St Peter's CIW Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Seamer Pre-School

Inspection report for early years provision

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Seamer Pre-School

Unique Reference Number 400445 Inspection date 02 May 2006 Inspector Carol-Anne Shaw

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Seamer Pre-School

Setting Address Youth Centre, Main Street,Seamer, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO12 4RF Telephone number 01723 865617Preschool E-mail seamerspreschool@yahoo.co.uk Registered person Seamer Pre-School Type of inspection Integrated Type of care Full day care

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Seamer 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?

Seamer Pre-School opened in 1987. It is a registered charity managed by a committee. It operates from the youth centre in the old school building, situated on the main road of Seamer village to the south of Scarborough. It serves the local surrounding villages and rural area. The group use the two main rooms in the building, with use of the hall and outside area. There are currently 57 children from two years six months to under five years on roll.

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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 This includes 50 funded children. Children attend for a variety of sessions. Children attend with special needs and no children attend with English as a second language. The group is open five days a week during term time. Sessions are Monday to Wednesday 09.00 to 15.45, Thursday 09.00 to 12.00 and Friday 09.00 to 15.45. Six full time staff work with the children. All staff have a recognised Level 3 childcare qualification. The group is committee run; a rota of parents work with the staff to give support. The group are members of the Preschool Learning Alliance. The setting receives support from the local authority.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children progress well, staff follow the clear policies and procedures in place which meet the children’s physical, nutritional and health needs. The staff provide the children with good guidance and support. Children gain a good understanding of hygiene and become increasingly independent in their personal care. Older children are very good at putting on their coats and shoes as they freely access the outdoor play area and play in the sandpit. Children explore, test and develop physical control in well organised daily indoor and outdoor experiences. The staff have a very good awareness of individual children’s development through observations and assessments. They have a good understanding of how children develop physically. They encourage and support children to try out new skills. Children are confident and are able to set their own limits within the safe environment, for example, climbing and balancing on the logs.

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Helping children to be healthy

The older children are developing a positive attitude to physical exercise. They enjoy using the outdoor area with its changing challenges. Children use the outside area to effectively support their learning, accessing a wide range of play activities linked to the Foundation Stage curriculum. Children help themselves to accessible drinking water throughout the day. They enjoy a choice of fruits, toast and spreads at the café service for snacks. Lunch is a social occasion with food from home served in small groups. Good attention is paid to managing children’s cultural and medical needs. Older children have a very good understanding of why they eat healthy foods and how it relates to their bodies. Effective liaison with parents ensures children’s individual dietary needs are fully met.

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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 Risks of accidental injury to children are minimised because staff are vigilant and use very good risk assessment systems to reduce potential hazards. Staff have the skills and a good understanding of how to organise the children into considering how they use equipment and safe ways of doing things. Children learn about protecting themselves, for example, when playing outside the children are aware they do not go on the equipment until it has been checked by staff and dried. One of the younger children informed me why you walk and don’t run in the classroom, ‘So we don’t fall.’ The outside area is still in the process of being developed, plans are in place to extend the use of the gardening area and provide more natural resources to support children's learning. Children access a wide range of good quality, safe and suitable toys, resources and

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

equipment, all very appropriate to their age and stage of development. The equipment is set out to enable children to make choices and self-select. The staff are very effective in supporting children to make informed choices. The well organised activities and resources allow children with special needs safe access. The very good communication with parents contributes to children’s safety. Children are very well protected by staff that have a clear understanding of the child protection policies and procedures. Staff attend training and are fully aware of their responsibilities and give priority to children’s welfare.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children enjoy their time at the nursery. They develop well because staff are confident and skilled in using their knowledge and understanding to promote children’s development. Staff are motivated and interested in the children as individuals. The good staff ratios enable children to have lots of adult support. The children arrive happy and eager to participate, they part from their parents and happily wave goodbye. Key staff know the children well and are sensitive to their individual needs. The close and caring relationships are increasing children’s trust and help them develop confidence and build self-esteem. Early communication skills are well supported through good adult-child interactions. Children are beginning to make sense of the world and express their ideas through lots of different planned activities and free play that supports children’s learning. There is a positive bond and appropriate physical contact between the younger

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

children and staff, which increases children's well-being and sense of self. There are opportunities for the children to express their ideas and be involved with a wide variety of activities and experiences. The children enjoy the many play activities and explore paints, textures, music and songs. Overall, this provides the children with an environment which promotes development and good care. The staff are developing the assessments and planning systems to work to the Birth to three matters framework, to progress the development of the under three-year-olds in a systematic way. However, this is not in place and needs to be developed further. Nursery Education.

