Signhills Pre-School and Hardys Den

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 22/02/2005 Inspector Name Kathryn Margaret Clayton

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Out of School Day Care, Full Day Care Setting Name Signhills Pre-School and Hardys Den Setting Address Signhill School Site Hardys Road Cleethorpes North East Lincolnshire DN35 0DN

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Cleethorpes Childcare 4899075 1102007

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Cleethorpes Childcare Address Signhills Junior & Infant School Hardys Road Cleethorpes South Humberside DN35 0DN

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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

Signhills Pre-school and Hardys Den was first established in 1990. It is run by a voluntary committee and serves the childcare needs of the local community. The facility is located on the Signhills School site in a residential area of Cleethorpes. The pre-school has places for up to twenty-two children from two to five years, and the out of school club has sixteen places. There are currently sixty children on roll, including three and four year olds in receipt of nursery education funding. Opening times for the pre-school are 09:00 to 15:15 on Monday to Friday during term time only. The out of school club opens from 07:45 to 09:00 and 15:30 to 18:00 during term time and from 08:00 to 18:00 during school holidays. Children with Special Educational Needs and those for whom English is an additional language also attend the setting. The pre-school operates from a mobile unit and the out of school club from a

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Information about the setting

classroom. There is a fully enclosed outdoor play area. Ten staff are employed, nine of whom hold a relevant qualification. The setting receives the support of the North East Lincolnshire 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?

Signhills Pre-school provides good quality nursery education overall, which enables children to make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Children make very good progress in all areas of learning, except communication, language and literacy and creative development where generally good progress is made. The quality of teaching is generally good. There is a good understanding of the foundation stage curriculum over the staff group and very good systems for effectively assessing, recording and monitoring the progress children make across each area of learning. Staff have made sure the learning environment is bright, attractive and inviting, with interesting displays. Staff offer good support in incidental learning opportunities through all activities, although they do not always effectively plan for children who learn at different rates in communication, language and literacy, or to encourage children to engage in constructive role play.

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How effective is the nursery education?

The leadership and management is generally good. Management provide good support to staff through a system of meetings and development opportunities. The stable staff group are friendly and caring to parents and children and work well as a team. There is a very good attitude towards the on-going development of the pre-school by management, although the systems to support the effective delivery of suitable challenges for children are not always in place. The partnership with parents is very good. Parents are happy with all aspects of the pre-school including the learning opportunities provided for their child. They are given very useful written information about the pre-school, including details of the foundation stage curriculum. They are kept very well-informed about their child's achievements and progress, through regular planned meetings and informal discussions.

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What is being done well?

• Nurturing children's personal, social and emotional development is a strength of the setting. This takes part through all activities. Children working together in small groups are helpful, polite to each other and are learning to share and take turns. • Experienced staff made good use of the everyday practical experiences within the group, for example, at snack time to challenge children's thinking and to give them learning opportunities. At snack time many children are encouraged to solve simple number problems. • Children are enthusiastic and well motivated singers. They all enjoy singing, they are confident and sing with 'gusto'. • There are very good systems in place to effectively monitor and record children's progress. These include observations, across each area of learning

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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 in turn, and progress recorded against the stepping stones, as well as aims for children to work towards. • The pre-school develops very good relationships with parents, who find staff to be friendly, well-organised and enthusiastic. Parents have regular opportunities to talk to their child's key worker to discuss their child's progress and read the written information about them.

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What needs to be improved?

• the opportunities for more able children to learn to write their own name • the support and encouragement given to children in role play situations to enable them to play more constructively • the planning systems, by making sure the challenges offered to children are clearly identified and readily available.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Very good progress has been made since the last inspection. Staff now use more open ended questioning to encourage children to think about and talk about what is happening, for example, children are encouraged to notice and talk about the changes occuring as ice melts. There are now more planned opportunities to encourage children to talk about what they know, understand and can do.

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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 interested and motivated to learn. They are confident and co-operate well in small groups, for example, when completing a collage, they share glue sticks, ask for them politely and pass them to each other. They are interested learners who are very independent in the pre-school room, for example, when they make choices, put on their own aprons and coats and go to the toilet. They are encouraged by staff to show concern for living things.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children speak confidently and clearly, they listen carefully, for example, when identifying sounds. Children's awareness of rhyme and letter sounds is encouraged by, for example,seeing attractive displays and taking part in matching games. They enjoy stories and can handle books correctly. Some children make marks, although more able children are not sufficiently challenged or encouraged to learn to write their own name.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Many children can solve simple practical problems well, for example, at snack time, when painting, and when singing simple number rhymes. They identify basic two-dimensional shapes correctly, and they are aware of patterns in the environment. They count confidently, for example, when completing a computer game, or the number of children present in a small group, and can recognise many numbers under ten. They understand and use the basic mathematical language of size.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children notice changes as ice melts and the weather changes with interest. They explore through playing with sand, water and shaving foam. They design, make and construct appropriately on a large and small scale. Children show increasing skill with the use of information communication technology equipment. They take part in many suitable planned opportunities that help them to gain an awareness of other cultures.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children show good skill in the use of one handed tools and equipment and they explore malleable materials appropriately. They move confidently and with pleasure on large equipment, using a range of movements, for example bouncing, crawling and climbing. They have suitable planned opportunities to use small equipment, and to express themselves through moving to music.

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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 are enthusiastic when singing. They have many planned opportunities to enable them to explore their senses. They explore media and materials appropriately through, for example, painting, collage, colour mixing, and modelling. Children have many interesting role play scenarios planned for their use throughout the year, although they are not always sufficiently challenged to play constructively in these situations.

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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

• Key Issue. • provide more opportunities for more able children to be able to learn to write their own names

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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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