Sheila Bruce Community Arts Educational Establishment

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 07/02/2005 Inspector Name Gill Moore

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Lordswood Community Centre Pre-School Setting Address Sandpiper Road Lordswood Southampton Hampshire SO16 8FD

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name Lordswood Communtiy Centre Pre-School

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Lordswood Communtiy Centre Pre-School Address Sandpiper Road Southampton Hampshire SO16 8FD

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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

Lordswood Community Pre-School is a committee run group and opened in 1982. The pre-school operates from the community centre in Lordswood, Southampton. Children from the local and surrounding residential area attend the group. The pre-school use a large hall, kitchen and toilet facilities and an enclosed outside play area. There are currently 27 children from 2-5 years on roll. This includes 21 funded 3 year olds and 5 funded 4 year olds. The setting supports children with special educational needs and welcomes those with English as an additional language. The pre-school opens Monday to Friday 09:30 - 12:00 during the school term. The committee employ a qualified supervisor to be responsible for the day to day running of the group. In addition, 4 staff work directly with the children, 1 of whom is qualified and 1 who is currently working towards a recognised early years qualification. The pre-school is a member of the pre-school learning alliance and

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Information about the setting

receives support from a development worker and the early years partnership. It liaises closely 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?

Lordswood Community Pre-School offers good quality nursery education, where children make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Quality of teaching is generally good. Sessions are well organised and the accessibility of resources is effective and promotes independent learning, across most areas. Staff have a good understanding of how children learn and use good questioning techniques. Staff lack knowledge and understanding of the stepping stones, and how to use these to help children progress. As a result, they miss opportunities to develop and consolidate learning and insufficient challenges are provided in some areas, particularly relating to mathematical development. The systems for planning and assessment are not fully developed. Staff are not always clear about what children are expected to learn and children's assessments are not used to plan the next stage in their individual learning. Staff build very good

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How effective is the nursery education?

relationships with children, have high expectations of their behaviour and help them to feel valued, increasing confidence and self-esteem. Effective support is provided to children with special educational needs. Leadership and management are generally good. Staff work well as a team, have defined roles and communicate effectively. Management actively address gaps within the provision, for example they have recently introduced a system to monitor staff performance and development. However, they have yet to develop their role in monitoring the curriculum, ensuring all aspects are included, and evaluating the impact on children's individual progress. Partnerships with parents are generally good. Parents are well informed about the curriculum and activities their child is involved in on a daily basis. Informal communication is very good between staff and parents, although opportunities for parents to be informed about and contribute to their child's achievements and

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How effective is the nursery education?

progress and next steps for learning are not fully developed.

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What is being done well?

• Children are introduced to a range of cultures and customs in a practical and exciting way. During the inspection, children learnt about Chinese New Year and they made a dragon's mask. They enjoyed performing the Chinese dragon dance, accompanied by drums and cymbals. Children tasted egg-fried rice and prawn crackers at snack time and learnt how to eat these using chopsticks. Children also made their own pancakes, to celebrate Pancake Day, and enjoyed watching staff toss them in the air and catch them in the pan. • Staff have a good knowledge of individual children and their home and family circumstances and develop positive relationships with them. They continually praise and encourage children and value their achievements, which has a

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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 positive impact on children's confidence and self-esteem. • Children have many opportunities to initiate their own learning and confidently select their own resources and materials. They work well independently and learn to co-operate with their peers. The presentation of resources, for example in open trolleys and boxes, encourages children to make their own choices about materials and equipment they play with. They are fully involved in the session and show a positive approach to learning. • Children's spoken language is developing well. They use good vocabulary to describe objects they can feel in the bag and talk about the models they are building. Staff introduce new vocabulary to children through play, which helps extend the words children use to describe their real and imagined experiences.

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What is being done well?

• Children have many opportunities to freely express themselves through creativity. They use their imagination and their own ideas to explore a range of media and materials. They enjoy printing with objects, mixing paints and using different textures to make buses, Chinese lanterns and the dragon's head for their Chinese dance.

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What needs to be improved?

