Fledglings Pre School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 22/03/2004 Inspector Name Julie Washer

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Fledglings Pre School Setting Address Epping Upland CE Primary School Carters Lane, Epping Green Epping Essex CM16 6QJ

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Fledglings Pre School 1020717

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Fledglings Pre School Address Epping Upland CE Primary School Carters Lane, Epping Green Epping Essex CM16 6QJ

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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

Fledglings Pre-School opened in 1984. It is a committee-run group and operates from the main hall of Epping Upland Church of England Primary School. It is situated in the rural area of Epping Green. The group serves both the local and wider area. There are currently 37 children from 2 to under 5 years on roll. This includes 19 funded three year olds and 7 funded four year olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are systems in place to support children with special needs and children who speak English as an additional language. The pre-school opens 4 days a week Monday to Thursday during school term times. Sessions are from 08:55 until 11:25. There are 4 staff working with the children. Half the staff have early years qualifications to NVQ level 2 or 3. There are 2 staff currently working towards a recognised early years qualification.

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How good is the Day Care?

Fledglings Pre-School provides good care for children. Staff provide a warm, friendly and welcoming environment in which children can play and learn. Good use is made of the staff and space available, to ensure that all children are well cared for. Children are happy and secure and there is a wide range of resources on offer to promote their learning. Most of the documentation is in place. However, some paperwork requires further development. Staff have a good awareness of health and safety procedures. One aspect of hygiene needs reviewing to ensure that children are provided with appropriate hand washing facilities. Children receive snacks and drinks. However, snack time is currently being reviewed so that children are offered more healthy varieties of food, which may include fruit.

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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 work well together as a team and have developed sound relationships with the children. They know them well and are able to offer appropriate care and support. There are systems in place to support children with special needs and who speak English as an additional language. Some staff have attended recent child protection training and are aware of their responsibilities. Children are involved in a broad range of activities which support their language, mathematical thinking, imagination and creativite development. Children can choose from the activities and resources that are set out for them, which enables them to independently make choices about their play. Children's behaviour is valued and encouraged by the staff and children respond well to their calm and sensitive

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How good is the Day Care?

approach. The partnership with parents is good. Parents are warmly welcomed by the friendly and approachable staff team and have opportunities to chat informally about their children's progress and achievements each day. There was positive feedback from parents both verbally and from the written questionnaires.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection the setting agreed to inform parents in writing of Ofsted's address and telephone number within the complaints procedure. This has been addressed and is in place.

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What is being done well?

• There is a broad range of activities provided which help children make progress in all areas of their development. Staff are interested in what children do and say, talk and listen to them and ask questions to make them think. • The environment is warm and welcoming, clean and well maintained. • Children are supported well by staff who respond to their individual needs. • Behaviour is good. Staff speak to the children kindly and sensitively and praise and encouragement is freely used. • Partnership with parents is good. The pre-school staff are friendly and approachable and share information daily with parents about the children.

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What needs to be improved?

• organisation of hand washing facilities • variety of foods at snack time • documentation, to ensure it is updated as required by the National Standards.

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What needs to be improved?

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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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 7 Ensure children use appropriate handwashing facilities to avoid cross infection and that systems are in place to keep records of all medication administered to children. 8 Ensure children have more variety of foods for snacks, including fresh fruit. 14 Ensure documentation is updated as required by the National Standards to include the risk assessment, behaviour management policy, child protection policy and a lost/uncollected child policy.

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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?

The provision for nursery education at Fledglings Pre-School is good. Children are making generally good progress in five areas of learning and very good progress in personal, social and emotional development. Teaching is generally good. Staff make effective use of the accommodation and resources available and provide a range of activities and experiences to support and promote children's learning. Children behave well in response to the high expectations and sensitive support from the staff. Confidence and independence are nurtured to provide children with a strong level of self esteem. Activities are planned using a range of resources which are confidently selected to support the children's learning. However, further development of the planning system is required to include more detailed short term plans. This will ensure that more challenging activities are provided for the children to help them progress through the stepping stones towards

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How effective is the nursery education?

the early learning goals. There are systems in place to provide support for children with special needs. Leadership and management is generally good. Staff are encouraged to be involved in the planning and delivery of the curriculum and work well together as a team. Appraisals for staff take place annually and the management and staff are committed to improvement through on-going training. The use of the evaluation process is limited both for planning of the curriculum and also in the overall performance of the setting. However, this to be addressed and the committee are seen to be active and supportive. Partnership with parents is very good. Parents are well informed about the pre-schools activities and routines. Staff are friendly and approachable and the key-worker system works well. Parents share information about their children with staff informally and are given opportunities to discuss their children's progress on a

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What is being done well?

