Kimberley Pre-School Playgroup

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 14/06/2004 Inspector Name Alison Putnar

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Kimberley Pre-School Playgroup Setting Address Kettlebrook Lodge, Eastwood Road Kimberley Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG16 2HX

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Kimberley Pre-School Playgroup 1030911

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Kimberley Pre-School Playgroup Address Kettlebrook Lodge Eastwood Road, Kimberley Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG16 2HX

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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

Kimberley Pre-school Playgroup registered in 1968. They operate in a community building on the outskirts of the town, close to shops and on a bus route. The facility opens during term time on Monday - Fridays, 09:30 - 12:00 and Monday - Thursday 12:30 - 15:00. Children attend a variety of sessions. The children have access to 2 halls and a secure outdoor play area. The group are registered to accommodate 26 children between the ages of 2 and 8 years old. There are 42 children on roll; of these 12 are funded 3-year-olds and 7 are funded 4-year-olds. There are currently no children with special educational needs, all of the children speak English as their first language. There are 7 part-time staff who work with the children, 6 hold relevant child care qualifications and all access appropriate training courses. The playgroup are members of the Pre-School Learning Alliance (PLA) and receive support from the

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Information about the setting

Nottinghamshire County Council Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP).

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How good is the Day Care?

Kimberley Pre-school Playgroup provides satisfactory care overall. The high child/staff ratios ensure that children receive a good level of attention. The established staff team work hard to create a welcoming environment for children, setting up the hall daily with child-sized equipment, resources and displays of children's work. Appropriate policies and procedures are in place to ensure that staff and committee members are clear of their roles. The staff team work well together to plan and provide a suitable range of activities. Good emphasis is placed on free play. Children are able to make choices from activities provided and these are changed daily. The provision for outdoor and large physical play is less varied with activities changed weekly, limited use is made of available space. The majority of the session is well organised with resources set up for small groups to access. However, routines such as register, snack and story time

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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 are less well organised. Children come together in a large mixed age group; many become disruptive causing others to lose interest. These group activities are not always well adapted for the various stages of development or levels of concentration. Staff lack confidence to address some children's behaviour effectively. Safety is a high priority in the setting. Children are always supervised to ensure they are safe. The environment is well maintained and staff understand important procedures such as fire evacuation and child protection. The premises are clean. On the whole, appropriate practices are encouraged to promote the health and well being of the children. A light, healthy snack is provided and staff are aware of dietary

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How good is the Day Care?

needs. Staff show suitable knowledge of first aid and maintain clear records. Good relationships have been developed with the parents. Staff are available each session to discuss and share information both verbally and in writing. Parents are encouraged to be involved in pre-school life.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection the facility agreed to improve and update procedures for ensuring all staff are suitable to be working with children and have relevant skills, experience or qualifications. The procedures have been updated and implemented well. Clear records are maintained demonstrating that all staff working with children are suitable to do so, safeguarding children and providing peace of mind for parents using the service. In addition several policies and procedures were required to be updated including child protection, administering medication and action to be followed in the event of a child being lost. These have all been updated and included in the operational plan. Staff show a good understanding of the procedures having a positive impact on the safety and well-being of children whilst at playgroup.

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What is being done well?

• The consistent staff team enable children to develop good relationships with their adult carers. Children are happy, settled and confident in the playgroup. • Staff supervise children well to ensure the risk of accidents are minimised and that children remain safe whilst at playgroup. Staff encourage children to consider safety for themselves, for example when using equipment, moving around the halls and through topics such as road safety. • Good systems are in place to encourage parents' involvement in the pre-school through the committee, parent rota, planned social events, trips and many enjoyable fundraising activities.

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What needs to be improved?

• organisation and grouping of children at times to ensure the group size is

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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 more manageable and activities have purpose for all • staffs' skills and confidence in addressing and managing some children's behaviour • provision of a wider variety of outdoor or large physical activities throughout the week • systems to ensure all children wash their hands before snacks.

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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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by the time of the next inspection

Std Recommendation 2 Review the organisation and systems of grouping children at times during the session to ensure that large group activities such as register, story and singing/music times, meet all children’s needs and provide sufficient challenge for older, more able children. 3 Make more use of available space and resources both indoors and outdoors to provide more variety and increased opportunities for large physical play. 11 Develop staff's skills and confidence in using effective strategies to manage children’s behaviour, encouraging children to consider the impact of their behaviour on others.

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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?

Kimberley Pre-school Playgroup provides acceptable education provision, however, children's progress towards the early learning goals is limited in some areas by significant weaknesses in the provision. Systems are in place to support children with special educational needs. There are significant weaknesses in the quality of teaching. Staff plan a good range of free-play activities that engage and sustain most children's interest. Staff are deployed effectively, many attempt to extend children's learning through their own involvement. A lack of specific learning intentions during planned focused activities result in areas of the curriculum being missed, particularly in the area of mathematics. Staff do not always adapt activities to meet the needs of individual children, some older children are insufficiently challenged. The available resources are used well, however opportunities to extend learning through practical activities

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How effective is the nursery education?

and daily routines are often missed. Staff develop good relationships with the children, fostering their confidence and self esteem, but do not consistently address behaviour issues. The leadership and management has significant weaknesses. The supervisors and staff work together to evaluate the education provision; they have recently identified weaknesses in the system of assessing and recording children's development and have taken on board a new system, but have yet to implement this fully. Staff are committed to improving the education provision. They seek advice from relevant professionals and attend additional training courses. The partnership with parents is generally good. Detailed information is provided about the playgroup and the education provision. Parents are well informed about future events through regular newsletters and displays of activity plans. Records of children's development are sent home to enable parents to view and contribute;

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How effective is the nursery education?

opportunities to discuss records with staff are available at parents' request.

