Lyndhurst Pre-School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 23/02/2004 Inspector Name Olive Sumner

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name LYNDHURST PRE-SCHOOL Setting Address THE SCHOOL HIGH STREET LYNDHURST HAMPSHIRE SO43 7BB

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of LYNDHURST PRE-SCHOOL COMMITTEE

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name LYNDHURST PRE-SCHOOL COMMITTEE Address (AS PREVIOUS) U/A

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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

Lyndhurst Pre-school is situated in St Michael and All Angels School, in the centre of the town of Lyndhurst in the New Forest. It has recently moved into a new classroom. There is an enclosed outdoor area and the preschool also has opportunities to use the school playground, playing fields and hall. The preschool caters for children from the age of two years nine months to five years, most of whom will attend the school. It is a sessional group organised by a management committee and opens on Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 11:30 and also on Monday to Thursday afternoons from 12:30 to 15:00. There will be an additional session in the summer term on Friday afternoons. Currently there are 16 funded three year olds and 10 funded four year olds. The setting supports children who have special educational needs and children for whom English is an additional language. There are six staff and the supervisor and her deputies have qualifications in early

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Information about the setting

years including NNEB and NVQ111 in Childcare and Education. The setting is registered with the charity commission and also with the Early Education and Childcare Partnership. It is a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance. The setting values the close links with the local school and the support of the Early Years Development Worker.

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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 Lyndhurst Preschool is generally good. Children are making very good progress towards the early learning goals in personal, social and emotional development and communication, language and literacy and generally good progress in all other areas. The quality of teaching is generally good. The setting has many strengths. It clearly values each individual and celebrates their achievements. The children are interested and learn from a variety of activities in the calm atmosphere of the setting. The staff are caring and involved in children's learning. Children have very good opportunities to be independent in the supportive environment. Children's behaviour is very good supported by the positive behaviour strategies of the staff. Overall the setting is well resourced but children would benefit across the curriculum from a wider range of books to choose, share and enjoy. Opportunities for children to use

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How effective is the nursery education?

balancing and climbing equipment are restricted. There is very good support for children with special educational needs and good support for children with English as an additional language. There is a sound system of planning linked to the stepping stones of the early learning goals. The present system of assessment does not fully address the stepping stones. It does not always effectively inform planning and ensure that children are making progress and are challenged to build on what they already know particularly in mathematical development. Leadership and management of the nursery is very good. The manager has a clear vision of what she wants to achieve. The knowledgeable chair of the management committee who has facilitated the establishment of policies and procedures ably supports her. Partnership with parents is generally good. They appreciate the friendly, supportive atmosphere. They have access to good

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How effective is the nursery education?

information but no formal opportunities to discuss children's progress or the curriculum.

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What is being done well?

• Personal, social and emotional development is a strength of a setting where achievement is celebrated and the individual valued. Relationships are very good and children are well managed in a supportive atmosphere. Children are confident, interested and motivated to learn and benefit from very good opportunities to be independent

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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 • Provision for special educational needs is very good and individual education plans are well targeted. • Children confidently respond and interact with one another and are able to sit quietly and take turns speaking and listening. There are very good opportunities to extend vocabulary and to think about, discuss and question what they are doing. Children learn the sounds and names of letters and recognise and write their names. They count, recognise and order numbers to 10 and beyond. • Staff work well as a team and use a very good range of teaching strategies, skilfully questioning and demonstrating and providing a balance of directed and independent activities. • Leadership and management is very good and the setting is well placed to move forward.

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What needs to be improved?

