Bentley Church of England Primary School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 24/03/2004 Inspector Name Susan Anne Kluth

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Green Dragon Playgroup Setting Address Community Hall North Road Brentford Middlesex TW8 0BJ

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of The Committee of Green Dragon Playgroup

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name The Committee of Green Dragon Playgroup Address Green Dragon Playgroup Community Hall North Road Brentford, Middlesex TW8 0BJ

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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

Green Dragon Play Group operates from a large open plan hall, attached to Green Dragon School, on the Haverfield estate between Kew Bridge and Brentford High Street. The premises consists of a main hall area with adjoining toilet facilities, an outside play area, undergoing refurbishment and unavailable at the time of this inspection and access to a community room nearby for meetings of a confidential nature. There are a total of 72 children on role. This includes two children with Special Educational needs, 51 funded 3 and 4 year olds and 12 children with English as an additional language. The playgroup operates five mornings each week term time only from 09:15am to 11.45, and three afternoons from 12:30 to 15:00. Over 50% of staff are suitably qualified. Green Dragon Playgroup is well attended, and serves children and families from the local community, children attending reflect the diversity of the local area.

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How good is the Day Care?

Green Dragon Playgroup provides satisfactory care for children. The premises are generally well maintained and provide a good amount of space. Staff are effectively deployed and managed to monitor safety and engage children's attention. The operational plan is well organised and includes policies and procedures reflected in staff practice. Most of the required procedures are in place. All are easily accessible to staff and parents. Records are stored to maintain confidentiality, are well organised and up to date. Staff have a high level of safety awareness and carry out regular written safety checks of the premises, resources and equipment. Staff are good role models, setting examples to the children of good hygiene routines. Snack time is a well

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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 organised and sociable time for the children with most of the staff sitting with the children. Resources are used well to support most children's play and early learning and include a satisfactory range of resources and activities to support children's learning about diversity and differences. Staff have a good awareness of child development, the early learning stepping stones and the Special Educational Needs procedure. The children behave well and most staff are consistent in applying behaviour management strategies to support individual children's behaviour. There is an effective partnership with parents. Information for parents is available through the parents noticeboard and news letter and parents are encouraged to approach staff

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection the provider agreed actions to ensure the leaking roof was repaired and gain a Food Hygiene certificate. Both the actions have been completed, the roof has been repaired and one member of staff has completed a certificated Food Hygiene course so that children's safety in these areas is secure.

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What is being done well?

• Staff have a good understanding of risks to children. They complete weekly written risk assements of the premises and the resources to ensure hazards are removed or minimised, so that children's safety and the safety of the premises are monitored and maintained. • Children learn good hygiene practices through the routine of the playgroup by following the examples set by the staff and by staff explaining, at the child's individual level of understanding, when and why it is important to wash hands. • Staff sit with the children at snack time and support children's social skills well. Children are encouraged to make independent choices and help each other. Snacks of fresh fruit and the colourful fruit and vegetable design of the table cloths provides opportunities for children to name and talk about the fruit on their plates and the vegetables on the table cloth design. • Staff are skilled at engaging children's attention, listening to and extending

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What is being done well?

children's language skills, supporting children's learning and social skills, particularly when children are experiencing seperation from a parent or English is not the home language. • Most staff use effective behaviour management strategies so that children's behaviour and achievements are supported by praise and encouragement. Children require very little direction from the staff. They move freely and confidently between activities and are well behaved.

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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 • Partnership with parents is valued. Written and verbal exchanges of information are well supported by staff welcoming parents into the setting. There are opportunites for parents to exchange information on an informal basis or in a private room.

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What needs to be improved?

• the notification to Ofsted Early Years, as the regulator, of any incident or concerns of a child protection nature. • the knowledge of the procedure to follow in the event of a child presenting with a notifiable disease.

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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 13 Ensure the child protection policy and procedure includes notification to Ofsted Early Years as the regulator. 30/10/2004

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by the time of the next inspection

Std Recommendation 7 Gain knowledge of the procedure to follow should a child present with a notifiable infectious disease and devise a written policy.

