St John's Church of England (VA) Combined School, Lacey Green

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 23/06/2004 Inspector Name Barbara Christie

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Caterpillars Preschool Setting Address Calmore Infant School Calmore Drive, Totton Southampton Hampshire SO40 2ZZ

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Caterpillars Preschool

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Caterpillars Preschool Address Calmore Drive, Totton Southampton Hampshire SO40 2ZZ

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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

Caterpillars Preschool is a community preschool managed by a voluntary committee employing experienced and qualified staff.

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Information about the setting

The group has sole use of rooms at Calmore Infants School and uses the school field and playground for outside play. Children attending come from Calmore and the surrounding area. The preschool is open Monday to Friday term-time only and sessions are from 09:00 to 11:30 and from 12:15 to 14:45. Caterpillars Preschool is registered to provide sessional daycare for 26 children aged 2 to under 5 years. The Preschool is in receipt of nursery education funding for children aged 3 and 4 years old. There are generally five members of staff working with the children.

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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 Caterpillars Preschool is acceptable and of good quality. Children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Knowledge and understanding of the world and physical development are particular strengths and children are making very good progress in these areas of learning. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff are interested in what the children do; they provide access to a range of resources for both directed and free choice play activities. Conversation and imaginative play is well supported and developing well. Planning has some shortcomings. The informal approach to planning results in some valuable learning opportunities to develop all aspects of communication language and literacy and mathematics being missed. Ways of extending supported activities and ensure adequate challenge, are not sufficiently explored. Staff set clear goals

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How effective is the nursery education?

and boundaries, they explain carefully with regard to expectations, and behaviour is good. Systems are in place to support children with special educational needs and those whose first language is not English. Leadership and management are generally good. Regular informal meetings are held to plan topics and to identify training needs. Strengths and areas for improvement are identified and training is accessed. The staff have attended training to improve the development of planning and assessment of children's progress, but assessments are still not fully used to inform planning.

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How effective is the nursery education?

The partnership with parents and carers is generally good. Staff work well with parents to develop a secure partnership. Good relationships have formed and parents express satisfaction with their child's progress and achievement. Assessment records are shared with parents, and parents are invited to share outcomes of learning in the home. Lack of formal plans limits opportunities for parents to be adequately informed of the educational provision in the group.

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What is being done well?

• Children take an active part in freeplay activities. They are able to select from a range of resources which extend their learning, increasing confidence, developing conversation and stimulating imagination well. • Children interact well with peers and adults alike. They are confident to ask questions and express themselves clearly using a wide vocabulary. They join in conversations and use appropriate language to express feelings and to share their ideas. • Children enjoy books, they handle them with care and confidently retell

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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 stories from pictures. • Children's counting skills are developing well, they are able to count to 10 and above and take part in simple forms of problem solving using small world toys, games and puzzles. • All children are valued and treated equally and with respect. Staff set clear goals and boundaries and behaviour is good. • Children had very good opportunities to access a wide range of large and small equipment which is used effectively and promotes physical skills well. • Staff make good use of resources to extend children's learning in knowledge and understanding of the world. They question well encouraging children to talk about their homes and families and to recall past events.

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What needs to be improved?

• attention to ways in which recognition of numbers, letters and words can be promoted and extended • opportunities for simple forms of addition and subtraction to develop from everyday experiences, songs and stories • opportunities for writing and recording such as, names, words and numbers for a variety of purposes, for example, labels, notepads and lists • the ways in which activities are planned so that children are able to work at their own pace, and older children and those who finish before others are sufficiently challenged • the use of assessment records so that outcomes can be used to inform future planning for individual children in the group • ways in which parents can be given more details of how the early learning goals can be achieved across each of the six areas of learning.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Generally good progress has been made in implementing the action plan from the last inspection. This has had a positive impact on the educational provision overall. In the last inspection two key issues and one point for consideration were raised. The key issues related to the development of some aspects of Communication, Language and Literacy and Creative Development, and the point for consideration required the group to develop monitoring of assessment and to encourage contributions from parents. The progress in addressing the key issues is generally good, staff have developed effective methods of questioning to extend speech and vocabulary but opportunities to increase the recognition of familiar words continues to have some shortcomings.

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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 Music and movement activities have increased but access to musical instruments remains limited. Assessment records have developed and are currently satisfactory, these are shared with parents and opportunities for parental involvement has increased.

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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 well motivated overall but long freeplay sessions result in limited concentration at times, and some activities lack sufficient challenge. Staff remind children of expectations, and behaviour is good. At large group activities children work generally well. They take turns, share fairly when using equipment, and show respect for the adult and their peers. Staff treat all children equally and with respect. Children are confident to select from the resources available.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children's speech is developing well. They express themselves freely. When questioned show a wide vocabulary. They listen well to stories and join in to tell the story from pictures. There is good access to books, and generally good free drawing activities to develop pencil control. Opportunities to develop writing for other purposes such as writing names on work or making lists are missed. Opportunities to recognise familiar words through display and during large group gatherings are missed.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children are able to count to ten and above, using everyday items and small world toys. There is generally good use of jigsaws and puzzles to solve mathematical problems, and mathematical language is developing well overall. Generally good use is made of building kits to match colours and shapes, and to sort and compare sizes. Opportunities to display numbers appropriately, or to include numbers alongside symbols at activity tables and to develop simple addition and subtraction are missed.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good There are good opportunities to explore sea life with a well planned activity to identify creatures that live in the sea. Investigative resources such as magnifying glasses to look at patterns in shells are used well. Children talk about their homes and families, and displays and photos are effective in recalling past events and activities. They have good opportunities to build and join using a range of recycled materials. A range of technology is used effectively to promote learning.

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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 A range of large and small equipment, is used effectively to promote both large and small movements, increasing balance and coordinated movement well. During snack time children talk about the benefits of milk and fruit. They are encouraged to develop personal hygiene skills, and children are confident when attending to their own needs. Good access to and use of small world toys, cutting and drawing tools, are very effective in the development of manual dexterity and skills of manipulation.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Generally good opportunities to explore colours and to form in two and three dimension, apparent from the displays of children's work. There is very good access to dressing up clothes and the home corner is used for a variety of purposes. Small world toys are used well, and effective in increasing language and skills of imagination. Music and movement is planned well, but opportunities for children to access musical instruments to explore and create sounds are not available at all sessions.

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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

• Key Issues: • make better use of displays to increase opportunities for children to be able to recognise familiar words and numbers • increase opportunities for children to develop early writing skills, encourage all children to write names or make marks on their work and provide more and better access to writing tools and materials so that children can write and record for a variety of purposes • increase opportunities for simple forms of addition and subtraction to develop from everyday experiences • improve and develop planning so that it can be recognised how activities and routines link to the promotion of the six areas of learning, and find ways of sharing this planning with parents. • continue to review assessment records and find ways of standardising how the outcomes of assessment can be used to inform future planning for all children in the group.

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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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