North Cave Preschool

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 15/02/2005 Inspector Name Diane Lynn Turner

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name North Cave Pre-school Setting Address The Village Hall Westgate North Cave East Riding of Yorkshire HU15 5NJ

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of North Cave Pre-school

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name North Cave Pre-school Address The Village Hall Westgate Northcave East Riding of Yorkshire HU15 5NJ

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and 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 of the quality and standard of day care in accordance with the National Standards for Under Eights Day Care and Childminding; and 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

North Cave Pre-school is an established group that has been providing sessional care for more than 30 years. It is situated in the village of North Cave and operates from the village hall. The group has the use of a main playroom and access to an additional room that is used for physical activities. Toilet and kitchen facilities are situated within reach of the playroom and there is an enclosed grassed area at the rear of the premises with equipment for outdoor use. It is run by a parent committee and is a member of the Pre School Learning Alliance (PLA). The group is registered for 24 and takes children between the ages of two and a half and five years. Session times are Monday to Friday from 09.15 to 11.45 and Wednesday afternoon from 13.10 to 15.10, during term time only. The afternoon session is specifically for those children who will be starting school in the following academic year. Children attend for a variety of sessions each week and come from

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Information about the setting

the local community and a wide surrounding area. There are currently 25 children on roll including 15 three and four-year-olds who are in receipt of nursery education funding. The group welcomes and supports children with special needs and those whose first language is not English. Five members of staff work directly with the children. One is working towards a relevant level three qualification and two towards a level two qualification. They receive support from the development workers at the local Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP).

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How good is the Day Care?

North Cave Pre-school provides good quality care for children. The environment is warm, welcoming and well organised with a good range of toys and play equipment, both indoors and outside. The staff work well together as a team and show a commitment to improving their knowledge and developing their practice through training. They have a clear understanding of their role and responsibilities which ensures the group operates effectively.

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How good is the Day Care?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 Staff have a good understanding of all risks to children's health and safety. There are effective procedures that identify and minimise hazards in most areas, ensure good hygiene practices and protect children from possible abuse. Varied and nutritious snacks are provided and high priority is given to ensuring the children's individual dietary requirements are met. The children's individual needs are known, understood and met by the staff who have a commitment to ensuring that all children have equal opportunities and access to activities. A good range of interesting and well planned practical activities are provided. Staff support children well, extending their development and learning in all areas. Clear boundaries for behaviour are maintained and a caring, supportive and

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How good is the Day Care?

consistent approach is evident. Parents are made very welcome. Information they receive is clear and there are effective systems in place to keep them well informed about their child's progress. Parents speak highly of the activities and experiences that are provided and are confident that their children are making good progress. All documentation is in place and used consistently. It is well organised and stored securely, but sometimes lacks the necessary detail.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Since the last inspection the group has taken action to improve the safety and the documentation. All radiators and unused electrical sockets are now fitted with covers to prevent the children accessing these and the complaints procedure has been updated to include Ofsted's role and contact details. The action taken has added to the safe and efficient management of the provision.

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What is being done well?

• Staff develop very good relationships with the children. They know them very well and are sensitive to their needs and feelings. • Children's behaviour is managed very well. Staff have a supportive, consistent approach and their polite, calm manner is a very good example for the children to follow. • Staff are clear of their role and responsibilities and work well together as a team which ensures the provision runs smoothly and efficiently. • A warm welcoming environment is provided with colourful, interesting friezes that the children help to produce showing their contributions are appreciated and valued. • High priority is given to the partnership with parents. Staff make parents very welcome and give good attention to involving them in their child's learning.

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What needs to be improved?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 • the safety in relation to the storage of unused chairs • the documentation in relation to the lost child policy, child protection policy, permission for the seeking of emergency medical advice or treatment and medication records.

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CONDITIONS OF REGISTRATION

All registered persons must comply with all conditions of registration included on his/her certificate of registration. As a result of this inspection conditions of registration have been imposed / varied / removed and a new certificate of registration will be issued.

