Oscar Club

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 04/02/2005 Inspector Name Susan Marriott

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Oscar Club Setting Address Taywood House, At Clipstone Brook Lower School Brooklands Drive Leighton Buzzard Bedfordshire LU7 3PG

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Oscar Club Address Taywood House, At Clipstone Brook Lower School Brooklands Drive Leighton Buzzard Bedfordshire LU7 3PG

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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

The Oscar (Out of School Care And Recreation) Club opened in 2001 and is run by a parent management committee. It operates from Taywood House, a terrapin building within the grounds of Clipstone Brook Lower School in Leighton Buzzard. The unit contains toilets and an office. There is direct access to an enclosed garden area. A maximum of 24 children, aged from two to under five years, attend the club at any one time, using a combination of wraparound care and pre-school sessions. The pre-school, offering funded education, is open each weekday during school term time only from 09:00 to 11:30. The children come from the town of Leighton Buzzard, Linslade and the surrounding areas. There are currently 24 children on the pre-school roll. Of these, 13 children receive funding for nursery education. Provision is made for children who have special educational needs and who speak English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

Three members of staff work at each pre-school session. All of the permenant staff hold appropriate early years qualifications at level two or three.

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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?

The provision for nursery education at The Oscar Club is unacceptable. Children are making poor progress towards the early learning goals in all areas of learning. The quality of teaching is poor. The friendly staff listen and talk to the children but there is insufficient questioning and stimulation to support children's progress in learning. Staff provide and supervise activities rather than teach. Staff have an insecure knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage and this hinders the quality of children's learning. Daily plans are insufficiently detailed to give clear and effective guidance to staff. Although the staff provide an adequate range of play activities, these are not developed into an integrated learning experience and some staff are unable to draw potential learning from the play. The daily routines are not sufficiently robust to promote ongoing learning in social skills, literacy and numeracy.

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How effective is the nursery education?

Whole group sessions do not always sustain children's interest. Present systems for the assessment of children's learning are not consistently completed, do not take account of the stepping stones and do not usefully inform planning. In particular, too little emphasis is placed upon promoting the understanding and skills of more able children. Staff are not always effectively challenging deteriorating behaviour. Leadership and management are poor. The recent absence of the playleader has exposed poor communication at all levels and current procedures for deputisation are inadequate. The play leader has a limited understanding of the curriculum guidance and is therefore unable to guide staff in their delivery of the educational programme. The partnership with parents and carers has significant weaknesses. Parents are encouraged to bring their child into the provision but information on the educational

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How effective is the nursery education?

provision is basic. Parents value the flexibility of the provision appear to be happy with the service offered.

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What is being done well?

• The staff generally allow children the freedom to express their own ideas. • The staff make good efforts to engage with the children during play.

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What needs to be improved?

• staff knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage and the Early Learning Goals. • the planning of the educational programme • the use of assessment to help staff to decide what children need to learn next

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What needs to be improved?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 • monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the provision

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What has improved since the last inspection?

This is the first inspection of funded nursery education.

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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: Poor Children are not always interested and excited to learn and some group activities do not always sustain children's interest because of poor staff organisation and preparation. Ineffective use is made of everyday situations to encourage the children to form good relationships with and sensitivity towards others. Children do not always express their needs and have limited opportunities to develop personal independence and a sense of community.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Poor Planned activities, such as the tracing of names, support limited development of formal writing skills, but children do not make marks in practical situations, such as role play. Inconsistent models such as name cards with mixed case lettering do not promote effective learning. Opportunities to link sounds with letters are few. Staff interaction does not support the development of speaking and listening skills. Poor emphasis is given to stories although staff read to individual children.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Poor Insecure staff knowledge and poor inclusion of mathematical learning in the daily routine inhibits children's progress. Many children count beyond ten but have insufficient opportunities to use their counting skills in practical contexts. Children learn about size and shape through formally planned activities such as drawing around shapes. The club has suitable resources for developing the children's comparing, sorting and matching skills but staff are uncertain how to use these effectively.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Poor Planning shows that staff have limited understanding of this area of learning. There are good opportunities for children to use construction toys but plans do not support the development of skills in a meaningful way. Activities lack interest and restrict children's desire to observe, investigate and explore the world around them. Children take part in few activities which develop an interest in science, technology, and simple, relevant learning with a history or geography base.

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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: Poor Plans do not correctly identify activities which support the development of physical skills. Children move with limited control and co-ordination, showing a sometimes poor awareness of space, themselves and others. Children have regular opportunities to enjoy freely chosen activities outdoors but plans do not show the progressive use of a range of small and large equipment and tools with increasing control. Health awareness is not given due emphasis.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Poor Children experience an adequate range of media and children are encouraged to express their own ideas. However, staff have low expectations of children's abilities and opportunities are missed to develop learning. Staff do not intervene appropriately to support role play. Music based activities are given insufficient emphasis by staff. Children have too few opportunities to respond using their senses and to use their imagination in art and design, dance, role play and stories.

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Children's spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development is not 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 unacceptable. Children are making poor progress towards the early learning goals.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

• Improve staff knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage and the Early Learning Goals. • Improve the planning of the educational programme • Develop the use of assessment to help staff to decide what children need to learn next • Devise systems for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the provision

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

The provider must draw up an action plan within 20 working days showing how the key issues detailed above will be addressed. A copy of the action plan must be sent to the local education authority. The Department for Education and Skills will write to the provider asking for a copy of the action plan. The Secretary for Education and Skills will then decide whether to withdraw the provider's entitlement to receive funding for 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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