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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?

The nursery education at Green Dragon Playgroup is good and enables children to make generally good progress in all areas towards the early learning goals. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff plan a variety of practical activities indoors but outdoors will not be accessible until refurbishment is completed. Resources are of good quality and well organised to encourage children's independence, however they need to be extended to provide sufficient challenge particularly in areas of maths, physical development and ICT. Communication between staff and children is good with children who do not use English as their first language encouraged to join in the full range of activities. An effective system that provides good support for children with special educational needs is in place. The leadership and management of the playgroup is generally good. The supervisor is effective in developing an enthusiastic staff team who have a good understanding

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How effective is the nursery education?

of their responsibilities towards the assessment and progress of the children's learning. The partnership with parents is very good. Parents are provided with good quality information about all aspects of the setting's activities and are included in the planning and assessment of their children both in the setting as well as being able to support their children's learning at home.

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What is being done well?

• The children are provided with opportunities to make decisions and choices and are able to select from a wide range of resources and activities. • Relationships between staff, children and their parents are good. Parents have access to good quality information about the setting and are involved in following their child's progress both in the setting and at home. • The provider demonstrates a positive commitment to the management of the group and collaborates with an enthusiastic staff team who work well together. Staff are familiar with day to day plans, have a good understanding of their responsibilities towards the progress and assessment of all the children's learning. • Children have good opportunities for exploration and investigation based on first hand experiences that encourage observation, prediction, decision making and discussion.

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What needs to be improved?

• the outside play area to increase opportunities for extending children's

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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 physical development as well as control over their bodies and how they move. • the attention given to creating imaginative role play situations to extend imagination and competence in all areas of learning particularly in areas of mathematics, music, spontaneous writing, physical development and ICT. • the monitoring and evaluation of strengths and weaknesses in the quality of teaching.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The playgroup changed management in January 2004 and records of the last education inspection were not found. The last Children Act inspection report was the Transitional Inspection for Ofsted Early Years in 2002. The new manager has been effective in developing a committed staff team who work well together and take pride in their achievements. The outside play area is undergoing refurbishment and will be complete by early summer.

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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 have generally good relationships with adults and peers within the group. They separate from carer with confidence. They choose between the activities, select resources for themselves and learn to take care of their personal needs such as going to the toilet and washing their hands. Children behave well, learn to share, take turns and be polite to adults and their peers.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children listen to stories, interact confidently with each other, enjoy sharing books with staff, join in familiar stories and rhymes enthusiastically. Staff help children who do not have English as their first language to join in the full range of activities and reinforce language with talk, signs and gestures. Children are beginning to recognise their first names and write letters however role play activities are not sufficiently extended to use writing for different purposes.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Good use of number language is used in a variety of activities that reinforces counting and measuring such as setting table for snack time and recording growth of seeds. There is a need for the more able children to develop awareness of the meaningful use of calculators, addition and subtraction in role play activities.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children are given opportunities for exploration and investigation based on first hand experiences that encourage prediction, decision making and discussion however there are few opportunities for children to learn how to operate simple IT equipment or programmable toys. Children's interest is maintained through well planned activities and attractive resources.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children make generally good progress in use of indoor apparatus such as slides, climbing frame and balancing on planks but there is no opportunity at the moment to extend skills through activities such as running or manoeuvring tricycles through obstacles, pulling and pushing outside in the garden. The children are provided with opportunities for developing skills in cutting out, sticking and model making however there are missed opportunities to talk with children about their bodily movements.

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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: Generally Good Children are given a wide range of opportunities to make good progress in creative development through regular adult led art activities but with sufficient opportunities for the children to explore their own ideas. Children enjoyed playing with dough in the home corner although this was very structured and did not extend the children's imagination as much as in a role play situation.

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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

• improve the outside play area to increase opportunities for extending children's large scale movements and develop control over their bodies and how they move. • increase the use of resources to encourage role play situations that extend imagination and competence in all areas of learning particularly in areas of mathematics, music, spontaneous writing, physical development and ICT. • develop a system to evaluate strengths and weaknesses in the quality of teaching.

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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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