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by the time of the next inspection

Std Recommendation 6 Make sure all unused adult sized chairs are stored safely. 14 Devise a policy detailing the procedure to be followed in the event of a child being lost. 14 Make sure the child protection policy includes the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse being made against a member of staff. 14 Request written permission from parents for the seeking of emergency medical advice or treatment and improve the system for recording any medication that is administered.

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by the time of the next inspection

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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How effective is the nursery education?

North Cave Pre-school provides good quality nursery education overall which enables children to make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Provision for their physical and mathematical development, is particularly well planned and they make very good progress in these areas. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff manage children's behaviour well and have good relationships with them. A varied curriculum clearly differentiates between the learning needs of the three and four-year-olds. Effective questioning is used to develop children's understanding and help them achieve the intended learning outcome. Sessions are well organised, although there is an over-emphasis on focussed activities and adult-directed play, resulting in children having insufficient opportunities to develop their independence in learning through initiating their own activities and developing their own ideas. A good range of toys and resources are

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How effective is the nursery education?

generally used well to support children's learning. Assessments of children's progress are made and staff use this information to plan what children should do next. Clear records are kept of the children's progress to share with parents. Leadership and management of the group are generally good. All staff working with the children show a commitment to ensuring the children's safety and well being and they work well together as a team. They have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities and are supported well by the committee. The monitoring and evaluation of the educational programme however, needs to be improved to ensure there are no gaps in the provision over time. Partnership with parents and carers is very good. Parents and staff have a friendly relationship and good communication is evident. They are kept well informed about forthcoming events and activities and are actively encouraged to be involved in their

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How effective is the nursery education?

child's learning. Ideas to support this at home are regularly shared.

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What is being done well?

• There is a very good range of books and staff give high priority to encouraging the children to handle these correctly and carefully. • Very good use is made of everyday activities and routines to enable the children to use number and simple calculation in a meaningful way. • The children have very good opportunities to use a number of techniques and work creatively and co-operatively on a large scale when helping to make the display friezes. • The children's behaviour is managed very well by staff. They have developed good strategies to help the children understand and work within the codes for the group and their polite, calm manner provides a very good example for the children to follow.

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What is being done well?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 • Parents are actively encouraged by staff to be involved in their child's learning through the parent rota system and activity sheets to do at home. • The children's physical skills are promoted well through the good range of equipment, stimulating activities and effective use of the premises indoors.

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What needs to be improved?

• the planning and organisation of some aspects of the rising fives session • the presentation of the computer • the planning for continuous provision to provide on going learning opportunities and give children opportunities to practice and refine their skills, particularly in the areas of creative and communication, language and literacy.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Very good progress has been made since the last inspection. The staff have developed their questioning skills and the opportunities for the children to talk about real and imagined experiences and ask questions about why things happen and how things work. Staff now use careful questioning during activities to develop children's understanding and help them think. They use open ended questions to promote detailed responses from the children and provide regular opportunities for the children to talk about real and imagined experiences during role play, such as acting out domestic situations and the role of different professions. They regularly encourage the children to talk about changes in the weather, observe changes as they grow plants in the outdoor area and think about cause and effect during activities such as mixing paint together and finding out about the properties of wet and dry sand.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children are happy, confident and settled. They have very good relationships with the staff and each other and are keen and motivated learn. They eagerly take part in activities, show good levels of concentration and persist with difficult tasks. Their behaviour is very good and they are learning to negotiate and be polite and considerate to others. However children at the rising fives sessions do no sufficiently make independent choices and direct their own play.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children have very good speaking and listening skills. They initiate conversation, express themselves with confidence and enjoy listening to stories. They handle the good range of books carefully and answer their name confidently at registration. They can correctly identify their name card on arrival and recognise a good many letters of the alphabet and their associated sounds. However children do not sufficiently use mark making for meaning and to support their play in other areas.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good All children demonstrate good counting skills. This is reinforced well during everyday routines when they correctly count the number of children present at registration and identify the corresponding numeral. They regularly use simple calculation when they add together the number of boys and girls present and can sort objects correctly by colour and type. They confidently complete jigsaws of increasing difficulty, recognise a number of familiar shapes and correctly use positional language.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children have good opportunities to explore and investigate a variety of materials and build constructively with a range of resources. They have opportunities to learn about nature and living things by growing plants in the outdoor area and about the wider world through celebrating festivals such as the Chinese New Year. They have regular access to the group's computer and know how to use this but are not able to do so comfortably as it is not presented at an appropriate height.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good All children move confidently around the premises demonstrating good body control and co-ordination. They can successfully negotiate a pathway when running and chasing and move in various ways when taking part in racing games. They have access to a variety of large equipment to develop their climbing, balancing, catching and throwing skills and their fine motor skills are developing well. They use equipment such as pencils, paint brushes and rolling pins effectively and with very good control.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children have good opportunities to use a variety of resources and learn different techniques during focused craft activities. They explore colour and texture as they work creatively on a large scale to make friezes to link in with topics. They have regular music sessions with a visiting musician when they use a range of instruments and they express themselves well during both imaginative and small world play. However, children do not use their independent creativity regularly enough.

