The Woodside Centre

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 19/01/2005 Inspector Name Claire Sheldrake

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name The Woodside Centre Setting Address Lea Road Tiverton Devon EX16 6SU

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name Pre-School Learning Alliance 4539003 1096526

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Pre-School Learning Alliance Address South West Regional Centre 54-56 Park Street Bristol BS1 5JN

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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

The Woodside Centre opened in 2004 and operates from three rooms in a purpose built, open plan building. It is located in a residential area of Tiverton in Devon. A maximum of 40 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is open each week day from 07.30 until 18.00. The nursery forms part of the neighbourhood nursery project. There is access to a secure, enclosed outdoor play area. There are currently 68 children aged between birth and five years on roll. Of these 10 children receive funding for nursery education. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and children who speak English as an additional language.

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How good is the Day Care?

The Woodside Centre does not provide satisfactory care for children. The purpose built premises allows opportunities for children to experience both indoor and outside play. Parents and children are greeted at the main entrance by staff each morning, welcoming them into the nursery. Most members of staff hold early years qualifications and first aid. However, in some areas such as behaviour management, they lack knowledge, confidence and experience. Most records and documents are in place, but some lack necessary detail. The operational plan does not effectively organise the children, deploy staff or make best use of space available. Safety features are in place throughout the nursery. Regular risk assessment ensures that children remain secure both on and off the premises. A health and hygiene policy is in place, however this is not effectively implemented throughout the nursery and children are not introduced to regular hygiene routines.

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How good is the Day Care?

There is a high risk of cross infection.

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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 A nutritious selection of fruits and savoury snacks are available during the morning and a cooked meal is prepared on site. Resources within the nursery to provide age appropriate and challenging learning opportunities are limited. This is mainly highlighted in the toddler and pre-school areas. The lack of stimulating toys and activities do not hold the interest of the children, therefore at times they are bored, and their behaviour deteriorates. Staff are not effective at managing such behaviour. The nursery provides a limited selection of multicultural toys to introduce the children to the world around them. Children's individual needs are not always recognised and supported. Staff are aware of child protection procedures and are committed to further training in this

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How good is the Day Care?

area. Partnerships with parents continue to be developed. Children are allocated a key worker who helps them settle and feel secure.

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What is being done well?

• The premises is purpose built, being modern, clean and full of natural light. It is set in a large residential area offering a service to the local community. • The interaction shown by staff in the baby room ensures that very young children are supported and introduced to new experiences and routines. • A well balanced hot meal at lunchtime and a nutritous snack is offered to the children each day to help them maintain a healthy diet.

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What needs to be improved?

• the operational plan, including the grouping of children, deployment of staff and effective use of space • the range of toys, equipment and resources to support children and help them make progress in all areas of their development • health and hygiene practises to reduce the risk of cross infection and the signing of accident records • recognition and meeting of all children's individual needs • staff's knowledge and implementation of behaviour management strategies.

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inspection or 1st April 2004 whichever is later.)

Information was received from the nursery on 22nd December 2004 that they were

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inspection or 1st April 2004 whichever is later.)

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 caring for children ages other than stated on their registration certificate. Ofsted wrote to the nursery on 30th December 2004 to inform them that they were in breach of their conditions and that Ofsted could take further action. They were required to cease caring for children aged five to eight years. Ofsted informed that on this occasion they would not take such action and the centre remains qualified for registration.

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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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The Registered Person must take the following actions by the date shown

Std Action Date 2 Develop and implement an operational plan, which includes grouping of children, use of space and staff deployment to meet the needs of children effectively 19/02/2005

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The Registered Person must take the following actions by the date shown

3 Plan and provide a suitable range of activities and play opportunities to ensure children's individual developmental needs are met 19/02/2005

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The Registered Person must take the following actions by the date shown

4 Ensure space is organised and used to meet the needs of all chidren, with particular regard to ensuring toddlers are able to rest or sleep without disturbance 19/02/2005

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The Registered Person must take the following actions by the date shown

5 Ensure there is sufficient furniture, equipment and toys to meet the needs of all children 19/02/2005

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The Registered Person must take the following actions by the date shown

7 Ensure the good health of children is promoted by taking positive steps to prevent the spread of infection and by keeping a signed record of all accidents 19/01/2005

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The Registered Person must take the following actions by the date shown

10 Ensure all children are valued and included and the individual needs of all children are met 19/01/2005

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The Registered Person must take the following actions by the date shown

11 Develop staff's awareness and understanding of effective ways to manage children's behaviour, taking into account their age and stage of development 19/02/2005

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The Registered Person must take the following actions by the date shown

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?

