Oakwood Community Pre-School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 24/06/2004 Inspector Name Catherine Hill

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Oakwood Community Playgroup Setting Address Trevor Jones Memorial Building St. John's Road, Hartley Witney Hook Hampshire RG27 8DW

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name OAKWOOD COMMUNITY PLAYGROUP Address TREVOR JONES MEMORIAL BUILDING ST JOHNS ROAD,HARTLEY WINTNEY HOOK HAMPSHIRE RG27 8DW

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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

Oakwood Community Playgroup opened in 1997. It is a committee run group which operates in the Trevor Jones Memorial Hall. The hall is situated within the grounds of Oakwood Infant School in the village of Hartley Wintney, Hampshire. The group have sole use of two rooms, toilet facilities, kitchen and store cupboards. The playground and field of Oakwood Infant School are used by the group for outdoor play. The playgroup serves the local community and villages in the surrounding area. There are currently 45 children from 2 years to 5 years on roll. This includes 23 funded 3-year-olds and 14 funded 4-year-olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting currently supports 4 children with special needs and no children are attending at present who speak English as an additional language. The group opens 5 days a week during term times. Sessions are from 09:10 to 12 noon on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and 09:10 to 13:00 on a Tuesday and

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Information about the setting

Friday. Afternoon sessions are from 12:30 to 15:00 on a Monday and Wednesday. Nine members of staff regularly work with the children. Over half the staff have, or are working towards, early years qualifications to NVQ level 2 or 3. Two volunteers are also studying NVQ 2's with the playgroup as a work experience setting.

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How good is the Day Care?

Oakwood Community Playgroup provides good care for children. Staff are very well organised and aware of their roles and responsibilities. They maintain a well resourced, warm, welcoming and stimulating environment for both children and parents. Children have daily access to a variety of well planned, fun and interesting activities both inside and within the enclosed outside play area. Documentation is in place to support all areas of practice although not all necessary detail is contained. Staff have a high regard for safety. They carry out regular safety checks and written procedures are in place to support practice. They are aware of areas for action in

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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 training and safety assessment to further enhance their good practice. Children are able to play and learn within a safe, secure environment where staff are knowledgeable about individual needs. Good procedures are in place to support those with special needs. Staff are dedicated and enthusiastic and have excellent relationships with children. They take a continual interest in their play and learning. They plan and provide a wide variety of activities to ensure children have good opportunities to progress in all areas of their development. Children are happy, relaxed, very well mannered and behaved. They purposefully occupy themselves throughout sessions. Partnership with parents is positive. They are well informed of their child's progress

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How good is the Day Care?

and have regular access to information regarding playgroup practice. Parents are very happy with the playgroup and the care provided for their children.

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What is being done well?

• Organisation within the playgroup is very good. Staff work well as a team and are all aware of their roles and responsibilities. They efficiently maintain a clean, stimulating environment where they organise space effectively to allow children ample room to explore activities on offer. Staff are effectively deployed to ensure children's safety. For example, when using the physical play apparatus and during arrival and collection times. Staff are aware of potential hazards and take steps to minimize them with daily safety checks. • Care, learning and play is very good. Staff plan and provide children with an interesting range of activities giving them daily opportunities to reinforce and extend knowledge and skills in all areas. Children are happy and eager to explore activities. They play well both independently, in small groups, for example when engaged in role play, and when engaged in whole group

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What is being done well?

activity. Staff show a continual interest in all children and interact positively with them to support and extend play and learning. They have a very good knowledge of children's individual needs. Children receive sensitive and appropriate support from staff who ensure they have positive learning experiences and all children are included. • Behaviour management is excellent. Staff have high expectations of children and set firm but fair boundaries. Children respond well to staff who act as positive role models. Throughout sessions children are well mannered and behaved. • Partnership with parents is very good. Parents have access to regular, detailed information on playgroup practice. Good systems ensure parents are kept well informed of their child's progress and they can record their comments on their child's learning. Parents are very positive in their praise of the setting and particularly like the way children's needs are met on an

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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 individual basis.

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What needs to be improved?

• assessments of portable appliances to ensure they meet safety standards • staff knowledge and understanding of child protection issues so they are able to recognise and support children who may be at risk • documentation to ensure: all relevant signatures and dates are obtained in accident and medication records; Ofsted's contact details are given in the complaints procedure and that procedures for sick children are included within health documentation.

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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 6 Ensure all portable appliances are assessed for safety and evidence maintained. 13 Ensure all staff access child protection training to develop their knowledge and understanding in how best to support children who may be at risk. 14 Ensure all necessary detail is recorded within accident, medication and complaints documentation and that procedures for sick children are included within health documentation.

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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?

