Lepton CE Pre-School and Just for Fun Out of School Club

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 08/07/2003 Inspector Name Janet Skippins

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Rowley Hill Playgroup Setting Address Rowley Hill Playgroup C/O Lepton C of E School, Station Road, Lepton, Huddersfeld West Yorkshire HD8 0DE

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REGISTERED PROVIDER 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

Rowley Hill Playgroup opened in 1978. It operates from a portable building which has an entrance lobby, toilets, kitchen, playroom and outdoor area. The building is in the grounds of the Church of England school at Lepton, a village outside Huddersfield. The playgroup serves the local area. There are currently 28 children from two and a half to four years on roll. This includes 12 funded three year old children. Children attend a variety of sessions each week. None of the children have special needs or speak English as a second language. The playgroup opens five days a week during school term times. Sessions are from 09:15 to 11:45. The group also offers lunch time care from 11:30 to 13:00. Three part time staff work with the children. One holds an early years qualification. Two staff are currently on training programmes. The setting receives some support from the Pre-School Learning Alliance (PLA) and the Early Years Development and

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Information about the setting

Child-care Partnership (EYDCP). It is currently working towards a quality assurance award.

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How good is the Day Care?

Rowley Hill Playgroup provides satisfactory care overall for children from two and a half to five years. Staff provide a welcoming atmosphere and have clear routines which help the children to feel safe and secure. Staff attend meetings and training courses regularly in order to keep their knowledge up to date. Staff ensure that the environment is safe for children. They have a good awareness of individual children's needs, including dietary needs. Children benefit from consistent routines for playing and mealtimes. Staff mainly provide children with a range of stimulating play and learning activities. They have free access to the playroom and to an interesting outdoor area. However, children are not always grouped effectively to promote learning. Also, there are insufficient

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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 planned activities to enable them to find out about their environment. There is a shortage of equipment for children to use to develop some of their physical skills. Staff generally work well together to provide a positive approach to managing children's behaviour, however, they do not always remind children about their manners. Parents and carers are involved with the playgroup, they all take turns to work in the setting and many are on the management group. Information regarding their child's development is exchanged verbally on a daily basis. Parents regularly access, and contribute to their children's observation and assessment records. Termly newsletters, a notice board and a policies and procedures manual provide them with

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How good is the Day Care?

information about the playgroup. However, some of the content of the policies and procedures manual is currently being reviewed to bring it up to date.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

There were no actions made at the last inspection.

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What is being done well?

• Staff attend up to date training, and have an understanding and awareness of the stage of development of individual children. (Standard 2) • The staff team work well together to provide a stimulating environment in which the children feel confident and understand boundaries for behaviour. • (Standards 2, 3 and 11) • There is strong emphasis on maintaining the safety and security of the children both inside the building and in the outdoor play area. Good attention is given to fire safety and parents are informed each time the children have taken part in a fire practice. (Standards 6 and 12) • Staff ensure children learn about personal hygiene, particularly with regard to hand washing before meals.(Standard 7) • The children's individual dietary needs are acknowledged. There are good systems in place to ensure these are always met. Notices on display alert staff and parent helpers to consider children's allergies when preparing food.

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What is being done well?

(Standard 8) • Parents are kept up to date with information about their child's learning and development. (Standard 12)

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What needs to be improved?

• the provision of resources for physical play, particularly climbing, to ensure that children's developmental needs are met; • (Standard 3) • the grouping of children to ensure that their individual learning needs are met;

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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 (Standard 3) • the extension of planned activities to develop children's knowledge of their local environment; • (Standard 3); • the procedures for obtaining parental permission for the seeking of emergency medical advice or treatment; (Standard 7) • the content of the staff recruitment policy, equal opportunities statement and statement of the aims of the playgroup.(Standards 2, 9 and 12)

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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 7 request written permission from parents for seeking emergency medical advice or treatment 08/10/2003

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by the time of the next inspection

Std Recommendation 1 provide a written procedure to show how staff are recruited. 3 provide more opportunities to enable children to explore their environment. 3 ensure children are grouped effectively for learning activities. 5 extend the resources to promote children’s physical development. 9 include written information in the equal opportunities policy regarding meeting the needs of children who have English as a second language. 11 ensure staff reinforce manners within the setting 12 ensure that parents are provided with clear information regarding the aims of the setting.

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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?