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What is being done well?

• Provision of a wide range of malleable and craft materials result in children making good progress in their creative development. They enjoy using their senses and own ideas to explore, form and create a wealth of pictures and models. • Good organisation of free-play activities encourages the younger children to learn as they explore. Children are given sufficient time to investigate, persist and develop their skills through self chosen activities. • Staff commitment to attending further training, extending and developing their knowledge and skills of teaching, improving the education provision for children.

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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

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What needs to be improved?

• planning of focused activities to identify specific learning intentions and incorporating how activities can be adapted for more or less able children, ensuring activities provide appropriate challenge for all children • systems of ensuring a balanced range of activities equally cover all aspects of the 6 areas of learning over a period of time • opportunities and use of practical activities to encourage younger children to develop number recognition and older children to develop concepts of simple calculation in the area of mathematical development and increased opportunities to attempt writing for a purpose • use of assessment systems to identify where children are at in their learning, what they are working towards and how this is used to inform future planning to ensure all activities have purpose.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Limited progress has been made to address the key issues raised at the last inspection and many remain aspects of key issues for improvement following this inspection. The facility was required to improve their planning, ensuring priority given to language, literacy and mathematics was reflected in the activities, and to show how activities are adapted to meet the differing needs of children. Free-play and focused activities are planned to incorporate the 6 areas of learning each day, however this is not closely monitored to ensure all areas are covered equally over a period of time. Activity plans do not consistently show how they will be adapted for the various stages of children's development. The setting agreed to implement and monitor the effectiveness of a system for assessing and recording children's progress and use information gained to inform future planning. A system was implemented following the last inspection; staff have

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What has improved since the last inspection?

recently reviewed this system finding that it did not effectively show children's progress towards the early learning goals. A new system has been discussed, but has yet to be implemented fully. Deployment of staff and making greater use of daily routines and practical activities to promote children's learning in the area of mathematical development were also issues raised. Staff are deployed well to support children in their chosen activities. However, opportunities are not taken during daily routines to extend mathematical development. Staff's skills of promoting early reading and writing were required to be developed; some have attended literacy workshops for the Foundation Stage. Activities including a mark making area, name writing and letter recognition are included in planning. Staff provide some practical activities to encourage children to recognise their names, for example, selecting nametags for drinks. Fewer

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What has improved since the last inspection?

opportunities are provided for children to attempt writing for a purpose during role-play.

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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: Generally Good Children are confident and settle quickly, staff foster good relationships to support this. Many children are keen to access the range of activities choosing to play both indoors and outdoors. Older children are building good relationships, they are willing to share and take turns fairly, this is well promoted through opportunities for small group games. Children are reminded of behaviour expectations but are rarely encouraged to respect their environment for example, helping to tidy away toys.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Significant Weaknesses Children show developing language skills and use a range of vocabulary during play and group activities. They learn letter sounds at register time looking at the "letter of the week" but this is rarely re-visited during other activities. Some children enjoy stories read by staff, older ones listen well, however, younger ones struggle at this time. They develop pencil control at the writing table and some write their names. Role-play is less well used to develop reading and writing skills.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Significant Weaknesses Children show confidence in counting, many older children can count objects to 10. Activities such as number songs are used well to encourage younger children. Children look at number and a shape each week, however many struggle to grasp these concepts as they are not re-visited in practical activities. Routines such as snack time are not used well to encourage maths skills, such as calculating how many fruit pieces are needed for the group. Many correctly describe concepts of size during play.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children learn about the environment and the wider world through a good range of topic work. Many are keen to explore using their senses to manipulate pliable and natural materials including sand, dough and water. Children develop an understanding of the use of technology through regularly using tape recorders, phones and tills during role-play. They use simple computer programmes to support their learning. Many form and build with construction sets, craft and recyclable materials.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

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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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children enjoy the large physical play available developing control, coordination and spatial awareness through regular use of resources including hoops, bikes and cars. They less often attempt climbing and balancing. Many demonstrate an awareness of their own bodily needs accessing the toilet independently and talking about the effect of sun on their skin. There are good opportunities for children to develop hand-eye coordination as they access tools, scissors and threading activities.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good There are many opportunities for children to explore and create pictures using their own ideas and imagination. Children enjoy exploring the sounds of instruments at music time, they listen to a range of music and join in with singing and action songs. Younger children recreate familiar scenes with role-play resources such as caring for babies in the home corner, while older children use their imagination further, dressing up as action heroes and thinking up stories to extend their games.

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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 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

• review and improve the planning of focused activities, identifying clear learning intentions and how these can be adapted for children's varying abilities. Implement a rigorous monitoring system to ensure all areas of learning are equally covered over a period of time • implement fully and monitor the new system of assessing children's development and ensure they show progress towards the early learning goals. Develop staff skills of using the information gained to inform future planning enabling all children to make progress • make more use of role play, routines and practical free play activities to promote mathematical development and increased opportunities for children to attempt early writing skills.

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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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