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

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and 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

• provide more opportunities for children to make choices and direct their own play during the rising fives sessions • ensure the computer is presented at an appropriate height to enable the children to use this comfortably • provide more continuous opportunities for children to use their independent creativity, use mark making for a purpose and use this to support their play and learning in other areas.

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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 Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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STANDARD 1 - SUITABLE PERSON

Adults providing day care, looking after children or having unsupervised access to them are suitable to do so.

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STANDARD 2 - ORGANISATION

The registered person meets required adult: child ratios, ensures that training and qualifications requirements are met and organises space and resources to meet the children's needs effectively.

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STANDARD 3 - CARE, LEARNING AND PLAY

The registered person meets children's individual needs and promotes their welfare. They plan and provide activities and play opportunities to develop children's emotional, physical, social and intellectual capabilities.

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STANDARD 4 - PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

The premises are safe, secure and suitable for their purpose. They provide adequate space in an appropriate location, are welcoming to children and offer access to the necessary facilities for a range of activities which promote their development.

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STANDARD 5 - EQUIPMENT

Furniture, equipment and toys are provided which are appropriate for their purpose and help to create an accessible and stimulating environment. They are of suitable design and condition, well maintained and conform to safety standards.

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STANDARD 6 - SAFETY

The registered person takes positive steps to promote safety within the setting and on outings and ensures proper precautions are taken to prevent accidents.

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STANDARD 7 - HEALTH

The registered person promotes the good health of children and takes positive steps to prevent the spread of infection and appropriate measures when they are ill.

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STANDARD 8 - FOOD AND DRINK

Children are provided with regular drinks and food in adequate quantities for their needs. Food and drink is properly prepared, nutritious and complies with dietary and religious requirements.

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STANDARD 9 - EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

The registered person and staff actively promote equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice for all children.

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NEEDS AND DISABILITIES)

The registered person is aware that some children may have special needs and is

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NEEDS AND DISABILITIES)

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 proactive in ensuring that appropriate action can be taken when such a child is identified or admitted to the provision. Steps are taken to promote the welfare and development of the child within the setting in partnership with the parents and other relevant parties.

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STANDARD 11 - BEHAVIOUR

Adults caring for children in the provision are able to manage a wide range of children's behaviour in a way which promotes their welfare and development.

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STANDARD 12 - WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS AND CARERS

The registered person and staff work in partnership with parents and to meet the needs of the children, both individually and as a group. Information is shared.

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STANDARD 13 - CHILD PROTECTION

The registered person complies with local child protection procedures approved by the Area Child Protection Committee and ensures that all adults working and looking after children in the provision are able to put the procedures into practice.

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STANDARD 14 - DOCUMENTATION

Records, policies and procedures which are required for the efficient and safe management of the provision, or to promote the welfare, care and learning of children are maintained. Records about individual children are shared with the child's parent.

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STANDARD 14 - DOCUMENTATION

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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