Wollaton Park Preschool

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 25/11/2004 Inspector Name Alison Putnar

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Wollaton Park Pre-School Playgroup Setting Address Kingswood Church Hall, Lambourne Drive Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG8 1GR

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Wollaton Park Pre-School Playgroup

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Wollaton Park Pre-School Playgroup Address Kingswood Church Hall Lambourne Drive Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG8 1GR

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and 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 of the quality and standard of day care in accordance with the National Standards for Under Eights Day Care and Childminding; and 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

Wollaton Park Playgroup opened in 1969. It operates from Kingswood Methodist Church in Wollaton, Nottingham and serves the local area. Areas within the church, used by the playgroup, are the main church hall, toilets, kitchen, utility room, and small meeting rooms. There is an enclosed outdoor play area which has a safety floor surface. The playgroup is managed by a committee elected from parents and carers and is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance. The playgroup is registered for 26 children, offering places for children from the age of 2.5 years to under 5 years. There are currently 50 children on roll. The setting is registered to receive nursery education funding for 3 and 4-year-olds. There are currently 19 funded children. The setting supports children with special educational needs and several speak English as an additional language. The playgroup is open five sessions a week, Monday to Friday from 09:15 to 11:45.

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Information about the setting

Children attend a variety of sessions each week. Occasionally the session is extended to include a lunch club if numbers warrant this. There are 5 staff on duty for each session, which includes at least one playgroup supervisor. All the staff have relevant childcare experience and the majority hold childcare qualifications. The setting receive support from practitioners from Nottingham City Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership.

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How good is the Day Care?

Wollaton Park Playgroup provides good quality care. The qualified and experienced staff team work hard to transform the hall into a welcoming and suitable environment for children. They utilise the good range of equipment and resources to create comfortable areas for children to play in small groups. Activities are attractively presented to engage children's interest. Time is organised effectively to enable children to play indoors, outdoors and join in small and large group activities. The policies and procedures required for the smooth running of the setting are in place, although the system of vetting new staff is not always swift.

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How good is the Day 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; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 Staff are knowledgeable about health and safety policies and procedures, including child protection. They implement these well to promote the safety and well-being of children in their care and maintain clear records of accidents or medication, for example. Children are supervise constantly to ensure they remain safe, however, at times, some aspects of security are not fully effective. Refreshments are provided according to individual dietary requirements and promote healthy eating, An excellent and varied range of topics and activities are planned and provided. These lead to children being active, and encourage the children to make good progress as they freely play and explore. Children are able to choose from activities

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How good is the Day Care?

indoors and outdoors fostering their personal independence. The caring staff team ensure children develop in confidence. They sensitively handle behaviour and encourage children to build their awareness of the wider world through interesting activities. All children are valued and encouraged to be actively involved in all activities. Good relationships have been developed with parents; many are actively involved in playgroup life. Systems are in place for informing parents about playgroup practices and policies and staff are available to discuss children's development and future activities.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection the playgroup agreed to improve systems of recording any complaints, fire drills and of notifying Ofsted of changes to staff and vetting procedures. Records of fire drills have clearly been maintained and a system is in place to address and record any details regarding complaints, improving safety and working relationships with parents. Ofsted have been notified of changes to staff, although the system of vetting staff remains an area for future development to further improve safety for children.

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What is being done well?

• The enthusiastic staff team develop close relationships with the children, they know children well and skilfully ensure all are supported and involved in all aspects of the playgroups routines. Effective procedures are in place to ensure children with special needs, or those who speak English as an additional language, are supported; able to settle confidently and make good progress in their development. • Provision of a stimulating and wide variety of activities ensures children are active, involved and making good progress in all areas of development, as they freely explore the range of indoor and outdoor activities. As a result children settle quickly, concentrate well and clearly have fun and enjoy their time at playgroup. • Staff promote an hygienic environment through thorough cleaning routines. They encourage children to learn about healthy practices, for example, ensuring they wash their hands at snack times and after using the toilet.

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What is being done well?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 • Good relationships are developed with the parents. Opportunities are created for parents to take an active role in the playgroup either through: being a committee member; helping at sessions through the parent rota; or supporting fundraising events. Time is provided for parents and staff to share information each session and discuss children's progress at the playgroup open mornings.

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What needs to be improved?

• the procedures for ensuring staff swiftly submit to appropriate vetting procedures and formalise the current playgroup system of ensuring staff are suitable both mentally and physically to be caring for children • the security of the hall door, by preventing access to children of other users of the building.

