Harden Pre-School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 09/03/2005 Inspector Name Alexandra Cole

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Harden Pre-School Setting Address Harden Memorial Hall Harden Bingley West Yorkshire BD16 1BY

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Harden Pre School 1040505

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Harden Pre School Address Harden Memorial Hall Harden Bingley West Yorkshire BD16 1BY

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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ABOUT THE INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public that the nursery education for funded three and four year old children is of an acceptable quality. Inspection of nursery education also identifies strengths and weaknesses so that providers can improve the quality of educational provision and help children to achieve the early learning goals (elgs) by the end of the Foundation Stage. This inspection report must be made available to all parents. If the setting has been inspected previously, an action plan will have been drawn up to tackle issues identified. This inspection, therefore, must also assess what progress has been made in the implementation of this plan.

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Information about the setting

Harden Pre School has been registered since September 2000 and is managed by a voluntary committee. It operates from three first floor rooms within the Memorial Hall in the village of Harden near Bingley. The group serves families that live in the surrounding area. The group is open five mornings and two afternoons per week offering sessional care, Monday to Friday 09:00 - 11:30 and Monday and Thursday 12:45 - 15:15. A lunch time club is available as needed between 11:30 and 12:30. The group caters for up to 24 children aged between two and a half to five years. There are currently 44 children on roll, of these seventeen 3-year olds and four 4-year olds are in receipt of nursery education funding. The group supports two children with special educational needs. Children attend for a variety of sessions but do not exceed more than five sessions per week. Nine part time members of staff work with the children and four of the staff have gained a recognised childcare

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Information about the setting

qualification. The setting receives support from the local authority.

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Information about the setting

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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How effective is the nursery education?

Harden Pre School provides high quality nursery education overall which enables children to make very good progress towards the early learning goals. The quality of teaching is very good. Staff manage the children very well and have excellent relationships with them. They plan a variety of exciting activities and understand what children learn from them. They plan and organise the indoor space creatively to create an interesting learning environment in which children are becoming very independent. Children are confident and secure in the setting and are considerate of others. Staff are enthusiastic, committed and use varied and often exciting methods to introduce new skills and knowledge. They consistently pitch questions at the right level for each child. Staff observe and assess aspects of children's learning regularly and observations are generally clear as to what a child has done for staff to conclude that they have reached a particular stepping stone.

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How effective is the nursery education?

The staff have high expectations of children's behaviour and set consistent boundaries and consequently children's behaviour is excellent. Activities are presented at a level which enables all children to participate and challenge older and more able children. Sessions are creatively organised to allow children to learn effectively in different sized groups. The leadership and management of the setting is very good. The setting fulfils their vision to provide high quality care and education for all children. The management have a strong commitment to improvement, and training and the professional development of staff. The effectiveness of the management ensures the settings aims are achieved in practice because the staff are skilful and work very well as a team. The setting works very effectively with parents to support children's learning. Parents are well informed of the provision, their child's education and progress through for

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How effective is the nursery education?

example termly newsletters and opportunities to look at their child's workbook.

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What is being done well?

• Children have a very good awareness of the boundaries set and behavioural expectations. They are learning to manage their behaviour through playing in an environment that sets, explains and maintains clear and consistent limits, helping children to understand the impact of unacceptable behaviour on others. • Children interact very well with adults and each other, they initiate conversations and enjoy listening to and using spoken and written language and readily turn it into their play and learning. • Children explore objects and living things and observe the changes for example planting bulbs. They are developing very good skills for joining and

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What is being done well?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 assembling various materials. Enabling them to develop their own ideas independently. • Children operate very independently within the environment and show confidence in linking up with others for support and guidance. They choose between activities, select resources for themselves, and take care of their personal needs, such as washing their hands and pouring their own drink. • The leadership and management of staff is very good, staff are offered very good opportunities for training and they are supported well through staff meetings and yearly appraisals.

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What needs to be improved?

• the information given to parents in order to encourage them to continue some play and learning experiences from home • the use of observations in order to clearly show what a child has done for staff to conclude that they have reached a particular stepping stone.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Very good progress has been made since the last inspection. Children now have opportunities for the use of ICT to develop skills across the areas of learning, for example listening to story books for early reading skills and operating simple programmes on the computer. Children now have opportunities to understand what happens to their bodies during physical activities, for example after playing a physical game, to notice that their hearts are beating faster. The Special Educational Needs policy now contains all of the required information and staff have attended training on this issue to develop their knowledge further.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children are confident and relate well to adults and each other. They have established many positive relationships with each other and the staff. Children display high levels of involvement in activities, they are excited and motivated to learn. They concentrate for long periods of time for example when listening to a story or persisting with a difficult task.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children use speech for thinking effectively, they are keen to communicate with staff either through signs, gesture or talk. They listen to stories, enjoy playing in the home corner and enthusiastically enact familiar daily occurrences. Children are ascribing meaning to marks confidently, they recognise their first names and older children are able to write these correctly with well formed letters.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children's understanding of numbers is reinforced as they take part in daily routine tasks such as working out the date or how many objects they have. Children can recognise shape in everyday objects and older children are very capable of using language to describe shape. They are able to use appropriate shapes to create representational models. Their awareness of weight and capacity is developed effectively through the use of resources such as sand and water.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children are developing excellent skills for designing and making. Children have a very good awareness of place and time, they know about features of their lives, where they live and days and seasons of the year. Older children know how to operate simple equipment for example the computer. They are able to use the mouse extremely well and can confidently play educational games.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children have a very good awareness of space and of each other, they are able to negotiate small spaces well, and are developing an understanding of how they can use space in their own practical activities. Children have a very good awareness of healthy practices, they recognise the changes that happen to their bodies when they are active and recognise the importance of staying healthy.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good All children are able to use their imaginations very well, they relive both real and imagined experiences using props available, and working with each other. Children are able to explore texture, colour and shapes in a variety of exciting and interesting ways. Children are able to express their thoughts and feelings in a variety of creative ways for example when playing with the sand and water, at the easel and in the creative area.

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Children's spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development is fostered

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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OUTCOME OF THE INSPECTION

The provision is acceptable and is of high quality. Children are making very good progress towards the early learning goals. The next inspection will take place in three to four years time.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT

There are no significant weaknesses to report, but considerations should be given to improving the following: • There are no significant weaknesses to report, but consideration should be given to improving the following: • the information given to parents in order to encourage them to continue some play and learning experiences at home. • the use of observations in order to clearly show what a child has done for staff to conclude that they have reached a particular stepping stone.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT

The provider must draw up an action plan within 40 working days of receipt of this report showing how the key issues detailed above will be addressed. The action plan must be made available to all parents and to the Local Authority if required. An evaluation of the action taken will form part of the next inspection of funded nursery education.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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