Sandringham Junior School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 09/06/2004 Inspector Name Heather Tanswell

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Stepping Stones Pre-School Setting Address Newlyn CPS Carne Road,Newlyn Penzance Cornwall TR18 5QA

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Stepping Stones Pre-School Address Newlyn CPS Carne Road,Newlyn Penzance Cornwall TR18 5QA

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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

Stepping Stones Pre-school Group, Newlyn is a committee run Day Nursery and Out of School Club that opened in 1991. It operates from its own premises in the grounds of Newlyn School and also uses the school hall for out of school care. The nursery and out of school club serve the surrounding towns and villages. There are currently 52 children from 2 to 4 years on roll. This includes 20 funded 3-year-olds and 15 funded 4-year-olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The group supports children who have special needs. Currently there are no children who speak English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

The group opens five days a week all year round. Opening hours are from 08:00 until 17:30. Funded education sessions for 3 and 4 year olds are from 09:00 until 12:00 and 12:45 until 15:15. Three part time and five full time staff work with the children. Seven have early years qualifications. One member of staff is currently on a training programme. The setting receives support from a teacher/mentor from the Cornwall Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP) and has completed their quality assurance scheme. The setting is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance.

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How good is the Day Care?

Stepping Stones Pre-school, Newlyn provides good quality care for children. A committed team of suitably qualified staff work co-operatively to utilise and share their knowledge and skills of good childcare procedures and practice. The supernumerary manager, high adult to child ratios and an effective key worker system ensures children are supported fully throughout the day. The setting is bright and cheerful. Colourful murals decorate outside walls and photographs of children at play invite parents to come and look. There is a well equipped outside play area. Detailed policies and procedures are kept.

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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 Staff carefully follow advice from health and safety professionals. Comprehensive risk assessments are implemented by conscientious staff. Children are treated with concern and individual treatment plans are on record. As a result, children are kept safe from harm. However, some hygiene procedures need improving. Drinks and snacks are provided regularly. Packed lunches supplied by parents are stored in a fridge. Children with additional needs are invited to join the Tender Loving Care group. Makaton sign language is used throughout the nursery to ensure all children are included, their needs known and understood. Staff plan a balanced range of interesting activities to ensure all areas of learning are covered throughout the day. They carry out detailed observations of children at

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How good is the Day Care?

play and use the information effectively to plan individual next steps in learning. Children celebrate their own culture and the culture of others by joining in with festivals and sampling different foods. Children play well together, share and take turns. Parents receive good quality information about the provision. They are invited to attend regular meetings to share information about their child and learn more about the provision. Staff make very creative use of labelled photographs to keep parents informed about activities.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection the setting agreed to clarify the medication policy; ensure staff completed an appropriate first aid course; update the child protection policy to include a statement about what to do if a complaints is made against a members of staff; record the times of arrival and departure of children; comply with Environmental Health requirements; provide a procedure to follow in the event of a lost or uncollected child; rewrite the operational plan; use a fire log book; vet all committee members; review collection procedures; and include the address and telephone number of the regulator in the complaints procedure. The statement about medication has been re-written as part of the health and hygiene policy and now clearly notes the procedures to be followed. All staff have attended appropriate first aid training. The child protection policy now includes a statement of procedure to follow in the event of an allegation being made against a

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What has improved since the last inspection?

member of staff. Details of times of arrival and departure are now clearly recorded. Food is now stored in a fridge. The operational plan is now clearly written and presented. A fire log book is in use. All committee members are vetted. All those allowed to collect children are noted on their personal records. The name and telephone number of the regulator is now in the complaints procedure. However, the address is still omitted, and the pre-school have agreed to add this in the near future.

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What is being done well?

• Staff work effectively as a team. They work co-operatively to ensure their skills are fully utilised and shared to enhance their knowledge of good childcare practice. Staff attend training sessions and provide the rest of their

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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 team with a presentation of the training materials. • Children are safe, well supported and supervised throughout the day. This is largely due to the high ratio of adults to children. Also, staff are very conscientious about safety and fully implement risk assessments, policies and procedures. • Staff plan a balanced range of interesting activities to ensure all areas of learning are covered throughout the day. They carry out detailed observations and use this information to plan next steps in learning. The outside play area and its equipment is used well to support children's development. • Parents are kept fully informed about the setting and their child's progress. They are invited to share what they know about their child, attend regular

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What is being done well?

meetings and enjoy looking through photographs of children at play.

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What needs to be improved?

• the hygiene routines, with regard to hand washing and drying, • the hygiene routines, with regard to the serving of food • the safe storage of food, with regard to the monitoring of the temperature of the fridge.

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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 7 Ensure good hygiene practices are in place regarding hand washing and drying. 7 Ensure food is stored safely at the correct temperature. 7 Ensure food is served hygienically.

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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?