• Children's personal, social and emotional development is very good. Children form sound relationships with staff and their confidence, self esteem and independence is nurtured. Behaviour is very good. • The accommodation and resources are being well organised by an effective staff team to support the children's learning. • Staff develop warm and friendly relationships with the children and their families so that they have a good understanding of the children's individual needs.

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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

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What needs to be improved?

• assessment records, to enable staff to effectively plan the next steps to help children make progress towards the early learning goals • planning, to include more effective short term planning linked to the stepping stones in order to provide more challenge and differentiation for the older and more able children • opportunities for children to link sounds to letters, to develop and extend the use of calculation in everyday activities and for children to learn about the cultures and beliefs of others.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The setting has made generally good progress since the last inspection. There were four key issues for action. Support children's early learning by introducing the book corner on a permanent, daily basis and by encouraging children to use books more often. There is now a permanent book case and children use this area frequently and enjoy looking at books. Extend the opportunities for children to respond to cultural and religious events, to raise their awareness of other cultures and beliefs. This remains an issue in this inspection. Monitor children's access to resources and activities, to enable them to achieve a good balance of learning opportunities in practice and to make good progress in all six areas of learning. This issue has been addressed. Staff monitor the children's access to resources and activities to ensure that they make good progress. Use the assessment records to evaluate what children need to learn next and share

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What has improved since the last inspection?

them with parents to encourage them to contribute observations of their children's learning at home. This remains an issue in this inspection.

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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 are confident, interested in activities and motivated to learn. Their independence and self esteem are nurtured through appropriate organisation of resources, daily routines, activities and experiences which are provided. Children are forming good relationships with staff, each other and are happy to talk to visitors to the nursery. They are able to select and use resources for themselves and work independently. They respond positively to the staff and their behaviour is very good.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children's language skills are good and they are able to express their feelings and imagined experiences through role play. They listen attentively to stories and they handle books well. However, there are limited opportunities to link sounds to letters in the planning and daily routine. The writing table offers opportunities for mark making and developing the children's writing skills. Children are beginning to form letters and some children are able to write their own name.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children use numbers in everyday situations and routines and can count to ten and beyond. Counting is included on many occasions in practical and meaningful contexts, such as number rhymes and games. Children are beginning to use comparative and positional language and explore concepts of more and less, larger and smaller, in practical situations. However, there is less challenge for the older and more able children to develop and extend the use of calculation in their everyday activities.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children confidently use a variety of construction equipment, tools and materials to cut, join and build in two and three dimensions. They learn basic ICT skills and have opportunities to use the computer suite in the school. Children explore and investigate objects both inside and when playing outside. They acquire a sense of time through discussing their experiences at circle time and during planned topics. There is limited opportunity to explore the cultures and beliefs of others.

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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: Generally Good Children have a wide range of equipment to use both indoors and outside. Staff plan activities which offer children opportunities to practice and refine their skills, handle tools and objects effectively and with safety. They move confidently, showing an awareness of space of themselves and of others during games and activities. Limited opportunities are planned for children to learn about their own health and bodily awareness.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children draw and paint confidently. They are able to use a variety of materials to explore texture, shape and form. However, limited spontaneous opportunities are provided for children to express their imagination and creativity such as free painting and collage. Staff provide a good variety of role play situations, supported well with props and clothes. Children's work is praised and valued. They enjoy singing favourite songs and exploring sounds as they play musical instruments.

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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

• Develop the assessment records to enable staff to effectively plan the next steps in order to help children make progress towards the early learning goals. • Further develop the planning to include more effective short term planning linked to the stepping stones. This will provide more challenge and differentiation for the older and more able children. • Provide regular opportunities for children to link sounds to letters, to develop and extend the use of calculation in everyday activities and for children to learn about the cultures and beliefs of others.

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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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