Little Owls Nursery Seacroft

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 23/02/2004 Inspector Name Hilary Murden

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Seacroft Childrens Centre Setting Address South Parkway Seacroft Leeds West Yorkshire LS14 6EP

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Dept of C.E.D.S Address Leeds City Council Merrion House Leeds LS2 8DT

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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

Seacroft Childrens centre is a purpose built setting in Seacroft which is in an inner city part of Leeds. It has been open since 1998 and caters for children from the local area. It provides places for 50 children aged three months to five years. There are currently 90 children on the role, 33 of which are funded three year olds, and 14 are funded four year olds. The setting supports children with special educational needs. Children with complex needs attend the nursery through a joint project with John Jamieson School. The children attend a variety of sessions each week. The centre is open Monday to Friday. They are open all year except bank holidays 8am to 6pm, they also offer sessions 9 to 11.30am and 12.30pm to 3pm term time only. There are 19 members of staff, who work on a regular basis, the majority of whom have a relevant qualification.

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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?

Seacroft Children's Centre provides high quality nursery education provision within a caring and supportive environment. Children make very good progress in working towards the early learning goals in all six areas. The quality of teaching is very good. With good support and training from the teacher, staff are continually developing their understanding of the early learning goals. A wide range of interesting and exciting activities is planned to stimulate children's responses and to promote independence and self-esteem. Staff interact very well with children to support learning, particularly to encourage individual children to participate. Excellent support is given to children with special educational needs, especially to develop independence and socialisation. Staff recognise the needs of all the children, including the older and more able children and plan accordingly to provide appropriate challenges. A comprehensive range of resources

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How effective is the nursery education?

is used effectively by staff to enhance children's learning. A sound assessment system based on observations of children's responses to activities results in staff knowing what children know and understand and what they need to learn next. Leadership and management is very good and has significant impact on the quality of provision. The strong, experienced management team shows a firm commitment to supporting and developing staff to ensure that high quality provision is maintained. Continual monitoring and evaluation results in all aspects of the education provision being covered effectively. A genuine commitment to inclusion enables all children to reach their full potential. Partnership with parents is very good, based on excellent relationships with families. Parents are given very useful information about the provision and children's progress. They particularly enjoy looking at the 'profiles' and value the observations.

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How effective is the nursery education?

Parents are encouraged to share what they know about the children and to be involved in learning.

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What is being done well?

• Children develop confidence, self-esteem and independence through very good interaction from staff and good opportunities to make choices. They behave well and learn to recognise the needs of others. • The outdoor provision is excellent. Children are able to choose from a wide range of exciting and challenging activities for enjoyment and to increase their physical skills. • Opportunities for children to develop their awareness of the different purposes of writing are very good. Children enjoy writing in all areas of the provision.

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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 • Staff support individual children very effectively to support learning, including children with special educational needs who make very good progress. • The partnership with parents is excellent and has a very positive effect on children's progress.

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What needs to be improved?

• development of all staff in their understanding of the early learning goals.

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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 develop confidence, self-esteem and independence through very good interaction from staff and good opportunities to choose their own activities and resources. They show a real sense of achievement, for example, by showing work to staff and visitors. Behaviour is good; children learn to work co-operatively and to share and take turns. They recognise the need to show respect and help children who have different needs.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children are developing their understanding and use of language and communication. They show increasing use of imagination in a variety of activities, especially during role play situations. Children enjoy books and stories, recognise that print has meaning, and link sounds to letters. There are excellent opportunities for children to develop their ideas about using writing for different purposes.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children learn to count to ten and beyond, and recognise and use numbers in practical situations. Some children are able to solve problems by adding and taking away numbers during activities and routines. They have very good understanding of ideas relating to size and shape, for example, when they build with wooden blocks, and they show particularly good awareness of position when they use words such as 'under' and 'through' during outdoor activities.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children explore, experiment and discover through a wide range of first hand experiences. They learn to recognise similarities and differences in the environment and learn about the wider world, for example, looking for Australia and Greece on the world map. Children talk readily about their past and present experiences with growing awareness of the passing of time. A very good range of equipment supports children's skills in building, design and technology.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Provision for outdoor play is excellent, reflecting the strong emphasis on physical development. Children are able to be adventurous and take on challenges, for example, as they use the large climbing and balancing equipment with increasing skill and confidence. They use space with good awareness of others, especially when they use the wheeled toys. Children use a wide range of small equipment effectively to develop hand and eye co-ordination skills.

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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: Very Good Children respond very well with their senses to many exciting creative activities. They experiment spontaneously with materials to learn about colour, shape and design. Children enjoy using imagination and expressing feelings through role play and stories, and they have particularly good opportunities to respond freely to music and movement.

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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 high quality. Children are making very 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

There are no significant weaknesses to report, but considerations should be given to improving the following: • There are no significant weaknesses to report, but consideration should be given to improving the following: • development of staff to ensure that they fully understand all the early learning goals.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT

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

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

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