The Harry Taylor First School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 08/11/2004 Inspector Name Margaret Moffat

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name The House that Jack Built Day Nursery Setting Address 12 Chestnut Lane Hazlemere High Wycombe Buckinghamshire HP15 7BZ

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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

The House that Jack Built is 1 of 3 nurseries run by a company of the same name. It opened in 2000 and operates from a house in Hazlemere. A maximum of 18 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is open each weekday from 07.30 to 18.30 for 51 weeks of the year. All children share access to an enclosed garden area. There are currently 36 children aged from 1 to under 5 years on roll. Of these 12 children receive funding for nursery education. Children come from the surrounding area. The nursery employs 9 staff. Of these 6, including the manager hold appropriate early years qualifications. A further 3 staff members are working towards a qualification.

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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 House that Jack Built provides good quality nursery education, which enables children to make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Provision for their personal, social and emotional development is very good. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff set high expectations for behaviour and children respond to these; they are well behaved and co-operate well with each other. Staff have a knowledge of the foundation stage and curriculum planning provides a varied programme of activities to support children in all areas, although children do not have daily access to a range of malleable materials and tools to further develop their skills. Staff use good techniques for explanation and questioning to develop the children's thinking and language skills. Evaluation of activities and assessments of children's learning are recorded but these are not used effectively to inform future planning and what children need to do next. Some

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How effective is the nursery education?

aspects of learning in communication, language and literacy and mathematics are not used to full advantage in supporting the children's learning. Systems are in place to provide support for children with special educational needs and English as an additional language. Leadership and management is generally good. The staff work well together and deployment is effective to maintain a calm and stimulating environment. Staff are encouraged through attendance at regular staff meetings and the appraisal system to attend training to develop their skills. Partnership with parents and carers is very good. Information sharing is on a daily basis and parents are well informed about the foundation stage and the nursery activities and routines. Parents share their observations about their child with the staff through induction sheets and discuss their child's progress verbally on a daily basis. Parents have opportunities to discuss their children's progress on a more

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How effective is the nursery education?

formal basis through organised parent's evenings.

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What is being done well?

• Children develop very good relationships with staff and each other. They are well behaved and share toys and resources readily, taking turns. They develop very good independence skills. • Children are confident in their language skills, they listen well and respond to and enjoy stories and singing. • Staff are effective in their use of questioning and explanation techniques to encourage children's thinking. • Partnership with parents and carers is very good. Parents are well informed about the foundation stage and the nursery activities and routines.

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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

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What needs to be improved?

• the recording of activity evaluations and observations completed on children to inform future planning and what children need to do next • opportunities for children to label their own work, link sound to letters and use counting and simple calculation in everyday activities • opportunities for children to access a range of tools and a variety of media and role play to investigate how things work, further develop their physical skills and encourage their free expression in creative play.

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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 show good concentration skills and express their ideas and needs confidently to adults and peers. Children are interested, enthusiastic and keen to join in with the activities provided. They are developing good independence skills and can work independently or co-operate with each other at a variety of activities. Children are well behaved and share toys and resources readily. They respond well to praise and encouragement offered by staff.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children are good communicators and engage easily in conversation with staff and each other. Children enjoy stories, songs and rhyme; they listen well and join in stories to ask questions and share ideas. Most children can find their own name cards and are beginning to understand that print carries meaning. Children have opportunities to attempt writing for a variety of purposes. Staff miss opportunities to encourage children to label their own work and link sounds to letters.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Most children can count to ten and beyond and some can recognise numerals between one and nine in and out of sequence. Children have opportunities to explore shape, size and measure through planned activities. Children enjoy games and are beginning to understand simple sorting and matching tasks, for example, compare bears. Opportunities are missed to develop children's counting skills and the use of simple calculation in everyday practical activities.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children learn the similarities and differences between their homes and other communities through planned activities. Children talk with confidence about personal events in their own lives. They have opportunities to build and construct and are confident in their designing and making skills, for example, using mobilio to make houses for dinosaurs. Children are confident users of the computer. They are few activities to discover how and why things happen or work.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children show good co-ordination and spatial awareness in physical development. They have regular opportunities to access the outdoor area and develop their skills, for example catching, throwing, kicking and hopping. Children are confident and capable when undertaking routine activities and show a good awareness of personal hygiene. Children confidently use pencils and scissors but have few opportunities to access a range of tools and equipment readily throughout the day.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

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

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children express their ideas through a variety of activities including creative and movement. They have opportunities to explore colour and are able to recognise and name a wide range. Children enjoy participating at group times and join in enthusiastically when singing and experimenting with sound. There is a limited range of media, materials and role play activities available to the children on a daily basis.

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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

• Develop existing system of recording evaluation of activities and observations on children to inform future planning for children's next stage of learning. • Provide opportunities for children to practice their writing skills and link sounds to letters, count and use simple calculation in everyday activities. • Provide children with more opportunities to access a range of tools and a variety of media to discover how and why things work and encourage free expression in creative play.

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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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