Crumpsall Lane Infant School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 30/11/2004 Inspector Name Melissa Tickner

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Nivan Lodge Pre-school Nursery Setting Address King Charles the Martyr Hall Warwick Road Tunbridge Wells Kent TN1 1YX

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REGISTERED PROVIDER 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

Nivan Lodge Pre-school Nursery opened in 1991. It operates from 2 rooms of a church hall in the town of Tunbridge Wells, Kent. A maximum of 30 children may attend the pre-school at any one time. The pre-school is open each weekday from 09:00 to 12:00 during term time only. There are currently 39 children aged from 2 years to 5 years on roll. Of these, 23 children receive funding for nursery education. Children come from the local area. The pre-school currently supports a number of children with special educational needs, and also supports children who speak English as an additional language. The pre-school employs seven part time staff. Over half of the staff have early years qualifications. The setting receives support from a teacher/mentor from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership.

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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?

The provision of the nursery education offered by Nivan Lodge pre-school is acceptable and of high quality. Children are making very good progress towards the early learning goals. Overall the quality of teaching is very good. Staff have a clear awareness of how children learn and plan and provide a good range of activities that promote the areas of learning. Staff question and challenge children effectively throughout all activities, and this is appropriate to children's individual ages and stages of development. Behaviour is very well managed and as a result children's behaviour is excellent. Staff make good use of praise and positive reinforcement and use very good systems to promote and encourage children's self esteem and confidence. An effective system for assessment has been implemented which helps inform staff awareness of children's next steps. Staff make very effective use of their time and resources available. The environment

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How effective is the nursery education?

is well organised and stimulating for children. However current systems to organise group times and equipment for physical play could be developed. Staff make excellent use of their time and plan the morning well. Leadership and Management are very good. Staff work extremely well as a team and are well deployed, knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their roles. This helps contribute to the efficient and well-organised running of the group. There is a very strong emphasis on team working and staff work well together. Staff are committed to making changes and improvements and assess their strengths and weaknesses informally. Partnership with parents is very good. Parents are provided with a very good range of information and are kept informed about their children's progress through informal systems and through working closely with their child's key worker. There are currently no systems in place to encourage parents to support their children's

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What is being done well?

• Children are making very good progress in all areas of learning. This is supported by staff having a very good awareness of the areas of learning and what they want children to learn and achieve. Their knowledge is used to ensure that children's learning opportunities are maximised, throughout all activities. Staff question and challenge children effectively throughout all activities, and this is appropriate to children's individual ages and stages of development. Staff regularly encourage children to think for themselves and

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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 offer frequent challenges and problems to solve. • Behaviour is very well managed and as a result children's behaviour is excellent. Staff make good use of praise and positive reinforcement and children respond very well to methods used. Staff act as extremely positive role models and they use very good systems to promote and encourage children's self esteem and confidence, such as valuing all children's contributions at group times. • A clear system for assessment has been implemented. Staff are nominated key workers and make clear and useful observations. These are used and understood by all staff and help inform staff awareness of children's next steps. This helps contribute to offering children effective challenges and opportunities to make progress along the stepping-stones. • Nivan lodge pre-school is very well led and managed. Staff work extremely

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What is being done well?

well as a team and feel supported. They are well deployed, knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their roles. This helps contribute to the efficient and well-organised running of the group. There is a very strong emphasis on team working and staff work well together. Staff are committed to making changes and improvements and use opportunities to assess their strengths and weaknesses informally. For example the recent move has enabled staff to identify areas of development and improvement along with support from early years advisory teachers.

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What needs to be improved?

• The organisation of group times and equipment used at physical play times to ensure that learning opportunities are maximised. • Systems in place to encourage parents to support and promote their children's learning at home.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Staff have made very good progress in addressing the key issue from the last inspection in October 2000. Staff have developed their planning system to incorporate more fully the requirements of the early learning goals. They have changed their plans to ensure they cover all areas of learning and cover aims and objectives of activities. Learning intentions are identified. This can support staff in their awareness of challenging and helping children make progress. However all staff are very competent and knowledgeable in promoting the areas of learning and offering children effective learning opportunities. Staff are considering revising their current planning system to make it more user-friendly and less time consuming.

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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 actively involved in their learning. They show high levels of curiosity and interest in their chosen activity. They are developing very good levels of self-confidence and self-esteem, which is encouraged by staff. They contribute freely at group times and communicate effectively. Children are well behaved. They share and take turns and co-operate well as a group. Children have access to a very good range of activities and move with confidence to those of their choice.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children communicate well with one another and staff and their spoken language is developing very well. Children are developing an awareness of letters and letter sounds. They enjoy books and story time. They listen with enjoyment and enjoy stories independently and in both small and large groups. Children are developing good mark making skills and various resources are provided to support this. Many children can confidently form letters and attempt to write their names.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children use and recognise numbers confidently. Many children can count at least to ten, and can show the number of corresponding fingers and sing number rhymes. Children are beginning to understand mathematical problems. They are encouraged to compare numbers of objects and some understand the concept of working out how many more or how many less of something that is left. Children are beginning to learn about and understand shapes and use and understand size language such as 'big and little'.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children have good opportunities to explore and investigate, through activities such as water play and gardening. Children are developing a good awareness of their local environment and the world around them through relevant and interesting outings. They are developing a strong sense of time. They are able to talk about things of significance to them, and have good opportunities to do this regularly. Children have opportunities to begin to develop an awareness of operating simple programmes.

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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 Children have good opportunities for physical development. Physical activities and equipment are provided and used effectively on a daily basis. However children are not always accessing a sufficiently varied range of physical play equipment. Children are developing large motor movements and can move in a range of ways such as stepping and shuffling. Children have use of a very good range of equipment, tools and materials which help develop fine motor skills.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good There are good opportunities for children to explore colour, texture and shape through a good range of resources such as painting, water play and play dough. Children have good opportunities to explore music and sound and are developing confidence with rhymes and songs. Children have very good opportunities for imaginative play. Children enjoy and become absorbed in an extensive range of imaginative and role-play experiences, they play co-operatively and are supported by staff where appropriate.

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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 consideration should be given to the following: • Develop and build on the existing organisation of group times and physical play equipment to ensure that learning opportunities in these areas are maximised. • Develop the already effective partnership with parents to create systems to encourage parents to support and promote their children's learning at home.

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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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