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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 The quality of teaching and learning is good. Staff demonstrate a sound knowledge of the Foundation Stage and how it links to children’s play. They plan and provide effective and realistic challenges for the children in all areas. The activities are well organised and supported with relevant resources and equipment. A good range of teaching methods are used, this ensures children learn across all areas of the curriculum. Children are motivated, confident, self-assured and keen to participate. This is promoted by staff's enthusiasm and interest in them. Children work well together and follow simple rules to support sharing and safety. The more able children assist others in accessing resources, helping with coats and tidy away the equipment and resources. They use their imagination in role play situations, for example, a group of boys

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

playing in the fire engine, tying ropes to reach the fire. They use their creative play to demonstrate their sense of the world around them. There are very good displays of the children's work, showing a variety of resources and methods used by them, such as collage, models and free painting. The work done to support the topic, super heroes has covered many learning areas of the curriculum. For example, the space docking stations to support the physical activities in the hall was very much enjoyed by the children, who were enthusiastic to show their running and stopping skills. Children communicate and express themselves very well, both with each other, staff and visiting adults. Interaction is appropriate and staff encourage children to share their experiences at circle time. Children are developing their language and thinking skills as well as confidence and independence. They use resources for mark making

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

in their play and learn to recognise letters through displays, labelling and books. Children are gaining confidence in their mathematical language. They use numbers and solve simple problems in their every day activities, for example, when playing in the sand counting how many spades of sand it takes to fill the bucket. They learn sequencing through observing the life of the butterfly and frog. However, there are missed opportunities for children to practice shape, patterning and measuring. Physical skills are extended and supported with excellent access to outside play opportunities, use of music and movement and the ability to use a wide variety of tools and resources. Children explore and investigate their surroundings through a variety of mediums, for example, looking after the plants, growing seeds and feeding the birds. Children show good skills when accessing the computer to support their understanding of technology.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Assessments in all areas are used effectively to plan for the children's next steps in their learning. The assessment of children's learning is used effectively to inform the planning for individual children. This gives all children sufficient challenge to extend their skills.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. The partnership with parents is good. The children are made welcome, staff value children's individuality and respect parents' views and contribution to the care provided. Younger children’s home routines are discussed and staff support

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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 appropriately. The children’s behaviour is very good, the staff show a consistent and caring approach to managing behaviour. The older children follow simple rules and know the routines and boundaries in place. Children share and show respect for others, they take turns and show good manners, saying please and thank you. They learn to negotiate and take responsibility for their own behaviour. The older children support the younger children. As a result children's spiritual moral, social and cultural development is fostered appropriately. Children have very good opportunities to learn about the world about them through topics and resources that promote diversity in all areas. Their own and other cultures are effectively supported. The very good partnership with parents contributes significantly to children’s

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Helping children make a positive contribution

well-being in the group. Parents' views are sought through discussion on a regular basis throughout the time they attend. Effective systems are in place to ensure all parents are kept informed of how their child is progressing in their development and learning. Children benefit from the involvement of parents in projects and topics, which contributes to their good health, development and learning.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Leadership and management is good. The organisation of the pre-school provides a welcoming, environment for children to play and learn. There is a wide range of very suitable policies and procedures in place to support the management of the group. The premises in all areas are planned to support and promote children’s development and learning. All families are supported and individual children’s care needs are followed. The staff ratios ensure children have good support; this allows children to experience the many interesting and different activities throughout the session. The use of time, space and resources enhances children's learning in all areas. Children’s care and learning is supported with good leadership and management of the nursery education. Children benefit from the staff having a sound knowledge of how children learn. Detailed procedures are in place for induction and the ongoing training of staff. They

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Organisation

have a commitment to improvement and personal development, this underpins the care and welfare of the children in the setting. The monitoring of the nursery education is done by the manager. It is linked to the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. This is done systematically and informs the future development plans for the provision. The staff show enthusiasm and work as a team to ensure the provision meets the needs of all the children who attend. Overall, the provision meets the needs of the children who attend.

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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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Improvements since the last inspection

There has been good progress since the last inspection. At the last inspection there were recommendations made relating to health, diversity and training. Staff now follow the revised policies and procedures to ensure that children’s health is supported appropriately. The group has extended the activities and resources to support diversity. Staff training in child protection has been updated. The nursery education had recommendations regarding mark making and children recognising their names and creative work. These are now in place and working effectively to progress children’s learning. The recommendations have been followed resulting in the pre-school now meeting the needs of the children they care for.

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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 complaint 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): • develop the assessment and planning for younger children using an approach in line with Birth to three matters • continue to develop the outdoor area by providing a range of natural materials for children to access.

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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):

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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 • provide more opportunities for children to use shape, pattern and measuring in everyday play activities.

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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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