The Heights Burnley

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 05/11/2004 Inspector Name Doreen Forsyth

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Lavington Pre-School Setting Address Lavington Pre-School Dauntsey Aided Primary School,Sandfields, West Lavington, DEVIZES Wiltshire SN10 4HJ

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Lavington Pre-School

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Lavington Pre-School Address West Lavington Village Hall Sandfields,West Lavington, DEVIZES Wiltshire SN10 4HJ

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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

Lavington Pre-School operates from a mobile classroom in the grounds of Dauntsey Aided Primary School in the village of West Lavington in Wiltshire. A maximum of sixteen children aged between two and five years may attend the pre-school at any one time. The pre-school uses the grounds of the school for outside play. Children attend from the surrounding rural areas. Sessions are from 09.00 until 12.00 and from 12.40 until 15.15 Monday to Friday, during school term times. There is a daily lunch club. There are currently Thirty-one children on roll, this includes twenty-four children that are in receipt of funding for nursery education. The pre-school supports children that have special needs. At present there are no children attending that speak English as an additional language. Six full or part-time staff work with the children. All of these have relevant early years qualifications at level two and three. The setting receives support from the local

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Information about the setting

Early Years Partnership and is a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance.

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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?

At Lavington Pre-school the provision is of good quality overall. Children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Communication, language and literacy is a strength of the setting and in this area, knowledge and understanding of the world, physical and creative development, children are making very good progress. Teaching is generally good. All staff are well trained and have a very good understanding of the early learning goals. They plan an extensive range of activities that promote all areas of learning. Staff are skilled at enabling children to explore and investigate; they allow them to play freely and to learn through their play. Staff observe and record children's progress very well, but it is not clear how this is used when planning for children's next steps in their learning. Staff encourage the children to behave well. They act as good role models and have high expectations for the

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How effective is the nursery education?

children. They praise and reward appropriate behaviour. The Special Needs Co-ordinator ensures all children have their individual learning needs met. Leadership and management of the pre-school is generally good. The setting has recently completed a recognised self-evaluation project which has helped them to closely evaluate the provision for nursery education. The committee are strong and supportive and have managed the pre-school's move into new premises very well. Staff form a strong team and are encouraged to train and develop. The setting is aware of its own strengths and areas for improvement, and has begun work on strategies to met these. The partnership with parents and carers is generally good. Parents are very involved in the organisation of the pre-school, help with fund raising and serve on the committee. They are provided with good information about the pre-school. They are informed about their children's progress, but are not able to share what they know

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What is being done well?

• Children's communication, language and literacy skills are promoted extremely well. They are learning very well about sounds and letters. They love listening to, and helping to tell stories. Children have very good opportunities to write and make their own marks. • Children's creative development is very good. They are able to explore different materials and media using all their senses. Staff provide activities that encourage them to use their imaginations. The current topic of 'exploring art' introduces children to an artist and a potter who share their skills with the children. • The planning used is very good. The plans are easy to understand, effective

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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 and show what children are expected to learn from their daily activities. • Children have opportunities to explore, investigate and question how things work in their play. As part of current topic work children are discovering the textures of different materials.

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What needs to be improved?

• the use of the observations and records that are kept on the children to develop the planning, to ensure children's individual learning needs are met • parent's opportunities to share what they know about their children's learning at home with the pre-school.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The pre-school has made very good progress in response to the key issues set at the last inspection. The first was to help children to make quicker progress in learning about sounds of the alphabet through staff being alert to using them in spontaneous situations as they arise during the session. Staff promote the children's learning about the sounds of letters very well. There is a 'letter of the week', which the staff present in an enjoyable and interesting way. When helping children to write, staff sound and name letters, they discuss the sounds of letters throughout the play session when the opportunity arises. The second key issue was as funding becomes available, provide more resources for information and communication technology which children may use to support their learning. The setting has a computer and programmable resources that the children use regularly. The current computer is not working well, but the pre-school

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What has improved since the last inspection?

has recently secured funding to replace it, so children have more chances to use everyday technology to support their learning.

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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: Generally Good The children arrive happily, leave their carers, and are motivated to learn. They are confident, able to suggest ideas and speak clearly to their peers. They concentrate very well, often spending a long time engrossed in an activity. They behave well, can take turns and share appropriately. They learn to consider other's feelings and are pleased when it's their turn to help. They can choose some of their own resources, but have limited regular opportunities to develop personal independence.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children have many opportunities to express their ideas and experiences using language and words. They learn new words and explore their meanings. Children enjoy books and stories: they take home books to read with their parents. They have opportunities to write with a range of resources. Children recognise their own and others names. Many children can write their names and other words. They take part in interesting activities, such as a 'letter story' helping them to link sounds to letters.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good In their daily activities children have good opportunities to use numbers as labels and for counting. They recognise numbers one to ten, and can count to ten and beyond with confidence. They solve simple problems when playing with construction resources and in their practical activities. They use different resources such as pegs and boards or puzzles to compare shape and make patterns. There are limited opportunities for children to develop mathematical ideas in their daily routines.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children have many opportunities to investigate why things happen and how things work. They use resources such as torches, programmable toys and everyday technology to support their learning. Children design and build with construction toys and craft materials. They learn about their environment and the natural world from the interesting topics they study. They are beginning to learn about their own and other cultures, they celebrate festivals such as Chinese New Year, and St Nicholas's Day.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good When playing outside, children use bikes and other wheeled toys with safety, co-ordination and good control. They have opportunities to climb and balance using the resources in the school playground. They have regular music and movement and 'ball skills' sessions where they learn an awareness of space and to control their large muscles. Children use a range of different tools and malleable resources, including scissors, paint brushes, gluesticks, sand and gravel to practise small muscle control.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children have very good opportunities to use paint and other craft resources in two and three dimensions with freedom and imagination. They listen to music, sing songs from memory, and use musical instruments. They use a good range of role play resources, such as the home corner, dolls house and train track to develop their imaginations. They are encouraged to use their own imaginations to communicate their ideas, for example, they helped make up a group story about 'the greedy goat'.

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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

• use the assessments made on the children's progress to develop the planning, ensuring all children are helped to move onto the next steps their learning • provide parents with more opportunities to share what they know about their children's learning with the setting.

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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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