The Little Sutton Club

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 02/12/2004 Inspector Name Emma Davies

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Out of School Day Care, Full Day Care Setting Name The Little Sutton Club Setting Address Little Sutton School Worcester Lane, Four Oaks Sutton Coldfield West Midlands B75 5NL

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of The Little Sutton Club 1047535

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name The Little Sutton Club Address Little Sutton School Worcester Lane Sutton Coldfield Birmingham B75 5NL

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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

The Little Sutton Club opened in 1993. It operates from the nursery complex and multi-purpose room which connects the main school building and nursery. The facilities include 2 large playrooms, kitchen facilities, an office and toilets. The nursery and out of school group have access to the school hall and outside play area including a fully enclosed garden. In addition,the out of school group can access the multi purpose area. The Little Sutton Club serves the local area. There are currently 40 children on roll for the nursery and out of school group. There are 45 children on roll for the play scheme. This includes 33 funded 3-year-olds. The admission policy allows children over eight years to attend. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting currently supports children who have English as an additional language. The group opens five days a week during term time. Sessions are between the

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Information about the setting

hours of 8:00 and 18:30. The holiday play scheme operates for four weeks during the summer school holidays and is open from 8:00 until 18:00. There are ten full time staff working with the children and there are also students. Over two thirds of the staff hold appropriate qualifications in play work or early years.

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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?

Little Sutton Nursery offers children high quality nursery education and children are making very good progress in all areas. The quality of teaching is very good. Staff are confident in promoting the early learning goals and show clear understanding about how young children learn. They plan flexibly in response to children's interests. All sessions offer a rich variety of activities and all aspects of learning are covered over time through focusing on specific learning goals in different areas of the nursery. Resources are arranged well to encourage independent learning with imaginative use of space inside and out. Staff observe carefully to record children's response to activities and use this information to guide future planning and compile detailed profiles of children's achievements. They maintain a high level of challenge and use a variety of teaching methods effectively to encourage all children to make progress and to develop

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How effective is the nursery education?

acceptable behaviour. Systems to identify special educational needs, including those of children who are gifted or talented could be developed further. Leadership and management are very good. The manager has a clear vision of how the nursery should develop and has initiated carefully considered changes to planning through a well-informed understanding about how children learn. There are effective procedures to evaluate activities and make changes if necessary. Good use is made of training opportunities and the liaison with the adjoining school to meet the needs of all children. Partnership with parents is very good. Parents have access to a good range of information, particularly through the use of displays and information about what children are intended to learn in each area of the nursery. Parents can discuss their children's progress informally after sessions or more formally at parents' evening.

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How effective is the nursery education?

Shared reading books provide parents with good opportunities to become involved in their children's learning.

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What is being done well?

• Staff are confident about how to promote the early learning goals and have a good understanding about how young children learn. This supports their use of the new flexible planning strategy that responds to children's interests and builds on what they can do already, thereby supporting children's individual needs. • The nursery makes excellent use of the very good facilities available to them on the school site. The outside areas are used imaginatively to extend children's learning across the curriculum and the internal accommodation is organised well to provide a wide variety of activities which children can access independently. Children always have interesting possibilities before

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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 them and this reduces the incidence of arguments over popular resources. • Children develop self-confidence and positive attitudes to learning. The session timetable provides them with plenty of time to become deeply involved in activities and to concentrate and persist, while the new approach to planning enables them revisit activities to reinforce or extend their emerging knowledge and skills. • There is a strong approach to the teaching of early literacy and numeracy, which develops children's confidence with numbers and print. It provides them with a firm foundation for understanding the purpose of writing, reading and calculating, as well as opportunities to acquire the skills that underpin these areas. • Children have plenty of opportunities to take part in a wide variety of construction, art and craft activities. These promote learning in many areas

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What is being done well?

including physical, mathematical and creative development.

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What needs to be improved?

• the manageability of the system to record children's progress and identify special educational needs, including those of children who are gifted or talented.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Improvement since the last inspection is very good. The nursery has improved the use of accommodation by rearranging the playrooms to offer children a wider range of activities every session. This helps to ensure that all children, including those who do not attend full-time, have opportunities to make progress in all areas of learning. Recent developments in the way in which the nursery plans activities are improving provision by enabling children to make progress at their own pace in ways which best suit their interests and individual style of learning. Careful monitoring and evaluation and good communication between staff ensure that all aspects of all areas of learning are covered over time. Staff's confidence in the new way of working and their secure knowledge and understanding of the early learning goals are important factors contributing to the success of the new system. The improvements in planning mean that the two points that the nursery was asked

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What has improved since the last inspection?

to consider after the last inspection are well met. Children now have access to a wide variety of activities which encourage them, with appropriate prompting from staff, to think about why things happen and how things work. Staff also plan carefully to include opportunities for children to solve mathematical problems in the course of many different activities. Their use of incidental opportunities to develop children's mathematical thinking also continues to promote children's learning in this area.

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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 develop positive attitudes to learning, feel part of the group and can operate independently in the nursery environment. Children develop self-confidence to make their needs known and talk about problems and achievements. They also readily talk about their home lives and are comfortable with being the same or different. They develop awareness that other people have different cultures and lifestyles.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children use language confidently to comment on what they are doing and can also go beyond the here and now to make connections, express possibilities or review past events. Children learn how books work, and that they can offer stories and information. They use symbols to record and communicate and can break speech into words and words into sounds. They develop appropriate skills to enable them to form letters correctly.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children learn to count accurately, to recognise numerals and small quantities and to record numbers in different ways. Children are able to use these skills to solve practical problems in the course of activities and routines. They are beginning to turn to numbers to comment on what they see and even to make jokes. Children compare shape, size and position in construction and craft activities and start to use conventional measures.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children learn to build and construct purposefully and can talk about what they are making, considering what tools and materials are appropriate for their purpose. Children learn to use the computer to support their learning and develop an understanding about how programmes work. Children learn about aspects of their own and other cultures as well as some of the themes that underline cultural practices.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children develop control with a wide range of tools, materials and equipment, which they learn to use carefully and safely. Children develop awareness of healthy practices and the effects of exercise on their bodies. Through regular opportunities for energetic play, children learn to move in different ways with control and co-ordination and can adjust their movements to suit the different spaces which they visit in the course of every session.

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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: Very Good Children use line, texture, shape and colour well in two-dimensional work and build horizontal and vertical models and constructions well. Children can use these skills, as well as their language ability, to respond to what they experience, to express their intentions and to comment on what they have made. Children enjoy singing, listen to different kinds of music and respond to rhythm in dance and action rhymes.

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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 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 the nursery should give consideration to improving the following: • Although current procedures to observe and record children's response to activities are used effectively to inform planning, they do not currently provide an easily manageable system to identify what children can do, record their progress and share this information with parents.

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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 Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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