• opportunities for children to develop mathematical language and ideas including adding and subtracting in everyday and practical situations. • raising awareness within daily activities so that children develop an understanding of the importance of staying healthy and making healthy choices. • assessment does not always inform planning so sometimes children are not sufficiently challenged and build on what they already know and make consistent progress particularly in mathematical development. • the provision of resources including books to enhance the curriculum and the development of opportunities for children to use balancing and climbing equipment. • planned opportunities for parents to discuss the curriculum and children's progress.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Progress in children's learning since the last inspection is generally good. Systems of planning have been revised and are now an effective tool reflecting the curriculum of the Foundation Stage. They take account of the stepping stones of the early learning goals. Staff are aware that next stage of development is to refine the planning to ensure consistent coverage and balance and that planned activities reflect the needs of the more able children enabling them to be challenged and extend their learning consistently building on what they already know. The present assessment system does not fully support and inform planning. Children now have good opportunities to consistently learn the sounds and names of letters and there are many good opportunities to recognise and write their names. There are some planned opportunities to further develop writing skills but these are

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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 not always consistently applied in daily situations as for example when children are in the role play area. Although there are many good opportunities for children to recognise, count and order numbers there are insufficient planned opportunities to enable children to solve simple number problems involving addition and subtraction in everyday situations and practical activities. The quality of information for parents has been much improved. Parents now have opportunities to access information. There is a wealth of information including planning on notice boards within the setting and information is also sent home on a regular basis. Children take home work they have done on a regular basis. Parents are aware they have access to keyworker records and know they can approach staff on an informal basis to discuss their children. However at present it is difficult for

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What has improved since the last inspection?

parents to spend time studying available information within the daily routines of the setting and so opportunities are missed. Parents do not have formal opportunities to discuss children's progress and the curriculum.

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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 are confident and motivated to learn. There are very good opportunities to choose independently from a range of accessible resources and to be independent including placing their name appropriately on the planning board and putting their work away in their own bags. Relationships between children and with adults are very good as is children's behaviour in the calm, purposeful well organised environment. Children have opportunities to become aware of their own and other cultures.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children have many very good opportunities to listen and respond to others including Circle Time. They listen with enjoyment to stories such as The Tiny Seed in small groups and can make up their own story about a fire rescue. They extend their vocabulary across a range of activities and are able to discuss and think about what they are doing as when making a motor bike from construction. There are very good opportunities to recognise and write names and to learn the sounds and names of letters.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children have very good consistent opportunities to count, recognise and order numbers for example at register time. Resources are very good and staff skilfully include mathematical language across a range of activities as when making pancakes. However there are limited opportunities for children to experience addition and subtraction in everyday situations or in practical activities. There is insufficient challenge and extension to enable children to build on what they already know.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good There is a good range of resources and activities to enable children to investigate, explore and notice change for example when helping to make playdough or mix paint. Children learn about the features of living things when talking about spring and how bulbs grow. They ask the fireman questions and find out how things work when he visits. They use their senses when tasting pancakes or smelling the toast at snack time. There are good opportunities to enhance their learning using the computer.

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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: Generally Good Children move confidently and safely in the indoor and outside space. The older children are beginning to show an awareness of space in the school hall. There is an adequate range of wheeled toys and small equipment. Opportunity to use balancing and climbing equipment is restricted. Children use tools and materials well when mixing paint and making playdough and can use paintbrushes, pencils and crayons with increasing control. Opportunities to raise awareness of staying healthy are missed.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children experience a range of materials and media. They often paint what they have seen or have been talking about. There are good opportunities to observe and draw what they can see. They have opportunities to use imagination in role play or when playing with the fire engine and doll's house. They respond to what they see, hear, taste, smell and feel for example when eating pancakes or responding to the wind chimes which signal tidy up time. They know familiar songs.

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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

• ensure that the assessment system has consistent links to the stepping stones of the early learning goals of the Foundation Stage and informs planning in order to enable children to make consistent progress and be challenged to build on what they already know particularly in mathematical development; • provide planned opportunities in mathematical development for the more able children to develop mathematical language and ideas including adding and subtracting in every day situations and practical activities and ensure all aspects of mathematics are adequately covered in the planning so that all children to make progress; • review resources including books to enhance all areas of the curriculum; • extend the provision for physical development to include more opportunities for children to use balancing and climbing equipment; • Provide parents with a time and opportunity to discuss and absorb information about the curriculum and their children's progress.

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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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