Heathfield Junior School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 19/01/2005 Inspector Name Valerie Button

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name West Looe Playgroup Setting Address The Old School Canteen, Downs Road Looe Cornwall PL13 2AR

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name West Looe Playgroup Address The Old School Canteen, Downs Road Looe Cornwall PL13 2AR

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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

West Looe Playgroup opened in 1971. It is located in the old school canteen in West Looe, which is used exclusively by the group. It is affiliated to the Pre-school Learning Alliance and serves the local and surrounding areas. The playgroup is open from 09:00 to 11:30, Monday to Friday and also on Wednesday afternoons from 12;30 to 15:00, during school term times. There are currently thirty seven children, aged from two to five years old on roll. Seven four-year- olds and twenty five three-year-olds receive funding for their nursery education. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The group is supporting two children with special needs. There are no children currently attending for whom English is an additional language. Children attending represent a wide range of social backgrounds. Eight staff, most of whom work at every session, work with the children. The Playgroup receives support from a teacher from the Early Years Development and

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Information about the setting

Childcare Partnership (EYDCP) and enjoys a working partnership with the local primary school.

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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?

West Looe Playgroup offers good quality nursery education overall. Children make generally good progress towards the early learning goals in personal, social and emotional development, communication, language and literacy, mathematical and creative development. They make very good progress in knowledge and understanding of the world and physical development. Teaching is generally good. Staff are experienced, committed and support children well during free play parts of the sessions, when a good range of stimulating activities is offered and they interact well with children to support their learning. They are less effectively deployed when the whole group of children is engaged in the same activity. Assessment and record keeping systems continue to develop and are clearly based on the stepping stones leading to the early learning goals. However, the link between assessment and the short term planning of next steps of learning

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How effective is the nursery education?

for children has yet to be effectively established and this results in some children being asked to work at tasks that are not well matched to their current levels of ability. Adult led, art activities are not effective in nurturing the development and encouragement of children's own imaginative ideas. Their efforts are not currently reflected in displays of work. Children with special needs are effectively supported during the sessions and good efforts are made to liaise with outside agencies to support work with these children. Leadership and management of the team is generally good. The committee is supportive and staff are very clear about their roles and responsibilities at the setting. The partnership with parents and carers is generally good. There is plenty of useful information available to parents, they help at the group on a rota basis and all are warmly welcomed. There is no system to confirm that all parents regularly share

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How effective is the nursery education?

written records of their children's progress.

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What is being done well?

• Children make good use of the good quality learning environment planned for their free play. • The staff team is experienced, committed and well organised. They are very clear about their roles and responsibilities during the sessions and interact well with children during the free play parts of the sessions to support them and question them carefully in order to extend their learning. • Children are encouraged to look carefully, investigate and explore a good range of stimulating activities to support their learning in knowledge and understanding of the world. Displays reflect the good range of work undertaken in this area.

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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 • Children have good opportunities to practise and develop their physical skills, both large and small, at every session. • Children with special educational needs are well supported during the sessions and there is good work to liaise with outside agencies.

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What needs to be improved?

• evaluation of the current routine in terms of maximising opportunities for teaching, listening and learning • the identification of clear learning targets for children • the link between children's learning and the short term planning • some adult led activities, so that they are better matched to what children already know, understand and can do • the system to confirm that all parents regularly have good opportunities to share information on their children's progress • the extension of opportunities for all children to express their own creative art ideas and the extension of the value shown to these in displays of work

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Generally good progress has been made overall with the two key issues from previous inspection. The first of these asked for further development of staff's knowledge and understanding of the early learning goals and a review of the assessment and record keeping system to reflect the stepping stones to the early learning goals. The adoption of an assessment system which is directly based on the stepping stones has meant that the record keeping system clearly reflects these. It also means that all key workers are regularly reminded of them. This has been a very positive move for the group which has resulted in generally good progress with this key issue. The second key issue asked that children should have easy access to creative resources so that they can express their own creative ideas. This key issue has been partially addressed. Children have very good opportunities to use resources to support imaginative role play, music making and the use of play dough. They are

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What has improved since the last inspection?

able to choose paint, different shaped paper, some collage and mark making materials during their free play time. At these times staff support and discuss the children's work well. Whilst displays of work are attractive and well used to reflect good topic work, currently, there are few examples of children's own imaginative drawings or paintings in the displays. When children work at specific, adult led activities they often work as a whole group and are expected to produce a pre-determined end result. For example, children were helped to draw round a dinosaur template, cut it out and paint it all over with one colour paint, chosen by themselves. They all worked at the same time, waiting for adults to supply resources and then waiting for all the children in the group to complete the task. At these times children are not able to express their own creative ideas and this aspect remains

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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 included in a key issue from this inspection.

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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 mostly settled and confident within the group. They mostly play well individually and in small groups. Staff praise and reward children appropriately and try hard to explain why some behaviour is less acceptable. Behaviour is generally good, though some young children find it more difficult to retain concentration during the times when they are involved in adult led, whole group tasks where they must wait for resources or adult attention.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children are often confident speakers. They respond well to careful adult questioning as they choose their various tasks. However, older, more able children have less good opportunities to extend their skills: for example, the 'letter of the week' activities are not always well matched to what they already know and understand. Children are able to write for different purposes, for example, in role play.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children have many opportunities to use mathematical language and practise their counting skills when they use the stimulating environment provided for their free play. At these times they are able to experiment and explore and they use appropriate language to describe, classify and compare different objects. However, specific, planned tasks are not always well matched to children's varying levels of attainment, in order to extend the knowledge and understanding of more able children.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children are encouraged to explore, investigate and find out about features of their own and the wider environment. They are developing an increasing awareness of why things happen and how things work through using a range of interesting, practical activities. They make good use of information and communication technology and enjoy construction activities. They participate in interesting and varied themed activities that introduce them to different cultural experiences and traditions.

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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: Very Good Children have very good opportunities to practise their physical movement skills, both large and small, at every session. They move confidently round the large space available to them in the 'Jungle Room', practising their skills and responding well to the encouragement of staff. They enjoy using a good range of malleable materials, such as play dough, sand or peat and a very good selection of tools is available to them. Good attention is given to supporting children's developing skills.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children enthusiastically participate in imaginative play, developing role play through their use of a good range of resources. They enjoy using musical instruments to explore the different sounds they can make. When using construction materials, play dough and the paint easel they are able to develop their own ideas. However, when taking part in specific, adult led art activities for the whole group, children are expected to produce a uniform, pre-determined end product.

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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

• evaluate the effectiveness of the current routine in terms of maximising opportunities for teaching, listening and learning • strengthen the link between assessment of the children and planning of next steps of learning for them. Ensure appropriate learning targets are identified for them based on the assessments. • extend opportunities for all children to express their own, individual creative art ideas and extend the value shown to such work in displays.

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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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