Amberley Nursery

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 03/02/2004 Inspector Name Stacey Sangster

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Amberley Nursery School Setting Address 9 Buckhurst Road Bexhill-on-Sea East Sussex TN40 1QF

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Clare Gardner and Mark Ryalls Address Amberley Nursery School 9 Buckhurst Road Bexhill-on-Sea East Sussex TN40 1QF

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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

Amberley Nursery was registered in April 2001 by the current owners and had operated as a nursery school for many years previously. It operates from partially converted semi detached house situated on the outskirts of Bexhill town centre and serves the local community. The children have access to five classrooms on the ground. The rear garden is used regularly by the children. There are currently 66 children on roll. This includes 37 funded three and four-year-olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting is currently supporting a small number of children who have special educational needs but none who have English as an additional language. The provision opens all year from 8.00am until 6.00pm Monday to Friday with sessions available during the day. Eleven permanent members of staff are employed. The majority have relevant childcare or teaching qualifications.

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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?

The provision is acceptable and is of good quality overall. Children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals in most areas and very good progress in the areas of communication language and literacy, mathematics and personal, social and emotional development. Teaching is generally good. Staff work cooperatively with each other and the qualified, more experienced staff provide positive and practical guidance for those with less knowledge of the early learning goals. Plans could be improved to more clearly identify the learning intention for each activity, which would further assist the unqualified staff. Equal focus should be given to assessing all six of the areas of learning as those areas with more focused assessment have been identified during the inspection as having a more positive impact on the children's learning. Leadership and management is strong and is helping to build an effective team.

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How effective is the nursery education?

Care needs to be taken to ensure that unqualified staff are developed as fully as possible and provided with the information and training that they need to become more effective educators. The settings partnership with parents is generally good. Information is shared with parents about their child's progress and parents are given help to understand the curriculum and how to assist their children to make progress. The focus of the assessment records shred with parents tends to relate to maths, literacy and children's social development. It would benefit from being expanded to cover all areas of learning. Parents of the funded three year olds do not receive the same level of information as the funded four year olds.

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What is being done well?

• The children are provided with a range of stimulating and interesting activities to promote their development. • Staff are attentive and respond to children positively, helping them to feel valued, supported and confident to ask for help and assistance. • The partnership with the parents of four year olds is effective in supporting the children's development in key areas.

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What needs to be improved?

• The plans to more clearly identify what the intended learning intention is, which will provide a better record of which aspects have been covered and will assist staff with less knowledge and experience to be more effective educators.

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What needs to be improved?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 • The partnership with parents in relation to i) the information provided to the parents of three year olds and ii) the breadth of the information supplied about children's progress in all six areas of learning.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection the setting were asked to increase the opportunities to further raise standards in language and literacy and mathematics by: presenting the classroom environment in a tidier and more stimulating fashion and creating comfortable and stimulating reading, writing and mathematics areas. Areas have been completely re arranged, refurbished and now provide an organised, ordered environment where children can take part in stimulating activities. The setting were asked to raise standards in creativity and knowledge of understanding of the world by: making less use of templates, providing more observational work and providing more technical apparatus for children to use. This is now being done. The challenges offered to children were required to be increased by: planning and providing different levels of work to match individual needs and levels and by basing appropriate work on previously assessed knowledge and skills. This has been

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What has improved since the last inspection?

improved and systems have been developed to more effectively use the assessments that are being kept. Work will need to continue to ensure equal balance is given to all six areas of learning. and finally they were asked to ensure that all staff follow through agreed policies by: using assessment recording sheets in all areas of the curriculum, regularly monitoring assessment records and using these to inform planning of future activities. All staff are now beginning to use the East Sussex County Council Assessment Profiles and are aware of the need to address the balance in relation to assessing different areas of learning.

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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 display high levels of involvement in activities, and most persist for extended periods of time. The children talk freely about their home and community, they are able to express their needs and feelings in appropriate ways. The children demonstrate flexibility and adapt to changes in routine. They show willingness to tackle problems and show pride in their achievements.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children are developing their self-confidence to speak to others about wants and interests. They are beginning to use talk to resolve disagreements and use a widening range of words to express or elaborate ideas. The children handle books carefully and can suggest how a story might end. The children ascribe meanings to marks, some can write their own name and are able to form some generally recognisable letters.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children are able to use some number names and number language spontaneously. They recognise numbers of personal interest for example their age. Most children show interest in math problems and can accurately add one or two onto another number. Children are able to find items if given positional clues. They can order items by length or height. Most children enjoy counting and some do so spontaneously for their own pleasure.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children show curiosity; they manipulate objects to look closely at them. he children show interest in why things happen and how things work. Children are able to construct with a purpose in mind using a variety of materials. They show interest in ICT and know how to operate simple equipment. Children are beginning to differentiate between past and present. They show an interest in the world in which they live and are gaining an awareness of the cultures and beliefs of others.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children move freely with pleasure confidence. They are able to adjust their speed and change direction to avoid obstacles, showing and awareness, of themselves and of others. Children show increasing control in managing their clothing and fastenings. They are beginning to show an awareness of their own needs with regard to eating sleeping and hygiene. Children are able to use a range of small and large equipment with increasing skill.

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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: Generally Good Children explore what happens colours mix, they choose particular colours to use for a purpose and work creatively on a large or small scale. Children show an interest in the way musical instruments sound. They are beginning to build a repertoire of songs which they sometimes sing spontaneously. Children are able to use available resources to create props to support their play. They respond in a variety of ways to what they see, hear, smell touch and feel and are beginning to make comparisons.

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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 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

• Effectively share details about the progress children are making in all areas of learning and share how parents might support their child's individual learning. • Consider expanding the planning to more accurately detail the learning intentions of focused activities, in order to provide a better record of the aspect covered with each child and to inform all staff so that the plans become more valuable resources.

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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 Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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