Roberttown Lane Pre-School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 19/05/2004 Inspector Name Angela Margaret Ellis

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Roberttown Lane Playgroup Setting Address The Scout Hut Roberttown Lane, Roberttown Liversedge West Yorkshire WF157LF

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Roberttown Lane Playgroup

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Roberttown Lane Playgroup Address The Scout Hut Roberttown Lane, Roberttown Liversedge West Yorkshire WF157LF

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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

Roberttown Lane playgroup has been operating for 25 years and is managed by a voluntary committee. It serves the local community mainly from the village of Roberttown. The group operates within the local scout hut and is shared with other group users. The group have use of the main hall, kitchen and toilet facilities as well as storage facilities. There are no outdoor facilities available at present although they do have access to the community playground close by. At present the setting offers sessional care and is open from Monday until Friday 09:00 until 12:30 during term time. They are registered for 25 children two to five years old. They are currently caring for 40 children of which twenty one are 3-year olds and twelve 4-year olds. Support is given to children with special needs. Six staff are employed and the majority of staff hold a relevant childcare qualification and some staff are working towards gaining a recognised qualification. The setting

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Information about the setting

receives support from the Local Authority.

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How good is the Day Care?

Roberttown Lane playgroup provides a good standard of care. It is led by an effective Management Team. Very good opportunities are in place for staff to access training to keep up to date with current practice. There is good deployment of staff, who work well as a team which ensures the efficient running of the pre-school. The premises have sufficient space, they are welcoming and clean. The rooms are organised into defined areas of play which are well equipped and encourages independent decision making in most areas, except access to paper towels. A stimulating, safe and hygienic environment is provided, although risk assessments do not include all areas. The setting are committed to continually monitoring, reviewing and developing their service and they are in the process of quality assurance assessment for accreditation. The curriculum offers exciting topics which are planned and take in to account

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How good is the Day Care?

children's spontaneity and individual needs. Good use of questioning techniques

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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 facilitates children's confidence, independence and learning. An effective key worker system enables staff to identify children's individual needs. Their progress is well recorded by them and this informs future planning for the next step of learning. Information is well presented and shared with parents as they are encouraged to be partners in their child's education. A strong emphasis on equal opportunities is evident and there are good opportunities to become aware of others in the community, cultures and believes through, visitors, pictures, posters, photographs and food activities explored. Staff are sensitive and effective in adopting strategies to managing children's behaviour to meet the needs of individual children. Partnership with parents is a strong feature.

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How good is the Day Care?

They are provided with a very good level of information which is very well presented.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The setting has made good progress since the last inspection. The staff have introduced a number of effective measures to improve the children's independent decision making and policies and policies and procedures which were raised as actions in the previous report. A major factor has being the re organisation of the setting by defining clearly areas such as the café in which children now have access to a fresh drinking water dispenser and they can independently choose when to eat and drink. Clearly defined areas of play such as a permanent mark making, creative, malleable and theme table encourages independent decision making and learning. Under the leadership of the management, the staff have improved their knowledge of child protection issues through access to training and further development of the child protection policy.

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What is being done well?

• The effective leadership and management, comprehensive and well organised operational plan, policies & procedures and detailed records. Good deployment of staff, working well as a team, providing welcoming environment, making good use of space and other resources so that children are safe and well cared for. • The teams' good interaction with the children which enables them to form attachments thus encouraging children's confidence and independence. They work directly at the children's level talking, listening and asking questions as well as giving praise and encouragement for their achievements. • The detailed systems in place for curriculum planning that identifies the needs of each individual child and key workers record the children's progress very well. • The wide range of toys, activities and equipment. Covering all areas of learning. Defined areas of play have been developed stored, presented and

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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 • The high priority that is given by staff to safety and hygiene within the nursery to reduce risks of hazards and spread of infection. • The strong emphasis on equal opportunities with the opportunities to learn about other cultures through a variety of sources including food. By being encouraged to independently access drinks and snacks to develop decision making and self help skills. • The effective procedures in place for monitoring and managing children's behaviour and the appropriate action taken when meeting the individual needs of children. • The high priority given to working in partnership with parents which includes good systems in place for sharing and exchanging information about the setting and their child. The prospectus is informative and well presented.

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What needs to be improved?

• the risk assessments with regard to the nappy changing area and outdoor area • the children's independent access to hand drying facilities • the implementation of environmental health recommendations.

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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 5 Ensure that children have independent access to hand drying facilities. 6 Up date risk assessments on the premises identifying action to be taken to minimize identified risks in the nappy changing and outdoor areas. 7 Ensure that any recommendations made by environmental health are implemented.

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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?