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CONDITIONS OF REGISTRATION

All registered persons must comply with all conditions of registration included on his/her certificate of registration. As a result of this inspection conditions of registration have been imposed / varied / removed and a new certificate of registration will be issued.

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by the time of the next inspection

Std Recommendation 1 Further improve the procedures for ensuring staff submit to appropriate vetting procedures and the playgroups' procedure for ensuring staff are medically suitable to be caring for children. 6 Further improve safety in the setting with regard to the security of the hall door when other users are in the building.

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by the time of the next 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; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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How effective is the nursery education?

Wollaton Park Playgroup provides good quality education, where children make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. The supportive environment, effective teaching and wide range of worthwhile activities, lead to children making very good progress in many areas. Effective systems ensure that children with special educational needs and those whose first language is not English are fully supported. The quality of teaching is generally good overall with some very good aspects. The hard working, enthusiastic staff are key to the success of the playgroup. They have a good understanding of the early learning goals and plan an interesting range of activities. These engage and sustain children's interest. Good quality resources are attractively presented. Time is organised well, with appropriate emphasis on free play and the inclusion of small and large group activities. Staff constantly interact

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How effective is the nursery education?

with the children offering support and extending their ideas. Behaviour is managed effectively; as a result, children behave well. Children's progress is effectively observed, although, the recording system does not clearly show children's progress or identify their next steps in learning. The leadership and management is generally good. Staff work well together, meeting regularly to share ideas, plan future activities and evaluate the previous education curriculum. Although, this has not been stringent in ensuring that focused activities always provide sufficient challenge. Staff are keen to continually improve the education provision, seeking and taking on board advice and accessing training opportunities. The partnership with parents and carers is generally good. Parents are well informed about practices and are provided with some information about the education provision. They are encouraged to support activities. Opportunities are created for

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How effective is the nursery education?

parents and staff to discuss children's progress informally each day and in detail at open mornings.

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What is being done well?

• Staff's enthusiasm, encouragement and effective interaction with the children results in children being active participants in their learning environment. Staff develop children's knowledge through their own language, encouraging children to think and ask questions. • The vast range of stimulating activities each session and excellent opportunities for children to play indoors and outdoors ensures these young children are making good progress in all areas of development as they freely explore and investigate. • Effective grouping of children during the session enables staff to pitch

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What is being done well?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 activities at appropriate levels and provides a quiet time for children to concentrate and focus on more specific learning areas without distraction. • Children's personal, social and emotional development is effectively fostered through the supportive and welcoming environment. Staff have appropriate expectations of behaviour and sensitively encourage children to consider the effect of their actions on others, as a result children behave well and develop good relationships with their peers. They are happy and confident in the setting.

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What needs to be improved?

• use of outdoor activities to further promote mark making opportunities and number recognition • differentiation in the intended learning outcomes of focused activities to ensure older or more able children continue to make good progress in their development • systems of recording children's developmental progress to more clearly show progress along the stepping stones towards the early learning goals.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Since the last inspection the playgroup has made generally good progress in addressing the key issues raised. These required the playgroup to assess and record children's developmental progress and to identify clear learning objectives in future planned activities. The setting worked closely with relevant professionals and devised a system to observe and record children's progress across the six areas of learning. However, the current records do not show clear progression along the stepping-stones in learning and impact on some staff's ability to identify children's next steps in learning and plan effectively for these. During planning meetings staff consider steps in learning across the six areas of the curriculum. They plan a worthwhile range of free choice and focused activities; however, focused activities do not always show differentiation to meet the varying ages and abilities of the children. While considerable progress has been made, these aspects remain areas

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What has improved since the last inspection?

for further development. A third aspect raised was for staff to make more provision for older or more able children to develop their writing skills and attempt to solve mathematical problems. Some staff accessed available training and made good use of relevant literature. They use this knowledge to create many opportunities for children to attempt to write their names and also to attempt to write for a purpose during role play, for example, recording their findings in the dinosaur cave. Many planned activities encourage children to look at number problems and snack time is effectively used as a tool for children to consolidate their mathematical knowledge, for example, calculating how many chairs are needed for those in the group. These opportunities are not as well promoted during outdoor play activities.

