Gissing Children's Centre - A Community Pre-School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 21/09/2004 Inspector Name Jane Louise Tallent

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Out of School Day Care, Sessional Day Care Setting Name The Pre-School At Gissing Children's Centre Setting Address The Old School, Lower Street Gissing Diss Norfolk IP22 5UJ

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of The Pre-School At Gissing Children's Centre

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name The Pre-School At Gissing Children's Centre Address The Old School, Lower Street Gissing Diss Norfolk IP22 5UJ

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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

Gissing Children's Centre opened in 1982. It operates from an old Victorian school building, where children have access to a play room, quiet room, three enclosed outdoor areas, toilets and cloakroom facilities. Gissing is located in a rural part of Norfolk where the centre serves the local area. There are currently 35 children from 2 to 5 years, on roll. This includes 16 funded 3-year-olds and 2 funded 4-year-olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting does not currently support any children with special educational needs, nor who speak English as an additional language. The group opens five days a week during term times. Sessions are from 9:30 to 13:15. Six part-time staff work with the children. Two of these staff members are qualified to NVQ level three or equivalent, and the remainder are studying to achieve childcare qualifications. The facility receives support from a qualified teacher through the Early

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Information about the setting

Years Development and Child Care Partnership and is able to access support and advice through the Norfolk Early Years Support Network. They are part way through the Kite Mark assessment scheme.

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How good is the Day Care?

Gissing Children's Centre Pre-school provides good care for children. Staff are well organised and enthusiastic. Most staff have relevant childcare qualifications. All demonstrate experience in childcare. They are positive and friendly towards the children and create a happy and stimulating community environment for children. Here all children are treated with equal concern, which enables them to take part in activities and build friendships. Safety is prioritised and risk assessments are regularly carried out to maintain the safety of care offered. Children play in one of three securely enclosed outdoor areas

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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 when weather permits. Most aspects of safety and hygiene are satisfactory, although one of the cloakroom walls is in poor condition, which makes its cleaning difficult. A wide range of resources is available to support children's learning. Resources are imaginative and appropriate for the ages and stages of development of children who attend the group. The children particularly enjoy exploring the texture of blackberries and apples. A free choice trolley enables children to begin to make their own choices on how to spend time. The partnership with parents and carers is also well supported in most aspects, although staff occasionally forget to collect signatures in accident and medication books. Parents are given sufficient information about the group to encourage them

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How good is the Day Care?

to make valuable contributions to their children's care and to be informed of events, and how they are able to support them.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Since the last inspection the eight identified actions have been implemented successfully. As a consequence half the staff are qualified and staff checks are complete. A qualified first aider is present each session, and a member of the committee assumes overall responsibility for keeping a well stocked first aid box on the premises. Policies have also been updated in order to reflect practice in the event of a child being lost, a complaint being made and how to maintain safety during outings. Risk assessments are carried out to make sure that children are unable to access low glass mirrors in the main play room. These improvements have been successfully implemented to improve the quality of care offered to children attending the group.

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What is being done well?

• Organisation is a strength of this staff team. They work efficiently together and are good role models for the children. They inspire curiosity and enthusiasm and provide the children with a safe and stimulating environment, where they can play happily and develop new skills. • Interaction has a positive impact on children's confidence and self-esteem. Staff are enthusiastic and enjoy the children's company. They demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of child development well and are able to make sure that all children feel valued and are included. • Resources are imaginatively presented and help to create a stimulating environment, where children can play safely. • The partnership between the nursery and parents and carers is strong and enables both parties to contribute towards their children's care.

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An aspect of outstanding practice:

The staff team are skilled in positively providing child centred activities. They offer clear instructions that are easy to understand and make good use of questions to promote children's full participation in all activities. This enables the children to maximise their potential. As a consequence children are interested, happy and

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An aspect of outstanding practice:

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 actively learning through their play.

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What needs to be improved?

• the condition of the walls in the toilet block; these are currently inadequately maintained for cleaning purposes • record keeping, to ensure the accident and medical records are appropriately maintained.

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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 4 Ensure that the condition of the walls in the toilet block are adequately maintained for cleaning purposes. 7 Devise an effective prompt to remind staff to consistently notify parents and carers of entries in the accident and medication books when they collect their children.

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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?

