William Gray Infant School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 27/01/2005 Inspector Name Loraine Wardlaw

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Bordon Garrison Preschool and Creche Setting Address Kildare Road Bordon Hampshire GU35 0HL

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Bordon Garrison Pre-school and Creche

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Bordon Garrison Pre-school and Creche Address Kildare Road Bordon Hampshire GU35 0HL

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ORGANISATION 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

Bordon Garrison Pre-school and Crèche opened in 1975 but moved to it's present site in 1998.It operates from a purposefully adapted building which is part of the Garrison community, and located in Bordon, Hampshire.The pre-school serves Bordon Garrison and the local community. The pre-school is run by a voluntary management committee which is made up of Garrison personnel,parents and the day to day manager. There are currently 65 children from one year to five years on roll. This includes 28 funded three year olds and 11 four year olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions or all day. The setting supports children with special needs and children who speak English as an additional language. The group opens five days a week during school term time. Sessions are from 09:15 until 12:15 extending to 15:00 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The Crèche (baby room) is open from 13:00 until 15:00. Sixteen staff are employed to work with the children; all of the staff are either

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Information about the setting

qualified to National Vocational Level Two or Three in early years or are working towards a qualification. The pre-school receives support from the Early Years Development and Childcare partnership and has gained Pre-school Learning Alliance accreditation.

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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?

Bordon Pre-school and crèche's educational provision is of good quality. Children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals in mathematical development, but very good progress in the other five areas of learning. The quality of teaching overall is generally good, but with some very good aspects.Staff have a generally secure knowledge of the Foundation Stage curriculum and interact effectively with children. They offer an attractive and stimulating environment to children,which is well set up with good resources. Planning covers all curriculum areas with stepping stones as learning intentions but staff do not always include differentiation for different ability children.Although the observation system is rigorous the assessment records do not cover all the stepping stones in all areas of learning. Staff know children well and are able to identify learning targets for them, which are shared with parents. Children who speak

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How effective is the nursery education?

English as an additional language receive very good support by staff. The quality of leadership and management overall is generally good but with some very good aspects.The newly appointed manager has very good leadership skills ,is very well supported by the voluntary management committee and is highly committed to offering quality education to children.Good in house training is delivered and regular information exchange takes place amongst all the staff.The manager has a good vision for the future of the setting and is developing her own knowledge and skills.Staff take part in regular performance reviews but teaching practice in relation to the Foundation Stage is not monitored. The partnership with parents is very good. Parents have access to a wealth of clearly presented information through wall displays and regular newsletters. Parents talk very positively about the setting .They are encouraged to be involved in their

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How effective is the nursery education?

child's learning experience and are very well informed about their progress.

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What is being done well?

• Children's communication, language and literacy development is very good. Staff question children effectively, encouraging them to think, to recall and contribute their own ideas. They extend children's vocabulary and develop children's listening skills. For example, children are encouraged to hear a siren while playing outside,or to listen to one another sharing their news. • The excellent, well planned outside environment has a very positive impact on children's learning, especially in physical development. Children run, and skip along the woodland path, peddle tricycles skilfully between two lines or balance and climb using the fixed frame. • Snack time is a particularly relaxed and social time at the pre-school.

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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 Children sit with their key adult, pour their own drinks, butter their own bread and talk with their peers and the adult. Staff emphasise the importance of healthy eating, and the need to wash hands to avoid germs and a poorly tummy. • Staff are good role models. They praise children highly in their efforts and have effective teaching strategies for gaining children's attention and to encourage positive behaviour. • Partnership with parents and outside agencies is very strong. Staff liaise extremely closely with parents of special needs or whose English is their second language. Staff act swiftly when an additional need is identified and good support and advice is sought from other professionals.

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What needs to be improved?

• the inclusion in the performance review of staff's teaching practice in relation to the implementation of the Foundation Stage curriculum. • the children's assessment records across all classes and planning of focus activities. • the opportunities for children to be aware of and to solve simple number problems in practical play situations and in the routine.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The pre-school has made generally good progress since the last inspection. Two key issues were identified. The first was to ensure that assessments record children's progress towards all of the early learning goals and to provide better information about what the children can do and to use the information to draw up less generalised 'future aims' for individual children. The setting has an extensive set of assessment records about what children can do but they do not cover all stepping stones and all the early learning goals. Therefore this remains an issue. Future aims for children successfully cover all six areas of development enabling parents and staff to have clear learning targets for the children. The second issue was to provide more challenging learning tasks for the more able child in both age groups. In some areas of learning, particularly communication language and literacy and physical development children experience more

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What has improved since the last inspection?

challenging tasks. However,appropriate challenge is not always provided in one aspect of mathematical development.

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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 All children are keen and motivated to learn.They concentrate on board games well and confidently select their own activities. Older children are able to work on their own initiative. Children happily initiate conversations with people they do not know and display good levels of self esteem within their class.Children form good relationships with the adults, their peers and are able to share and take turns.Children understand the routine and conform to the staff's behavioural expectations well.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children are confident communicators and engage easily in conversations with others. They use speech to recall experiences and talk through their ideas. Children are able to link letter names and sounds of the alphabet to words. They can recognise their names and some more able children can recognise other words. Children use their emergent writing in a variety of play situations and on their work. Some children can form their letters correctly.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children can count and are able to recognise numerals. They take part in number rhymes and some children have an awareness of number problems. Children can recognise shapes, patterns and use mathematical language to describe size and weight. Some children are not sufficiently encouraged to be aware of or to solve simple number problems in the routine or in the continuous curriculum.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children experiment with a variety of materials, for example sand and water. They use magnifying glasses to find out about living things in the wooded area. Children build and construct with a wide range of resources including recyclable materials. Children confidently use the computer and are becoming skilled at using the mouse. They understand about past and present through group time discussions of the calendar. Children find out about the local environment and learn about other cultures.

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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 move safely and with co-ordination in the outside area running around the wooded path, hopping, jumping. They have a good awareness of space, themselves and others. Children understand the importance of washing their hands; they attend to their own physical needs and learn about healthy eating. They use a good variety of equipment to develop gross motor skills and use a good variety of tools and equipment safely and with control. For example scissors or a butter knife.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children have very good opportunities to explore colour, texture, shape, form, and space using a wide variety of materials and resources. They have regular opportunities to use musical instruments, to listen to music and sing simple songs. Children use their imaginations well in art, design and role play. They are able to express ideas through the every day routine such as snack time and sensory activities such as pasta mixed with water or a cooking activity .

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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

• streamline and amalgamate the children's assessment records across all classes to ensure that clear progression is visible across the stepping stones in all aspects, in all areas of learning and use this information in focus activities to differentiate. • increase the opportunities for children to be aware of and to solve simple number problems in practical play situations and in the routine.

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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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