English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, Preston

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 07/03/2005 Inspector Name Amanda Noble

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care, Out of School Day Care Setting Name Poplar Play Centre Ltd Setting Address 111 Poplar High Street Poplar London E14 0AE

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name Poplar Play Centre Ltd. 2371044 801892

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Poplar Play Centre Ltd. Address 111 Poplar High Street London E14 0AE

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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

Poplar Play Centre Limited is a non-profit organisation who provide day care services within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. In addition to full day care for under 5 yrs the Centre also provide holiday play schemes and out of school care for 3- 11 year olds. The Centre has two premises within one site and also provide the community with a drop-in service and toy library.

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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?

Poplar Play Community Nursery provides good quality provision where children are making very good progress towards some of the early learning goals and generally good progress in others. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff have a good understanding of the early learning goals and provide a broad range of activities which children are interested in taking part making them enthusiastic and motivated to learn. Relationships between staff and the children are good. Staff work directly with the children in supporting their learning and developing their confidence. Children have a clear understanding of appropriate behaviour and value and respect each other. A stimulating environment has been established with a good range of resources to support children's learning which they are able to access independently. There are weaknesses in the planning and assessment of the activities provided. Organisation of the setting does not enable staff to plan together and the plans are

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How effective is the nursery education?

not clearly linked to the stepping stones. Observations and assessments are carried out but these are not evaluated to show what the next steps are for individual children to progress and to link these to the planning of activities. The Leadership and management of the setting has significant weaknesses. The manager has recently been appointed and therefore it is too recent to have fully implemented necessary practices and procedures. Partnership with parents has significant weaknesses. Staff have built a good relationship with parents and there are informal opportunities for staff to give feedback to parent's on their child's progress. An information leaflet on the setting has recently been devised but there is no information available to parents on the curriculum and limited systems to enable parents to continue learning at home. Registration forms do not enable the setting to gather information on what children

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What is being done well?

• Children's personal, social and emotional development is very good. Children behave well and develop positive relationships with both adults and their peers. Children are interested and motivated to learn and keen to show staff what they have achieved. • Children are provided with opportunities to develop their writing skills through practical and planned activities. Children are able to recognise letters and write for a purpose. • Children are provided with a very good range of opportunities to develop their creative skills through art, music, stories and songs.

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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 • A well organised and stimulating environment both indoors and outdoors has been established with a good range of resources to support children's learning which the children are able to access independently.

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What needs to be improved?

• The linking of the plans to the stepping stones and the use of assessments to ensure that activities provided are enabling children to progress to the next steps. • The systems to monitor and evaluate the quality of teaching. • The systems to enable clear information on the curriculum to be available to parents, how parents can support children at home and the use of profiles to obtain information on what children can do on entry to the setting. • The opportunities for children to develop an understanding of calculation through practical experiences, the use of Information technology and the use of language for reasoning.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The group have made limited progress since the last inspection. At the last inspection 4 key issues for action were identified for action; develop planning to include a clear idea of what children should learn from activities and the most effective deployment and role of staff in focusing on those targets, extend the information given to parents and carers concerning the educational programme and the desirable learning outcomes; increase children's access to resources to support their exploration and knowledge and understanding of the world and extend resources in languages spoken by the children in the group and ensure that assessments cover children's attainment of all of the desirable learning outcomes over time and are completed sufficiently regularly to plan what the children need to learn next. The manager of the setting has only been at the setting for 6 months and was not familiar with the previous inspection report and the action plan put in place to meet

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What has improved since the last inspection?

the actions. Resources have been organised to enable children to access them independently. There are some resources to enable children to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world, however there is limited resources for information technology. Dual language books and music that reflect languages spoken by the children have been implemented. The setting still need to develop the systems they use for the planning of activities linking them with the stepping stones and the use of assessments to enable them to plan the next steps of children's individual learning. There is very limited information available to parents about the curriculum.

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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 confident and motivated to learn. They have built positive relationships with the staff and are keen to show what they have achieved. Children behave well and older children are sensitive to the needs of the younger children. Children are developing their independence as they place their paintings on the rack outside to dry and put on their coats when going outside.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children are confident speakers and they are extending their vocabulary through different topics and themes e.g. chameleon, jelly fish. Children enjoy joining in with stories and are familiar with the words and sequence in The Very Hungary Caterpillar and Red Hot Chilli Pepper. There are opportunities for children to practice their early writing skills in both an organised writing area and through play. They are able to recognise letters, write their names and familiar words e.g. dad.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children are learning to count and understand numbers when counting how many frogs in the water tray and joining in number rhymes and songs. Children are developing an understanding of problem solving and shape through a range of puzzles and floor mats. Opportunities for children to use calculation through practical experiences are too few.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children are developing knowledge and understanding of the world through a range of topics and themes e.g. mini-beasts, growing, themselves. Children are growing spring bulbs and watch the changes as snow melts, however, opportunities to extend children's language for reasoning are missed. Children visit the local environment and celebrate different cultures and festivals. There is limited resources for information technology.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children have the opportunity to use a wide range of large play equipment and are confident on the climbing frame, balance beams and bikes. They are developing a good understanding of staying healthy through talking about visits to the dentist and eating vegetables to make us strong. There are opportunities for children to develop good control using large and small equipment including scissors, chopsticks, dough and paint brushes.

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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 are able to express their creativity through art, music, dance and role play. A variety of media and materials are available to the children to use e.g. wood, marble ink, paint, fruit and activities are child led. Children are able to use their imagination through role play and small world activities.

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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

• ensure that the activity plans are linked to the stepping stones and that assessments are used effectively to enable children to progress to the next steps. • introduce rigorous systems to monitor and evaluate the quality of teaching. • introduce systems to obtain profiles on the children as they enter the setting, provide written information to all parents on the curriculum and how they can support their child's learning at home. • develop the range of activities to enable children to develop an understanding of calculation through practical experiences. have opportunities to use information technology and extend their language for reasoning.

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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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