The Woodside Centre provides acceptable quality nursery education, although children's progress towards the early learning goals in all six areas of learning is limited by significant weaknesses. The quality of teaching has significant weaknesses. Only the new, temporary supervisor has a good working knowledge of the Foundation Stage curriculum. An adequate system for planning has been recently introduced. However, this is completed by the supervisor only and other staff delivering the curriculum are unclear of the learning intention of activities and, therefore, do not encourage effective learning. Deployment of staff, time and resources are insufficient to meet the needs of individual children. Children with special educational needs are not supported appropriately. Behaviour management is inconsistent resulting in children being disruptive within the group. Assessments are not completed and record charts

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How effective is the nursery education?

not linked to the stepping stones to influence future planning. There are significant weaknesses in the leadership and management of the group. The managers are qualified but do not have any knowledge of the curriculum to be delivered and are therefore, unable to offer appropriate support to the staff. There are some systems in place to monitor and evaluate the curriculum, however the weaknesses identified have not been acted upon. Partnership with parents has significant weaknesses. Parents are given corporate information about the setting but are not informed about the Foundation Stage curriculum or their children's progress towards the early learning goals. Parents are unclear who their key workers are and planning is not shared with them to involve them in their child's learning.

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What is being done well?

• Children are benefiting from the new, temporary supervisors knowledge and experience in delivering activities across all six areas of learning. • Staff talk to the children, encourage language and read them stories.

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What needs to be improved?

• Staffs knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage Curriculum and the early learning goals to enable the curriculum to be planned and delivered effectively. • Evaluation and assessment, to ensure individual needs are monitored and met, shared with parents and influence future planning. • Deployment of staff, to ensure children's behaviour is consistently managed,

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What needs to be improved?

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 activities are supported and children's special educational needs are met appropriately. • Management, to ensure commitment to improving the delivery of the curriculum, support for staff and enhanced resources to provide sufficient challenge to children.

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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: Significant Weaknesses Children are independent at snack time and are actively involved in the tidying away of toys to music. They do not participate well within a group, being disruptive and unable to listen to others or take turns fairly. Behaviour is poor and children show little concern for others. They do not follow simple instructions and lack enthusiasm for activities often wandering off with little expression or running away defiantly. Children are unaware of their own community and cultures of others.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Significant Weaknesses Children enjoy the new opportunity to mark make spontaneously through play but pencil control is poor. They are beginning to show an interest in words and letters displayed around the room, especially the menu's in the role play area. Children enjoy one to one for stories but do not listen well as a group. Staff encourage language development but some children have poor speech and have difficulty responding to questions appropriately, others choose not to speak.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Significant Weaknesses Children are beginning to count when adult directed but do not recognise numerals, therefore they find it difficult to comprehend a dice game that involves moving a counter the number of spaces shown on the dice. Although the supervisor has introduced mathematics well, children struggle to understand the concepts and show little interest. They are not using any mathematical language or initiating counting within the daily routine.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Significant Weaknesses Children have learnt a lot about the topic of weather with activities across all areas of learning to support their knowledge. Opportunities to explore and investigate are planned but children do not listen to instruction and staff lack understanding of how to deliver these activities which results in learning intentions not being met. Children are not inquisitive about how things join together or show enthusiasm for making models, preferring staff to make things for them.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Significant Weaknesses Children enjoy outdoor play as the inside space is not well utilized. They run around being very boisterous and aggressive towards each other. Outdoor equipment does not provide sufficient challenge but the supervisor initiates exciting physical games to improve their large motor skills, such as running and stopping in response to traffic light colours. Children enjoy pouring their own drinks and using tools but are not skilled with equipment.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

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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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Significant Weaknesses Children play the rain shakers they helped to make but find it difficult to copy simple rhythms. Some children have a love of dressing up but a lack of resources hampers their imaginative play. Children show little response to experiences and do not express their ideas. Creative activities are enjoyed for the opportunity to be messy but learning intentions are not met.

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Children's spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development is not 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 but has some significant areas for improvement. Children's progress towards the early learning goals is limited by some significant weaknesses. The next inspection will take place in one to two years time.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

• Improve staff's knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage Curriculum and early learning goals. • Develop evaluation of activities and assessment records to demonstrate children's progress and use them to plan children's next steps for learning. • Improve staff deployment to ensure children's behaviour is constantly managed, activities are supported and children's special educational needs are met appropriately. • Develop management skills to support staff, enhance access to resources and improve commitment to the delivery of the curriculum.

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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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