Healey Playgroup

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 27/11/2002 Inspector Name Wendy Taylor

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SETTING DETAILS

Setting Name Healey Playgroup Setting Address Community Centre Batley West Yorkshire WF17 7EL

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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

Healey Playgroup is a committee run group held in a community centre in the Healey area on the outskirts of Batley. The children are accommodated in a large hall and entrance area which gives direct access to the toilets. There is a small enclosed outdoor play area which can be accessed directly from the hall. The playgroup serves families living in the local residential area and is open four morning during term time from 9:15am until 11:30am. The group is closed on Thursdays. The playgroup is registered to care for up to 25 children aged from two to five years. There are eight three year-olds who receive funding and there are no funded four year-olds at present. There are no children with special educational needs and there are no funded children who have English as an additional language. There is a stable staff team consisting of a supervisor and two assistants, two of whom are working towards the required level of early years qualifications. The group have

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Information about the setting

recently received considerable support from an advisory teacher from the Pre School Learning Alliance.

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How effective is the nursery education?

Healey playgroup provides a happy and welcoming environment where children make generally good progress towards all of the early learning goals Staff are developing their understanding of the foundation stage and provide a good range of activities to help children learn. Teaching is generally good and staff engage children in conversation to support and extend their learning. Planning and assessment systems are used to ensure children make progress, however assessments do not identify the next stages in children's learning and planning does not clearly identify how more able children will be appropriately challenged. Children are encouraged to make their own decisions about their learning and self select from the activities on offer. Staff have realistic and consistent expectations for managing children's behaviour which is good. Staff deployment is good and they work well together as a team. Leadership and management is generally good. The group is committee run

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How effective is the nursery education?

and there is new chairperson and treasurer in place who are keen to establish their roles and responsibilities. There are appraisal systems in place to support staff development and identify their strengths and weaknesses. Staff are beginning to use the children's assessment records to monitor the effectiveness of the nursery education. Staff informally identify strengths and weakness within the setting however there are no clear systems in place to ensure overall effectiveness. Partnership with parents is generally good. They are represented on the committee and there is a parents rota for helping. There is an information booklet for new parents and there is a noticeboard and newsletter for ongoing information. Parents are informed of the activity topics but there is limited information provided about the foundation stage.

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What is being done well?

Staff establish good relationships with the children fostering their self esteem and confidence and children are well motivated to learn. Staff are developing their ability to engage children in conversation to support and extend the learning Children's personal, social and emotional development is good and they are able to make decisions about their own learning by independently selecting form the range of activities provided for them. Staff have worked hard to develop their understanding of the foundation stage and planning and assessment systems are now well established. Staff are enthusiastic and well motivated and this has a positive impact on the children's learning. Children's language is developing well and they confidently express themselves in small and large groups and in one to one situations

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What needs to be improved?

opportunities for children to become aware of linking initial sounds in words and know which letters represent some of the sounds opportunities for children to learn about the environment and the natural world and to develop a positive respect and understanding of the wider world, different lifestyles and cultures opportunities for children to compare groups of numbers enabling them to develop a basic understanding of simple addition and subtraction through practical activities planning for outdoor play how challenges are set for more able children and using assessments to identify the next stages in children's learning and linking this information to the planning parent's understanding of the foundation stage and how this links to their child's progress

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The setting has made progress on the key issues identified at the last inspection. More priority is given to communication, language and literacy Children have more opportunities for learning about, reading, writing through incidental and planned activities eg new vocabulary included in planning, topics, talking about family members, story props and puppets, shopping lists clipboards, name cards etc Parents receive information about the activity topics but there is still no clear information about the foundation stage or how this links to children's progress. There is photocopied leaflet on the noticeboard but this does not attract parents attention. There is some information for new parents in the new information pack. Staff have received considerable advisory teacher support and there are now planning and assessment systems in place. The programme for mathematical development has improved and numbers are used as labels and for counting through practical,

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What has improved since the last inspection?

planned and incidental activities such as counting rhymes and counting out objects. Staff need to extend the opportunities for using practical activities to compare groups of objects to develop a basic understanding of simple addition and subtraction. Planning for the use of large equipment has improved and staff now organise obstacle courses for the children however there is no planning for the outdoor area

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children make generally good progress in personal. social and emotional development. Staff establish good relationships with the children and respond with interest fostering their self esteem and motivation to learn. Children confidently express themselves and relate well to each other. There are some missed opportunities to further develop the children's independence, for example at snack time. Children's opportunities to learn about their community and wider world is limited.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children make generally good progress in communication, language and literacy. Children's language is developing well and they enjoy listening to stories and looking at books. They enjoy group times when staff use puppets and story props to extend the learning. Children make marks and practice writing for a variety of purposes. Letters are displayed but insufficient attention is given to linking sounds to letters, and recognising letters of the alphabet

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children make generally good progress in mathematical development. Some children count reliably up to ten and can recognise written numbers. They learn about shape and size through practical activities such as jigsaws and construction. They use simple language to talk about and compare shape and size. There are good planned activities but there are missed opportunities in practical activities, such as comparing groups of objects to develop a basic understanding of simple addition and subtraction

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children's progress in knowledge and understanding of the world is generally good. Children have basic opportunities to explore and investigate through planned activities. They have occasional access to 3D modelling and a range of resources to fasten and join materials together. Children's understanding of technology, their environment, and the natural and wider world including other lifestyles and cultures is limited.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children make generally good progress in physical development. They move confidently and safely indoors and outdoors. They show bodily awareness, for example when the weather is hot or cold or when they are thirsty. They handle equipment, tools and malleable safely and with increasing confidence. Children's outdoor play is mainly recreational with an occasional planned focus such as balancing skills. There are missed opportunities to use the areas of learning outdoors.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children make generally good progress in creative development. They have opportunities to explore shape and texture when painting, using playdough or collage. Children explore sounds through unusual musical instruments. They practice real and imagined experiences in the home bay. Opportunities to experience three dimensional activities is limited. There are missed opportunities to vary and extend the role play situations

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Children's spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development is fostered appropriately: Y

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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

Plan and provide opportunities for children to link initial sounds in words and know which letters represent some of the sounds Plan and provide opportunities for children to learn about the environment and the natural world and improve the opportunities for children to develop a positive respect and understanding of the wider world, different lifestyles and cultures Plan and provide opportunities for children to calculate and compare, to solve simple mathematical problems and to develop an understanding of basic addition and subtraction through practical activities Improve the planning for outdoor play Identify how challenges are set for more able children and use assessments to identify the next stages in children's learning and link this information to the planning Improve parent's knowledge and understanding of the foundation stage and how this links to their child's progress

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