• staff's knowledge and understanding of the stepping stones, the system for planning to include learning outcomes related to these, procedures for recording children's achievements and the use of this information to plan the next steps in their individual learning • opportunities for children to identify and distinguish sounds and letters, recognise familiar words and share and explore books, to recognise and record numerals, develop their early mathematical skills and solve practical problems, to develop an understanding of spatial awareness and to explore sound patterns and rhythm • the systems to monitor and evaluate planning, ensuring all aspects of the curriculum are included and to evaluate the impact the educational provision has on children's individual progress towards the early learning goals • opportunities for parents to be informed about and contribute to their child's ongoing achievements and progress, next steps for development and how

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The pre-school have made generally good progress since the last inspection. They were asked to develop appropriate links with relevant professional agencies in order to ensure continuity and progression in learning with children who have special educational needs. Since the last inspection, a whole new staff team is in place. Strong links are developed with external agencies and professionals, which ensures the identification and assessment of children is secure, monitored and effective

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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 learning takes place. The pre-school were also asked to extend opportunities for children to use information technology and to develop the outside area, in order to enhance children's learning experiences. Children now have daily access to a good range of information technology, including a range of programmable toys, tape recorder and a computer and are developing good skills in their use of this and understanding of how the equipment works. Children have daily opportunities to engage in physical activities using the outside area and staff make good use of this, for example children go on a bug hunt. Opportunities to develop children's understanding of spatial awareness and recognition of number, for example on bicycles and in marked bays, are not fully explored. The group were also asked to extend opportunities for children to use their

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What has improved since the last inspection?

mathematical knowledge to solve practical problems. Children confidently talk about sizes and shape and engage in practical activities to develop these concepts; however there are insufficient opportunities for children to solve their own problems.

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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 develop good relationships learning to share and take turns, for example when using the computer. They show great excitement during activities, such as searching for bugs outside and are actively involved in their learning. Children are developing good independence, although some opportunities are missed to develop self-care skills, for example collecting their coats and preparing for snack. Children recognise what is right and wrong and their behaviour is very good.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children's speaking and listening skills are very well developed and they confidently contribute to group discussions. They recognise their own names and identify initial letters, although there are few opportunities to develop and extend children's recognition of sounds and rhyme, for example through the recognition of familiar words. Children enjoy listening to group stories, however rarely explore books for themselves. They have many opportunities to practice emergent writing.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Significant Weaknesses Children develop the concept of weight and measure, for example as they explore objects in water. They recognise and talk about different features of shapes and enjoy following and creating patterns using good resources. Children are able to count, however, insufficient opportunities are available for them to recognise and record numerals, develop their concept of number, addition and subtraction and develop and consolidate their mathematical learning by using their own ideas to solve problems.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children enjoy using magnifying glasses to explore for bugs and notice patterns on leaves. They engage in planned activities to experiment how different materials absorb water, explore which objects attract magnets, grow beans and make pancakes. Children talk about themselves and their families and develop their concept of time and place learning about their local community, as well as the wider world, through discussion and planned topic work. They show good skills using the computer.

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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: Generally Good Children confidently use a range of tools, such as glue sticks, scissors and cutters and access these independently. They have daily opportunities to participate in physical activities and develop their gross motor skills, such as climbing and balancing using a good range of large and small apparatus. However, planning for this area does not provide children with sufficient opportunities to develop an awareness of space. Children talk about their bodies and recognise how to look after them.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children show very good imagination as they explore creativity, dress up and engage in role-play and act out the story "Going on a bear hunt." They enjoy using their senses, talk about different textures and how things feel and use a varied range of media and materials, including paint, sand, water and pasta. Children enjoy singing and participating in action rhymes and use a range of musical instruments, although few opportunities are provided for them to explore sound patterns and rhythm.

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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

• increase staff's knowledge and understanding of the stepping stones, improve the system for planning, to ensure clear learning intentions are identified and develop the systems for recording children's ongoing achievements and progress, ensuring this information is used to plan the next steps in their individual learning • increase opportunities for children to develop early reading and mathematical skills, develop an understanding of spatial awareness and to explore sound patterns and rhythm • develop and implement systems to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum planning and the impact this has on children's individual progress towards the early learning goals • provide opportunities for parents to be informed about and contribute to their child's ongoing achievements and progress, next steps for development and how they can extend learning in the home.

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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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