Oakwood Community Playgroup is an acceptable provision and of good quality. Children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Progress in some areas is very good. The quality of teaching is good. Staff are knowledgeable about individual children's needs and effectively support them in developing their skills. They plan a range of activities to give children daily opportunities to progress in all skill areas. They make regular detailed observations of children and use this information to inform individual play plans. Planning and assessment records, however, still have room for improvement to clearly show children's progress and activity links to the stepping stones. Staff use a range of teaching strategies well with good use of open ended questions to stimulate children's thinking. Behaviour management is excellent. Staff have high expectations and set firm but fair boundaries which children respond well

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How effective is the nursery education?

to. They provide very good support for children with special needs. They help them enjoy sessions and to interact positively with others. Leadership and management is generally good. A strong, enthusiastic and dedicated staff team are in place. They are aware of their roles and responsibilities and are efficient and professional in providing a stimulating, well run session for children. The leadership is new, aware of areas for improvement and is committed to improving standards. Practice is regularly evaluated, although formal systems have yet to be introduced to monitor staff performance. Partnership with parents is very good. They receive regular, detailed information regarding practice and are kept well informed of their child's progress. They have opportunities to contribute to their child's development records and a parent rota enables them to help in the group thereby gaining an insight into daily practice.

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How effective is the nursery education?

Parents are very positive in their praise of the group and the individual attention their children receive.

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What is being done well?

• Children's personal, social and emotional development is excellent. They are happy, confident, motivated learners who eagerly explore activities. They are very well mannered and behaved and have good relationships with each other and staff. • Organisation within the group is very good. Staff are well deployed and work effectively as a team to plan and provide children with a varied range of activities within a stimulating learning environment. • Partnership with parents is positive. Very good relationships are maintained with parents who are actively involved with the group. Parents are very well informed about their child's achievements and progress.

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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 • Children's physical and creative skills are very well developed. They have good opportunities to reinforce and extend skills during daily sessions. For example, they are able to participate in role play, painting, music and use the climbing frame and balance beam. • Children's knowledge of letter sounds is very good. They can identify initial letter sounds and some are able to sound out the letters in their name as they write them.

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What needs to be improved?

• opportunities for children to develop mathematical skills and an awareness of time and weather through everyday activities and to access all resources relating to the wider world, for example, the interest table • planning and assessment documentation to clearly show: the daily learning objective of planned activities; how activities will be adapted or extended to meet individual needs, activity evaluations and children's progress through the stepping stones.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Progress since the last inspection is very good. Staff have improved aspects of organisation and planning which were issues raised in the previous inspection report. Register and circle time activities have been reorganised to ensure children do not become restless. Children experience a good variety of activities and move from play activities to shorter, more structured group time. Children have regular planned opportunities to use the climbing frame during the week. Consideration is given to children's age and stage of development and other physical education activities are also provided so that children remain challenged in developing skills.

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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 confident, motivated learners who actively engage in learning through play. They concentrate and persevere with activities, for example, when making towers with interlocking pegs. They have excellent relationships with each other and are considerate to others feelings. They play co-operatively together and wait patiently for their turn when playing board games. They behave well and have good manners. They understand right from wrong and respond positively to staff requests.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children are confident, articulate speakers. They organise their thoughts well when discussing, for example, details of their birthday parties. The environment is rich in print and children recognise their own name cards and those of others. They listen attentively to stories and use picture clues well when 'reading' stories to one another. Daily activities reinforce children's phonic knowledge. They can identify initial letter sounds and some are able to sound out the letters in their name.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children count confidently to ten and beyond. They recognise written numbers and understand the sequence of numbers to ten. They independently solve problems, for example, when trying to fit different size cogs and wheels together. They learn about shape, pattern and measure through interesting planned activities. For example, they have learnt about the different patterns on animals and ordered teddy bears by size. Some opportunities are missed to reinforce mathematical skills during sessions.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children eagerly explore objects and materials. They notice that magnets stick to metal and not wood and learn how different textures affect their model making. They understand how torches work and why they are used. They enjoy using the computer and staff sensitively support children with special needs in developing their skills. Children learn about the passage of time through planned topics such as the seasons and weather although staff do not fully exploit learning opportunities in this area

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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 Children move confidently and carefully throughout the setting. They enjoy outdoor activities and skilfully manoeuvre around each other as they run in all directions. They enthusiastically throw and kick balls and show good hand-eye co-ordination when hitting small balls to one another with bats. Staff give support and encourage children to develop and extend skills such as walking along a balance beam safely. Children competently handle and control small objects.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children participate enthusiastically in music sessions. They sing the words of familiar songs such as 'Wind the Bobbin Up' whilst carrying out the matching actions. Small group work gives children good opportunities to explore musical instruments. Staff teach them how to use the instruments to make loud and soft sounds. Children use their imagination well. They paint freely and are given time to explore different methods of using paint, for example hand painting and using sponges or brushes.

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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 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

• maximize opportunities during everyday activities: to reinforce and extend children's recognition of written numbers and knowledge of calculation; to extend their awareness of changes in the weather and time and to access resources relating to the natural world • amend planning and assessment documentation to clearly show: the daily learning objective of planned activities; how activities will be adapted or extended to meet individual needs, activity evaluations and children's progress through the stepping stones.

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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 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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