Gissing Children's Centre Pre-school provides high quality nursery education. Children are presented with a wealth of stimulating activities and resources to explore freely and are making very good progress in all areas of their learning. The quality of teaching is very good, and sometimes excellent. Most staff are well qualified, experienced and committed to providing a stimulating, fun environment in which children are able to thrive and learn. They successfully balance free choice with purposeful, sustained activities, and seek to find new and exciting ways to maintain children's interest and excitement. A suitable structure for planning and assessments is in place. Consequently the activities are meaningful to children as individuals, enabling them to begin to learn how to succeed. They are developing good self-esteem and confidence. The leadership and management of the pre-school is very good. Both the committee

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How effective is the nursery education?

and staff demonstrate a real commitment to improving the care and education of children. Regular staff meetings, cluster training groups, appraisals and policy reviews take place to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the pre-school. Partnership with parents and carers is very good. The pre-school has devised an effective routine for sharing information and encourage parents and carers to help during sessions, read notices and newsletters, and engage in informal conversations with staff on a daily basis. In this way both parties are able to make practical contributions towards the children's care and learning.

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What is being done well?

• Staff are secure in their knowledge of child development and consequently the children are taught well. The children are beginning to learn and develop new skills in all areas of the curriculum. • Interaction is good, which enables children to feel valued. They are set realistic goals and are able to begin to enjoy their successes. Staff are enthusiastic and skilfully adapt activities and ask questions so that the children become interested enough to explore fully and gain experience and learning. This is particularly evident in knowledge of understanding of the world. • Resources for activities are imaginatively planned and well used to support children's learning. • The monitoring and evaluation of the day to day running of the provision positively impacts on the quality of care and education that is offered. • The relationship with the community is good and enables parents and carers

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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 to contribute towards their child's learning.

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What needs to be improved?

• opportunities for children to express themselves freely through music and dance in the summer months • the current format of 'news time' for this group of children to ensure that it is appropriate for everyone.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Since the previous inspection very good progress has been made in all three aspects of the action plan. Despite the age of the children and the timing of this inspection at the start of a scholastic year, many children are already interested in books and stories. Books are accessible and there is a quiet, comfortable area for children to use to look at books for themselves. Some children make their own books to take home and write letters to their friends. Children can access writing materials freely. They can reach a low blackboard and make marks in various materials as they play, either using pencils, sand, paint, blackberry juice or water for example. Children are provided with good opportunities to develop early scientific skills and confidently use magnifying glasses, scales and key boards.

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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 motivated by a variety of planned activities and are learning to consider other children so that the group can work harmoniously together. Interaction is good and children behave well. They are enjoying most routines and respond positively to set boundaries. As a result the children are confident and are developing good self-esteem. They share some responsibility for their personal care and try to pour drinks, wash hands, tidy up, and go to the toilet independently.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children are confident speakers. They have begun to make decisions and negotiate. They enjoy stories and have begun to link sounds to letters. All children enjoy enacting 'Going on a Bear Hunt' in a group together. Most children have begun to realise that words have meanings and enthusiastically find their named pegs. They are encouraged to extend their vocabulary throughout all activities, and some children have begun to ascribe meanings to the marks that they make during imaginary role-play.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Some children are able to count to ten unaided and further than ten during routine activities together in groups. They take part in many worthwhile planned activities to solve problems, such as weighing and comparing apples. Staff support children's learning by using mathematical language across the curriculum, during games and in imaginary role play situations. They have begun to use simple addition and subtraction when counting apples growing on trees and falling off.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Opportunities for children to explore their environment are maximised. Resources, themes and activities relate well to the environment. Children explore a variety of natural materials and have begun to use their senses to listen to the wind, taste, feel, squash and weigh fruit. They print with juices of apples and blackberries, also cooking them and reproducing their findings creatively. Children also use wheat to plant, water and observe growing. They are learning about cultures in topics.

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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 Planned spatial awareness activities teach children to move with control and to be considerate of one another. The children are learning how to keep healthy and share responsibility for their own care, by putting on hats and coats outside in cold weather. Co-ordination and manipulative skills are good. Children balance, jump, throw, catch and hit balls. They show control of their hands and fingers when building, using pencils, paint brushes, scissors, blunt knives and glue sticks.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good The children use a variety of materials to communicate their ideas and explore textures, colour, shape and form. Displays of children's work brighten the room, and create useful reference points for games. Hands on exploration of the apples, blackberries and meal times effectively nurture children's sensory development. They enjoy singing together whilst playing musical instruments, although there are fewer opportunities for children to move spontaneously to music during the summer months.

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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 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 the following: • look at ways to introduce more opportunities for children to express themselves freely through music and dance in the summer months • reflect on the current format of 'news time' for this group of children to ensure that it is appropriate for everyone.

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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 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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