Rowley Hill Playgroup provides a welcoming atmosphere where children settle well so that overall they make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. They make very good progress in personal, social and emotional, communication, language and literacy, mathematical and creative development. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff work well together to plan an interesting curriculum in most areas of learning. Staff are good role models and generally manage behaviour well. However, staff do not alway re-enforce the use of good manners with the children. Interaction with the children is good and they are effectively encouraged in their learning. Staff organise activities well, though children are not always grouped appropriately. Children need more opportunities to develop good manners, climbing skills, and to learn more about their environment. Assessments for all children are regularly completed by staff and used effectively to

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How effective is the nursery education?

inform future planning. There are good systems in place to support children with special needs,though none attend at present. The leadership and management of the playgroup is generally good. Staff are well aware of their roles in the running of the playgroup. They are encouraged to attend training in all areas, in particular the early learning goals. The management group are able to assess the current strengths and weaknesses of the provision and are committed to continuous improvement. However, some of the information they provide regarding the playgroup's aims is ambiguous and is being reviewed at present. Partnership with parents is generally good. Most are involved in the sessions, taking part in the activities and some are on the management group. They are well informed about their child's progress and see their child's observational and assessment records regularly.

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What is being done well?

• Staff work well as a team to provide an interesting curriculum for the children. • Staff and management work hard and are keen to address their strengths and weaknesses, to ensure children are able to reach their full potential within the early learning goals before they leave the setting. • Children are confident and happy, and are developing good relationships. • Practical everyday activities are used effectively to enable children to begin to use their knowledge of numbers to solve mathematical problems. • Children explore a range of creative materials and are encouraged to experiment with colours and textures. • Parents are made to feel welcome, have good relationships with staff and are

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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 provided with good assessment and observational information regarding their own children.

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What needs to be improved?

• The planning of regular opportunities for children to explore and learn about their environment. • The planning of activities so that children are grouped appropriately. • The provision of resources and opportunities for children to develop their climbing skills. • Information on the curriculum which is given to parents.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The playgroup has made good progress since the last inspection, although some weaknesses still remain. The staff plan activities to give priority to the development of children's social and emotional skills and their language and literacy. For example, children's listening and concentration skills are improving due to the use of more suitable resources such as large print books and props for story telling. However, some children still need more encouragement to be more polite. Staff strive to group children appropriately, though sometimes this is difficult to achieve due to the compact nature of the premises. Good children's observational and assessment records are kept, parents access these regularly and contribute to them. The staff use them to plan the learning of each individual child.

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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 making very good progress in personal, social and emotional development. They are interested in the activities provided and persevere to complete tasks. Their behaviour is good and they have developed good relationships with each other and are able to share and take turns.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children are making very good progress in communication language and literacy. Their language is developing well and they enjoy participating during group story time. They listen well and are able to follow simple instructions such as being asked to tidy up their toys at certain times of the day. Children are beginning to recognise and write their own name.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Progress made in mathematical development is very good. Many children can count a small number of items accurately with increasing confidence. Some three year old children can demonstrate that they understand simple addition and subtraction calculations, for example, when taking part in a weighing activity. Most children use language to describe shape and size, they talk about, recognise and recreate simple patterns. All children enjoy joining in with simple number rhymes and activities.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Progress made in knowledge and understanding of the world is generally good. Children develop their understanding of living things, for example, by growing sunflowers in the playgroup's outdoor area. They are able to develop their understanding about the culture and beliefs of others through many planned activities. They use the computer to develop their technological skills with confidence. However, there are insufficient planned activities for children to learn more about their environment.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children make generally good progress in their physical development. They move confidently, developing balancing skills on outdoor equipment. However, they have few opportunities to develop climbing skills. Children are developing hand to eye co-ordination skills well, for example, by having opportunities to pour their own drinks at break time and handling small tools, such as vegetable peelers with increasing control.

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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: Very Good Progress made in creative development is very good. Children explore shape, colour, texture and form effectively through painting, collage, model making and drawing. They are able to memorise and sing simple songs and rhymes. They were seen to enjoy creating music by accessing resources independently from a selection of instruments. Children use their imagination to play cooperatively as part of a group, expressing their feelings as they act out narratives in the well equipped home corner.

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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

• plan regular opportunities for children to explore their environment; • plan activities so that children are grouped appropriately; • provide opportunities and resources for children to develop their large motor skills; • provide parents with detailed information on the curriculum within the setting. 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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