medical treatment and advice, the procedure for the collection of children who attend the out of school facility, the complaints record, and child protection procedures.

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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): • continue with plans to improve the effectiveness of assessment and planning, to consistently ensure all children enjoy sufficient challenge and extend their thinking to the best of their ability. • improve opportunities for children to link sounds and letters and to experiment and discuss results, so that they develop an understanding of cause and effect.

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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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