Roberttown Lane Pre-School provides a very high quality learning environment. Where children make very good progress towards the early learning goals in a very happy and stimulating environment. Teaching is very good. Staff are highly enthusiastic, motivated and confident in their roles. Teamwork is very good, staff are very organised and make good use of their time. This enables them to provide a stimulating and interesting environment for the children to learn. Communication between staff is very good, which results in the pre-school operating very well. Staff have a very good knowledge of the foundation stage curriculum, which enables them to plan effectively an excellent range of activities and experiences for the children. They make very good use of children's achievement records to plan for their next stage of development. Staff have very good relationships with the children and use their questioning skills to support and

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How effective is the nursery education?

encourage their development very well. They provide a very good role model and have a high regard to promoting positive behaviour. Leadership and Management is excellent. The setting are very committed to further enhancing the service and have very effective systems for this, for example, self assessment and quality assurance schemes. Staff have very good opportunities to attend training and they use this knowledge to further develop the education provision. There are very good systems to support children attending with special needs. This includes working in partnership with parents and liaison with other agencies. Partnerships with parents is excellent. Parents are encouraged to take an active role in their child's learning, through liaison with staff and involvement in their child's development plans. Parents are very positive in their praise. They have access to very well organised and well presented quality information and are fully aware of the

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What is being done well?

• Staff's enthusiasm, motivation and enjoyment in their work is excellent. They provide a highly stimulating, interesting learning environment for the children to learn. They support and encourage children's learning very well, through a very good range of fun, practical experiences and activities and through their constant involvement and interaction with the children. • Children's personal, social and emotional development is very good. Children are very happy, confident and settled. Their independence skills are very good. Children become involved in their play displaying high levels of motivation, interest and enthusiasm. Their relationships with others are very good and they respect and show concern for others well.

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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 • Staff have a high regard to promoting children's positive behaviour through praise. They provide a good role model and have clear expectations of children's behaviour and manage children's behaviour very well. • Children's good use of language and imagination. They freely express themselves in many ways, for example, art, design and imaginative play. They freely communicate their ideas and feelings using all their senses. They become actively involved in their play, they are very enthusiastic, motivated and curious learners. Their exploration and observations skills are very good. • The strong emphasis in developing children's early reading, writing and counting skills. Children are very interested in books and activities that

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What is being done well?

involve numbers and making marks. • The staffs high motivation to developing the service further. There are very effective systems in place to achieve this, for example, self assessments, staff appraisals and a very good training programme. • Partnerships with parents is excellent. By contributing their ideas and being actively involved in their child's learning in regard to planning their child's individual needs. They are well informed of their child's progress in the well presented record of achievement files.

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What needs to be improved?

• There are no significant weaknesses to report, but consideration should be given to the following: • the planning of key questions in order to provide consistent questioning between adults • the written evidence of planning mathematical activities involving counting and ordering.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Very good progress has been made since the last inspection. The staff have introduced very effective measures in order to provide more opportunities to develop children's knowledge and understanding of rhyming words and phrases with a variety of activities on a daily basis through group time sessions. This has enabled the children to develop an enjoyment of rhyme in which the repetition enables them to memorise and re tell words and link up their own rhyming words.

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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 very happy and settled. They are very confident and display high levels of enthusiasm and motivation to learn. The children's independence skills are very good, for example, selecting resources. They have very good relationships with others, both adults and children and their behaviour is very good. The children share, take turns and show concern for others within the group. They have a very good awareness of their own and cultures of others.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children thoroughly enjoy looking at books and take an active role in stories. Concentration and listening skills are good. They interact very well with others and are confident to speak. They use language well, especially during imaginative play. Their early writing skills are very good. They write for a variety of purposes, many make marks and recognise letters of their name and some form and write letters of their name and other words. They recognise their names in print in the environment.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children are very interested and enjoy activities that involve number. They count with confidence and some children use their own ideas to begin to solve problems during fun and practical activities as observed with counting and ordering the number line. Children use mathematical language very well during play. They enjoy a range of activities that involve shape and are able to recognise and name some shapes. They enjoy creating patterns.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good The children are very curious learners, they ask questions and explore and investigate an excellent range of activities and they talk about their observations. Children build and construct with a wide range of materials to shape, assemble and join materials for example use of tape and staplers in the collage area. Children's knowledge regarding the world in which we live and their local community is excellent and this is supported through outings to the village and visitors to the group.

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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 have a good awareness of their own needs, especially their personal hygiene and care. They use large equipment with confidence and move in a variety of ways with great skill and co-ordination for example, climbing, under, over and balancing. They handle skilfully and safely a very good range of resources to support their hand and eye co-ordination skills. The children have a good sense of space, they avoid obstacles and respect others need for space such as in the aeroplane action song.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children's imagination during play is very good, they become absorbed in role play activities and extend their own play very well. Sensory experiences for the children are excellent and they freely express their feelings, thoughts using all their senses, for example, "I like the feel of the grass". They enjoy music, songs and rhymes and take great enjoyment out of exploring instruments, exploring the sounds they make. They freely express their own ideas through art and design activities.

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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: • incorporate key questions in the planning in order to provide consistent questioning between adults • incorporate written evidence of mathematical activities involving counting and ordering in the planning.

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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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