Corpus Christi Catholic School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 06/05/2004 Inspector Name Ann Revell

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Poppins Pre School and Nursery Setting Address Lampard Centre Sally Port Gardens,Brompton Gillingham Kent ME7 2SY

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Poppins Nursery Committee

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Poppins Nursery Committee Address C/o Lampard Centre Sally Port Gardens,Brompton Gillingham Kent ME7 5BU

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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

Poppins Pre-school and Nursery opened in 1996. It occupies its own room in a community centre on a housing estate for army personnel. There is an outside play area. It is run by a committee and is funded by the army and gives precedence to the children of army families. Poppins Pre-school and Nursery is open each weekday from 9.00 to 16.00 during school term times. The pre-school which is for children from three to five years runs in the afternoons from 13.00 to 16.00. The pre-school is registered to take 26 children. There are currently 25 on roll and 60% of these are children from army families. Fifteen of these children are funded three year olds and ten are funded four year olds. The pre-school caters for children with special educational needs and for those who speak English as an additional language. There are six members of staff who work both in the nursery and the pre-school. Five have an early years qualification and one is in training. The pre-school receives

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Information about the setting

teacher support from the Early Years Team and is a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance.

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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 provision for nursery education at Poppins Pre-School is generally good overall. Children are making very good progress towards the early learning goals in personal, social and emotional development, knowledge and understanding of the world, physical development and creative development. In mathematics and communication, language and literacy, progress is generally good. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff plan a range of stimulating activities and present them in a lively manner that motivates children to learn. They use effective questioning that extends children's language and encourages them to find things out for themselves. Sessions are structured in a way that ensures children's independence and their ability to make choices. Staff regularly observe the children and record their progress in all areas of learning. Each child's learning needs, including those with special educational needs and English as an additional

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How effective is the nursery education?

language, are identified and incorporated into the planning. This ensures that children are progressing through the stepping stones although in aspects of mathematics and literacy, the older children are not sufficiently challenged. Leadership and management is generally good. The manager ensures staff work closely as a team and that each staff member's strengths are utilised well. The supervisor monitors the quality of teaching and ensures there is a consistent approach. Staff meet regularly and review children's progress. There is a weakness in the evaluation of the planning in that a lack of emphasis in the overall programme for mathematics and aspects of literacy have not been identified. Partnership with parents is very good. Parents are well informed of their children's day to day activities through notice boards and contact books. Parents benefit from regular opportunities to see children's records and to discuss their progress.

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How effective is the nursery education?

Children take home resources to enable parents to support learning at home.

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What is being done well?

• Staff relationships and their warm interaction with the children ensures that children are confident learners and are able to work harmoniously with each other. • Partnership with parents is positively encouraged. Parents are welcomed in to the pre-school to receive and share information. • Children's spoken language is developing well. They discuss their ideas in large and small groups using a good range of vocabulary. • Children are effectively motivated to learn through activities that are practical and build on their interests. They concentrate for good periods of time.

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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 • Interesting, practical activities are ensuring that children are learning about other cultures and their own.

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What needs to be improved?

• the teaching of letter sounds and the correct letter formation. • the priority given to mathematics in the overall programme. • the teaching of number recognition. • the use of routines to include opportunities for comparing numbers and for introducing adding together and taking away.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Improvement since the last inspection has been generally good. The pre-school has maintained it's high standards with regard to the monitoring of children's progress and to monitoring the quality of teaching. Records of progress enable staff to plan for children's next stage in learning and teaching remains of a generally high quality. There are currently however, some weaknesses in the monitoring and evaluation of the planning system resulting in mathematics and some aspects of communication, language and literacy not receiving sufficient priority in the planning and delivery of the programme. This results in the older children in particular, not reliably being challenged in some aspects of these areas of learning.

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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 enjoy all the interesting activities. They are confident and lively in their approach and respond well to praise for all their achievements. Children express their needs confidently, take turns, share fairly and are very well behaved. They are independent and concentrate for good periods of time. They plan activities for the session, find their own name cards and put their finished work in the appropriate box. They are currently learning about weddings in other cultures and their own.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children are confident speakers as they plan their activities for the session and negotiate with each other in their role-play. They love books and listen attentively to favourite stories. They enjoy rhymes but have few opportunities to learn the sounds that letters make. They easily recognise their names and are beginning to write them but they do not reliably practise correct letter formation. Children are confident writers in their play as they 'write' prescriptions in the 'surgery'.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children are able to count objects to ten in the course of a variety of practical activities but there are few opportunities for them to recognise numbers or to be aware of 'big' numbers such as the day's date. They are beginning to understand 'one more' and 'one less' as they sing number rhymes but there are missed opportunities in routines, such as lining up, to compare numbers. Good use of sand and water play are enabling children to understand the language of capacity and weight.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children care for the guinea pig, observe the weather and look for changes as they melt chocolate and toast sandwiches. They enjoy looking at photos to help them to recall past events and are learning the vocabulary for the passing of time. They are learning about the features of their locality as they visit the library, the woods and the post office. They re-enact weddings from their own and other cultures in order to enable them to understand the similarities and differences.

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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 enjoy the 'play park' and the daily time on the equipment is ensuring that they are confident and coordinated in their movements. They make the most of these opportunities for energetic play and move freely around the available space. They are learning to throw and catch balls and to develop skills with small apparatus. They use scissors confidently, fit small puzzle pieces together and are developing good pencil control. They are beginning to understand the rules for staying healthy.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children participate enthusiastically in music sessions. They tap the syllables of their names and use the instruments to distinguish between loud and soft sounds. Role-play activities are varied and children's imaginative play is of good quality due to sensitive teacher support. Children express their own ideas as they use paint and collage materials confidently to transform a large carton. Children explore their senses as they make fruit salad and taste food from other cultures.

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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

• give more emphasis in the planning for communication, language and literacy to the teaching of letters sounds and to the correct formation of letters. • give greater priority in the overall programme to the planning and daily provision of mathematical activities. Provide more opportunities for number recognition, adding and taking away and for comparing numbers, in both activities and routines.

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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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