Heronsgate School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 01/12/2004 Inspector Name Christine Slaney

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Out of School Day Care, Full Day Care Setting Name YMCA South Devon Day Ladybirds Nursery & Jungle Club Setting Address Youth Centre Dartmouth Road Paignton Devon TQ4 6NX

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name YMCA South Devon Address Youth Centre Dartmouth Road Paignton Devon TQ4 6NX

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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

YMCA (South Devon) is a Christian-based charitable limited company which runs Ladybirds Nursery and the Jungle Club at their premises on the Dartmouth Road in Paignton. Registered since 1996 the YMCA offers full day care and out of school care and serves a wide catchment area. Ladybirds Nursery is open from 08:30 to 17:30 daily all year excluding bank holidays. The nursery occupies the ground floor areas of the premises. There are three individual rooms and three child-sized toilets. The adult and disabled toilet are situated on the upper floor. Outdoor play space is available. The nursery currently has 22 children on roll. Sixteen of these children are currently in receipt of nursery education funding. The nursery has achieved accreditation from the Pre-school Learning Alliance and gets support from the EYDCP. The YMCA employs 10 staff who are rotated across both facilities and other YMCA provisions in South Devon. There is an overall manager who holds a level three

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Information about the setting

qualification, five others are qualified to level three and one to level two.

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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?

Ladybirds Nursery at the YMCA provides good quality nursery education, which enables children to make generally good progress towards the early learning goals in all areas. The quality of teaching is generally good. Children are offered a suitable range of appropriately planned activities and are encouraged to take responsibility for their own actions. Overall staff work well together and are calm in their management of children's behaviour. They value children's contributions to the group and use suitable opportunities to develop their self-esteem and confidence. Staff give children an appropriate level of support and those children with special educational needs are supported well. Staff use questioning appropriately, which encourages children to think and talk about what they are doing. However, the organisation of large group activities like circle time is not effective and limits the learning of the

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How effective is the nursery education?

older children. Overall staff assess children's learning against the stepping stones and use this information appropriately to plan what children should do next. However, more able children are not targeted through daily plans to provide extension activities or words. The leadership and management of the nursery are generally good. The management team are working closely with the staff team and are due to start monitoring staff development through appraisal. However, staff evaluation of large group activities and experiences is not consistently managed to ensure group activities are effective. Staff work with other professionals to improve the educational programme. For example, they have regular visits by the Foundation Stage Advisory Teacher for Torbay. The nursery is developing both informal and formal systems to communicate with parents and as a consequence the partnership with parents is generally good.

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How effective is the nursery education?

However, parents are not always informed promptly of changes.

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What is being done well?

• Children are confident and are actively encouraged to take responsibility for their own actions. For example, children spontaneously collect a cloth and wipe up split drinks at snack time. • Children are skilful and controlled in their use of information technology as a consequence of a well planned and resourced IT area. • Staff and parents enjoy a developing relationship and there are good systems for communicating with parents. For example, learning objectives and themes for sessions are displayed. The nursery is also due to introduce an open day for parents.

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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

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What needs to be improved?

• the organisation of large group activities like circle time to ensure children and staff are aware of what is expected from the experiences • extension for more able children

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Generally good progress has been made in tackling the key issues identified in the previous inspection. These required the nursery to increase knowledge and understanding of the whole staff team concerning the Foundation Stage and the early learning goals, and their methods of assessment. Most staff have attended Foundation Stage training and planning is now shared by whole team. They regularly liaise with the Foundation Stage teacher who is presently providing support with observations and assessments. As a consequence, staff are developing an understanding of the early learning goals and are using a new system to assess and observe children's progress which overall is working well in practice. However, they do not consistently target the more able, through observations and daily planning. The nursery was also required to look at the partnership with parents and carers and in particular the information shared with them. There are now attractive displays and

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What has improved since the last inspection?

notices that inform parents of the early learning goals and learning intentions and themes for the week. As a consequence the nursery enjoys a developing relationship with parents.

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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: Generally Good Children are confident and they are actively encouraged to take responsibility for their own actions. Overall, children behave well and play both individually and in small groups. However, learning during large group activities like circle time can be limited by the mixed age range. Some children are developing good concentration skills, frequently persevering for extended periods of time to complete activities; for example, making Hanukah lamps.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children are enthusiastic and talk confidently about experiences. Overall staff use meaningful situations appropriately to enable children to understand that print carries meaning, for example, children create their own labels on wall displays. However, this is not consistently carried through in everyday activities like naming their own drawings. Children are developing a love of books and overall listen well to stories. However, progress for some is limited during larger group activities.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children thoroughly enjoy games like memory matching. They look at differences and clearly note when the boots do not match. However, these card games are not used consistently to extend more able children; for example, looking at groups of objects to see who has the most. Children are encouraged to recognise numerals and enjoy singing number rhymes and songs.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children use information communication technology effectively and are supported in their learning through a well planned and resourced dedicated IT area. Children have opportunities to look at other cultures. However, some staff do not have sufficient knowledge to use experiences such as making a Hanukah lamp, to develop children’s understanding.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children move with control using a range of small and large equipment. They are clearly able to avoid others and use space well with a scooter outside and pushing a baby in a push chair inside. Children are gaining good control of tools and handle them safety; for example, using scissors to cut out shapes. However, some staff do not extend the more able children further; for example, to cut around shapes and not just straight lines.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children have appropriate opportunities to explore colour, texture and form using a variety of media. Consequently children can recognise colour during card games. Children are confident in their use of resources to create, for example, a Hanukah lamp. However, planned creative activities are sometimes limited by the mixed age and the over-direction of the staff. Children enjoy songs and join in with repetitive songs like 1,2,3,4,5, once I caught a fish a live.

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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

• review the organisation of large group activities such as circle time to ensure that children and staff are aware of what is expected from the experiences • review teaching methods to ensure that staff make effective use of opportunities to extend more able children.

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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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