Stepping Stones Pre-school provides good-quality nursery education overall which enables children to make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Provision for creative development is particularly well-planned and they make very good progress in this area. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff make learning fun. They plan interesting activities linked to a theme that threads throughout the session. Children's very good progress in creative development is largely due to how well activities are resourced with props. For example, the pirate ship with its chest of treasure hidden amongst seaweed, stories acted out using puppets and junk models. Staff offer very good support for children with special needs. They use Makaton sign language with all the children to encourage full participation and integration. Staff keep detailed observations of children's learning. Their assessments are used effectively to identify individual targets. However, staff need

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How effective is the nursery education?

to further develop their knowledge of the stepping stones to ensure all activities extend the older and more able children. Some opportunities are missed to introduce and re-enforce learning through daily routines. Outdoor space is used successfully to present activities across the curriculum. Leadership and management are generally good. All staff are actively involved in planning activities. They show commitment to improvement by attending additional training. They present training notes to each other at staff meetings to ensure the whole team can benefit from their attendance. Staff respond positively to external advisors and appraise and update actions plans regularly. The assessment and appraisal systems need to be improved and used as a tool to identify areas for improvement. Partnership with parents is very good. Parents value the professional, friendly, approachable staff and benefit from termly meetings to share information about their

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How effective is the nursery education?

child's success and targets for learning.

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What is being done well?

• Staff make full use of the outdoor space so that children are enabled to learn by working on a larger scale. Many activities from across all areas of learning take place outside in the fresh air. • Children freely express their creativity in a number of ways. This is largely due to how well staff plan and accessorise activities that enable children to explore their imagination and respond to the world around them using all of their senses. • Children with special needs are fully included in activities. Makaton signing is widely used by adults and is understood by most, and used by some 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 The Tender Loving Care group receive additional help in liaison with outside agencies. Children's individual interests are used well to help them develop and learn new skills. • Partnership with parents is very good. They are invited into the setting to learn more about how it works and how well their child is progressing. They show particular delight in looking at amusingly annotated photographs of children at play.

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What needs to be improved?

• the staff's knowledge of the stepping stones • the planning of activities to provide extension in learning for the older and more able children • the use of daily routines to introduce and re-enforce learning • the opportunities for children to further develop their independence and self esteem as they select activities, tools and materials.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Generally good progress has been made since the last inspection. Staff have devised a writing programme, following advice from the reception class teacher. They ensure parents know how to help their child develop their handwriting skills. Emphasis is given to developing good hand eye co-ordination. Worksheets are used to re-enforce correct letter formation. Observations and assessments of children's learning are used effectively to plan individual targets for children. The planning and record keeping system is now linked to the early learning goals. Under the leadership of the manager, staff are soon to start recording assessments of learning in a new format directly linked to the stepping stones. Worksheets are still used routinely to support activities with a planned learning intention. They are still not presented in a way that meets the diverse needs of children. This is largely due to staff's misunderstanding of the stepping stones.

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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 learning the importance of friendships. They are keen to share their experiences and help each other out. For example, one child buttons up another's shirt so they can be pirates. Children are confident and secure. They know routines well but staff miss some opportunities for learning at meaningful activities. For example, children do not help tidy away, count cups, register themselves every day. They make good links with home and talk about their friends and recent holidays.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children are confident speakers. They enjoy suggesting lines for songs and talking about what they are doing. Children ascribe meaning to their mark making as they write lists and messages to put in bottles to throw overboard in role play. Staff model writing for children as they make up their own stories. Children are learning to use sign language. However, opportunities for older more able children to routinely write their own names is missed as they do not label their own work.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children count familiar objects accurately and confidently. They enjoy songs which encourage familiarity with number sequences. They design and make models of correct proportions. For example, use junk material to make a dog with correctly placed and sized features. However, there is little extension for older and more able children who are not given the responsibility for counting or checking numbers as part of everyday routines.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children investigate and learn about the natural world and man made materials using all of their senses. They use a magnifying glass to examine shells, their hands and a fish. They comment on characteristics of the weather to complete a chart. They experiment with resources and are beginning to correctly predict what items might float or sink in water. However, children cannot always select from materials or tools for themselves. The computer is not well set up for their use.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children understand hygiene routines contribute to good health as they take part in planned topics and discussions about cleanliness. They have daily opportunities for regular physical activity to practise and develop their physical skills. Refinement of some skills is missed due to a lack of choice of tools. Children enjoy the freedom of large scale movement as many activities are taken outside. However, outside physical play is not well planned and is mainly used for recreation.

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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: Very Good Children explore a wide range of creative opportunities. They join in with music making and clap along using different beats and rhythms. They comment on the sounds they hear in sea-shells. They use paint to print and make pictures. Children describe the texture of materials as they blow bubbles, whisk water and spread foam with their hands. Children enjoy role-play and effectively develop stories as they include others in their play.

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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 staff's knowledge of the stepping stones • plan activities to provide extension in learning for the older and more able children • make greater use of daily routines to introduce and re-enforce learning • provide opportunities and encouragement for children to further develop their independence and self esteem as they select activities, tools and materials.

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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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