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What has improved 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; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children's confidence and self-esteem are built by staff who are sensitive to their needs and know them well. Their personal independence is well fostered; they manage their personal needs, such as toileting and putting on coats. Excellent opportunities are provided for children to make choices in play. Children behave well; they are encouraged to consider the effects of their behaviour on others. Younger ones learn to take turns while older children invite others to join in their play.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children benefit from individual support to develop their language and confidence to speak. Children listen well at story time, although some younger ones become distracted at singing times. The comfortable book area supports children to independently handle books and children are encouraged to recognise print through good use of posters and labels during play. Many opportunities are created for children to use writing implements and attempt to form letters such as those in their names.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children are developing confidence in counting, they count objects during play and begin to recognise and correctly describe shape and size. This is promoted well through topic work, such as, comparing the size of the dinosaurs or when trying on a range of shoes. Older children use language to correctly estimate 'too big or long'. Children's understanding of number is reinforced as they count at drinks time, although opportunities for number recognition are not always seized.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Many opportunities are created for children to explore using their senses and observe change, for example, during baking activities. Younger children enjoy describing their findings when adding essence to water. Children make imaginative, intricate constructions with a variety of blocks and create 2D and 3D models using a wide variety of tools, mediums and materials. They learn about the natural world and wider world through interesting topics, trips out and from visitors to playgroup.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Outdoors, children are set challenges to develop their physical skills. They balance along planks; manoeuvre tricycles and wheeled toys; and skilfully kick and throw balls. Staff are on hand to support younger ones and sometimes encourage older ones to attempt new challenges. Indoors very many opportunities are created for children to handle tools and develop fine motor control. They learn about healthy practises when preparing for snacks and talk about the effect of exercise on their bodies.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children participate enthusiastically in a wide range of creative activities. They use their own ideas to paint, collage and create pictures and models during craft. Many enjoy singing time and demonstrate a good repertoire of songs as they select the next to sing. They listen to a variety of music types and explore the sound of instruments. Children use their imagination to stomp like dinosaurs during movement sessions and frequently access the varied and well resourced role-play areas.

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

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and 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 good quality overall. Children are making generally 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: THE KEY ISSUES

• further extend the system for recording children's progress, to show clear progression along the stepping stones in development, enabling staff to more easily identify children's next steps in learning • ensure focused activities always show differentiation, for the varying abilities of children, in the intended learning outcomes, thus providing sufficient challenge for the more able children.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

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: THE KEY ISSUES

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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STANDARD 1 - SUITABLE PERSON

Adults providing day care, looking after children or having unsupervised access to them are suitable to do so.

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STANDARD 2 - ORGANISATION

The registered person meets required adult: child ratios, ensures that training and qualifications requirements are met and organises space and resources to meet the children's needs effectively.

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STANDARD 3 - CARE, LEARNING AND PLAY

The registered person meets children's individual needs and promotes their welfare. They plan and provide activities and play opportunities to develop children's emotional, physical, social and intellectual capabilities.

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STANDARD 4 - PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

The premises are safe, secure and suitable for their purpose. They provide adequate space in an appropriate location, are welcoming to children and offer access to the necessary facilities for a range of activities which promote their development.

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STANDARD 5 - EQUIPMENT

Furniture, equipment and toys are provided which are appropriate for their purpose and help to create an accessible and stimulating environment. They are of suitable design and condition, well maintained and conform to safety standards.

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STANDARD 6 - SAFETY

The registered person takes positive steps to promote safety within the setting and on outings and ensures proper precautions are taken to prevent accidents.

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STANDARD 7 - HEALTH

The registered person promotes the good health of children and takes positive steps to prevent the spread of infection and appropriate measures when they are ill.

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STANDARD 8 - FOOD AND DRINK

Children are provided with regular drinks and food in adequate quantities for their needs. Food and drink is properly prepared, nutritious and complies with dietary and religious requirements.

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STANDARD 9 - EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

The registered person and staff actively promote equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice for all children.

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NEEDS AND DISABILITIES)

The registered person is aware that some children may have special needs and is

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NEEDS AND DISABILITIES)

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 proactive in ensuring that appropriate action can be taken when such a child is identified or admitted to the provision. Steps are taken to promote the welfare and development of the child within the setting in partnership with the parents and other relevant parties.

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STANDARD 11 - BEHAVIOUR

Adults caring for children in the provision are able to manage a wide range of children's behaviour in a way which promotes their welfare and development.

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STANDARD 12 - WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS AND CARERS

The registered person and staff work in partnership with parents and to meet the needs of the children, both individually and as a group. Information is shared.

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STANDARD 13 - CHILD PROTECTION

The registered person complies with local child protection procedures approved by the Area Child Protection Committee and ensures that all adults working and looking after children in the provision are able to put the procedures into practice.

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STANDARD 14 - DOCUMENTATION

Records, policies and procedures which are required for the efficient and safe management of the provision, or to promote the welfare, care and learning of children are maintained. Records about individual children are shared with the child's parent.

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STANDARD 14 - DOCUMENTATION

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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