Bloxham Pre-School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 10/02/2004 Inspector Name Jan Leo

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Bloxham Pre-School Setting Address Bloxham C of E Primary School Tadmarton Road Bloxham, Banbury Oxfordshire OX14 4HP

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Bloxham Pre-School

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Bloxham Pre-School Address Bloxham C of E Primary School Tadmarton Road Bloxham, Banbury Oxfordshire OX14 4HP

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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

Bloxham pre-school operates from the site of Bloxham Primary School and is due to have a new building on the site around Easter time 2004. The pre-school work closely alongside the school, and is housed in a school classroom as a temporary measure. Close links are made to provide continuity for the children when they move into full time education. The group is registered for a maximum of 16 children aged 3-5 years, and runs 2 sessions a day with an additional daily lunchtime session for either session. Sessions run from 9:00-11:30 and 12:30-3:00. There are currently 31 funded three year olds and 18 funded four year olds on the register, one of whom has special educational needs. No children have English as an additional language. The group regularly operates with three staff members, there is no parent rota. Parents are welcome to stay for any sessions. Children attending are from Bloxham, surrounding villages and Banbury .

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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?

Bloxham Pre-school Playgroup is a friendly group where children are becoming confident and sociable, and make generally good progress towards the Early Learning Goals. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff know the children well and provide adequate supervision to ensure that behaviour is acceptable and all children can progress at their own pace. They plan and provide a wide variety of carefully chosen activities and seize unexpected learning opportunities to offer children more new experiences. Staff highlight children's achievements to help them develop in confidence, and ensure that all learning is relevant and developed through practical application. Staff use observations of children's progress to influence the planning for future development, but do not fully utilise evaluation sheets to identify the success of activities and progress at different rates. The leadership and management of the group is very good. The staff work well

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How effective is the nursery education?

together as a team and there have been no staff changes for many years. This provides children with a stable and consistent environment where they feel valued. Staff are well qualified and attend relevant training to keep up to date with current thinking. They are well supported by the committee and attend committee meetings on a rota basis to exchange ideas. The staff and committee are dedicated to improvement and work closely with outside agencies to improve standards and ease children's transition into school. The partnership with parents and carers is also very good. Staff build lasting relationships with the parents and carers and ensure they are well informed about their children's progress both formally and informally, but verbal feedback at collection time is difficult due to space restrictions of the temporary location. Parents and carers are encouraged to contribute to their children's learning and are supplied

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How effective is the nursery education?

with regular written information to make this easy.

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What is being done well?

• Children are sociable, confident and feel valued. They are developing personal independence and an understanding of the needs of others. • The children can organise their own free play and move confidently from one social group to another. They can express themselves competently and behave well. • Children have access to a wide range of resources and experiences to learn more about the local environment and the wider world. • Outdoor play is used to continue learning in all areas of the curriculum. • Learning is mainly through enjoyable, play activities that are carefully chosen

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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 to ensure they are relevant to the children.

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What needs to be improved?

• staff intervention in activities, to ensure that opportunities to develop thinking and reasoning are not missed, the use of books is not interrupted by the daily routine, full use is made of the daily routine to develop mathematical concepts, and children are allowed more creative freedom in craft activities; • the use of evaluation sheets, to identify the success of activities and highlight the next steps for different rates of learning.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

There were no significant weaknesses identified at the last inspection but the group was asked to consider ways of developing the plans to extend the outdoor play space to give additional opportunities for learning especially in physical development. The group is no longer located in the same area of the school grounds, and has developed the outdoor curriculum well for the current outdoor area which is only temporary for one term. There are plans to improve facilities for physical development when the playgroup moves to it's new building later in the year and a considerable amount of thought has gone into planning and fund raising in preparation for the move.

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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 Progress in this area is very good. Children are friendly, confident and co-operate well with each other to share equipment and develop ideas. They are encouraged to pour their own drinks at snack time and dress themselves for outdoor play, to develop personal independence. The children can organise their own free play within a variety of friendship groups, and are beginning to understand about other peoples feelings.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Development in this area is generally good. Children are routinely encouraged to name their work and do so clearly. Mark making is promoted in free play activities and children learn the various uses of written words. Children express themselves confidently and can make themselves understood, but there were some missed opportunities to develop children's thinking and reasoning skills. Books are used regularly but enjoyment is sometimes curtailed in order for the daily routine to continue.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Mathematical development is generally good. Staff recognise and acknowledge children's mathematical achievements and highlight them to the group to develop confidence. Children have a good understanding of shape, size, comparisons and quantity, but there are missed opportunities to develop addition and subtraction within the daily routine.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children's progress in this area is generally good. They have lots of opportunities to learn about the local environment and the wider world, and have regular, free access to the computer and other technological equipment. They are confident to use this equipment on their own and use it use competently. They have few opportunities to select tools and resources themselves to develop design and making skills, but incidental learning opportunities are maximised to widen children's knowledge.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Progress in the area of physical development is very good. Children have regular access to outside play to continue learning in all areas of the curriculum. They move well in a variety of ways, and receive the appropriate level of supervision to progress at their individual rate. Children are able to use both large and small equipment safely during indoor and outdoor activities, but currently are not allowed free access to the outside play space due to the layout of this temporary area.

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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's creative development is generally good. They have regular opportunities to investigate shapes and enjoy building using a variety of media. Children recognise primary colours and some can identify less well known shades. Children are developing an appreciation of music and enjoy both playing and listening to musical instruments. Some restriction of children's creativity exists when adults are too outcome focused and provide only pre-selected resources for an activity.

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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 staff intervention in activities, to ensure that opportunities to develop thinking and reasoning are not missed, the use of books is not interrupted by the daily routine, full use is made of the daily routine to develop mathematical concepts, and children are allowed more creative freedom in craft activities; • improve the use of evaluation sheets, to identify the success of activities and highlight the next steps for different rates of learning.

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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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