Bancroft's School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 23/02/2005 Inspector Name Heather Tanswell

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Stithians Pre-School Playgroup Setting Address The Village Hall Church Road, Stithians Truro Cornwall TR3 7DH

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Stithians Pre School Playgroup Committee

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Stithians Pre School Playgroup Committee Address The Village Hall Church Road, Stithians Truro Cornwall TR3 7DH

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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

Stithians Pre-school Playgroup and Out of School Club, is a committee run group that opened in 1978. It operates from two rooms in Stithians Village Hall. It is situated in a rural area, adjacent to the village primary school. The village is centrally placed for the towns of Redruth, Falmouth, Penryn and Helston. A maximum of 24 children may attend the pre-school or out of school club at any one time. The group opens 5 days a week during school term times. The sessions are from 09.00 to 11.45. In addition, there is the provision of a Breakfast Club, for pre-school and school aged children. It operates before pre-school sessions from 08:00 until 09:00. The pre-school and out of school club, serves the local village community. There are currently 32 children aged between 2 and 5 years old on roll. Of these, 28 children receive funding for nursery education. Children come from surrounding towns and villages.

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Information about the setting

The setting employs six members of staff. Five members of staff have early years qualifications to NVQ Level 2,3 or 4. One member of staff is currently working towards a qualification. The setting receives support from an advisory teacher from the Cornwall Early Years Development and Childcare partnership (CEYDCP) and is a member of the Pre-school learning Alliance (PLA).

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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?

Stithians Pre-school Playgroup provides good quality nursery education overall. Children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals in communication, language and literacy, mathematics, knowledge and understanding of the world, physical and creative development. Their progress in personal, social and emotional development is very good. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff make creative use of curricular materials to plan a wide range of interesting activities across all six areas of learning. They offer a good balance between adult-led and child-initiated learning. High quality resources are made readily accessible for children to use and experiment with at their leisure. Staff develop friendly relationships with children and interact appropriately to support learning. As a result, children are independent learners, co-operate fully with adults and help each other as they play and tidy away. Routines

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How effective is the nursery education?

and large group activities are not always planned or organised effectively to re-enforce learning or help children make progress. Leadership and management are generally good. The setting has clearly stated aims outlined in the well-written prospectus. Staff at all levels show commitment to improving their practice by attending training to update their knowledge and skills. They understand their roles and responsibilities and work efficiently as a team to manage the sessions. Appraisal and assessment systems are not always used effectively to record the strengths and weaknesses in the provision of nursery education. The partnership with parents is very good. They are invited to sit on the committee, fund-raise and be involved with their child's learning for example by sharing their expertise and knowledge to support themed activities. Parents discuss their child's' progress and achievements with key-workers who offer informal daily feedback and

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How effective is the nursery education?

regular opportunities to discuss in private.

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What is being done well?

• Children's personal, social and emotional development is very good. Children are very well-behaved with a highly developed sense of belonging. They respond positively to adults and other children. They particularly enjoy helping each other out when tidying away and acting out their ideas in collaboration during role-play. • The partnership with parents. Parents are invited to take a full part in their child's education by sharing their expertise and knowledge to support learning opportunities provided by the setting. Staff keep parents fully up to date through daily feedback and offer private discussions about their child's progress and achievements. As a result, parents report they are very happy, their children are keen to attend and are making good progress.

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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 work together well to plan an interesting range of activities where children are motivated to learn through play. They make good quality resources readily available in low level storage units for children to select from for themselves, experiment with and use in their own time. As a result children are independent, show curiosity and have a positive attitude toward learning.

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What needs to be improved?

• the planning and organisation of routines and large group activities to develop children's skills and enhance learning • the planning and organisation of musical activities to ensure that children are provided with regular opportunities to explore the sound of everyday objects and instruments and develop their repertoire of songs • the children's understanding and use of addition and subtraction through practical activities and discussion.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The setting has made generally good progress since the last inspection. A key-worker system is now well-established and working effectively to ensure staff know children's strengths and weakness. Although few individual written targets are set, staff use their knowledge of the children to get the most out of the activities they present. Staff now make more use of both rooms throughout the sessions. Children have more opportunities to play and learn as part of a large group or smaller groups for more focussed learning. However, some large group activities and daily routines are not well-organised and children sometimes get bored. The programme for music making and singing now includes regular sessions with specialist presenters from outside agencies. However, the children do not explore the sounds of musical instruments or everyday objects for themselves. Daily routines do not always include singing along with adults.

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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 are happy, settled, secure and confident. They are able to concentrate for extended periods of time at some activities. They show curiosity, have positive attitudes towards learning and show great independence when selecting tools and activities. They are polite and behave well. Children show great concern for each other and work in pairs to carry heavy loads and stack chairs as they help to tidy away without being asked.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children chat along to each other sequencing events correctly, as they act out and re-create roles and experiences together. For example in role-play, children get their babies ready to set off on an outing to 'Diggerland', only to find it closed for the day so have to come home early. Children talk confidently and listen attentively to stories, joining in with relevant questions and comments. Daily routines are not fully used to develop children's writing and refine their handwriting skills.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children use numbers up to 20 as they play games such as hide and seek. They show interest in size, weight, volume and shape as they construct, create models and play with water. They make models of correct proportions using construction kits and junk materials. They understand and use language well, for example to explain the length of sticky tape needed to fix a model. Routines, rhymes and large group activities are not used well to re-enforce number work, addition and subtraction.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children design, make and modify models using a wide range of materials and tools they select and try out for themselves. They construct with a purpose in mind and can explain and demonstrate how things work. For example, how a car can become a submarine by folding up the moveable parts. However, staff miss some unforeseen and planned opportunities to examine the natural world. For example, the appearance of a bug on a table. Features of the weather and date are not part of daily routines.

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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 move around the setting with confidence. Children store equipment away safely, taking care to negotiate a path between obstacles as they carry crates from room to room. They are developing good hand-eye co-ordination using a range of fine tools. The wide variety of physical play activities, using large pieces of equipment, is not organised well to develop children's skills. Routines are not used to help children recognise the importance of keeping healthy.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children delight in creating models and pictures using a range of creative media such as paint, dough, junk, glue and construction. They join in enthusiastically with role-play and effectively develop their own stories and include others in their imaginary play. Children are not regularly exploring music making or singing as part of their daily activities to enhance their appreciation of different types of music or extend their repertoire of songs.

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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

• Make more effective use of daily routines and large group activities to introduce and re-enforce learning across the curriculum. • Provide children with regular opportunities to explore the sound of everyday objects and instruments and develop their repertoire of songs. • Provide children with regular opportunities to improve their understanding and use of addition and subtraction through practical activities and discussion.

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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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