Pheasey Park Farm Children's Centre

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 11/01/2005 Inspector Name Christine Holmes

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Pheasey Park Farm Setting Address Pheasey Park Farm Primary School Wimperis Way Birmingham West Midlands B43 7LH

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name Pheasey Park Farm Home School Association LTD 5097560

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Pheasey Park Farm Home School Association LTD Address Wimperis Way Great Barr Birmingham West Midlands B43 7LH

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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

Pheasey Park Farm Play Care is run by Pheasey Park Farm Home School Association and operates from Pheasey Park Farm Primary School, Pheasey, Great Barr. It has been open since 2001 and serves children and families in the local community but children attend from all over the borough and surrounding areas. There are currently 150 children from 3 to 8 years on roll. This includes 25 funded 3-year-olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The group supports children with special needs and who speak English as an additional language. Play Care opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 8:00 until 17:30. Four part-time staff work with the funded children. All have early years qualifications to NVQ level 2 or 3.

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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?

Pheasey Park Farm Play Care offers good quality provision overall which enables children to make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Provision for their physical development is particularly well planned and children make very good progress in this area. The quality of teaching is generally good. A consistent routine is followed that helps children to become settled and confident. Children's behaviour is managed well and staff interact well with them and are interested in what they say and do. Staff have a good understanding of the Foundation Stage of learning and plan activities to cover all areas of learning. The adult-focused activities are adapted to suit children of differing abilities and learning intentions are identified and evaluated. Staff make observations of these activities, but they are not yet using this information to assess children's progress through the stepping-stones and to plan the next steps in

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How effective is the nursery education?

children's learning. Resources are not used effectively to enable child-initiated activities and the lack of ICT resources limits children's knowledge of technology. Leadership and management are generally good. All staff work well together and are aware of their roles and responsibilities. They are committed to professional development through attending relevant training courses. Procedures to monitor and evaluate the nursery education are not yet rigorous enough to effectively identify the group’s strengths and weaknesses. Partnership with parents is good. Open and friendly relationships exist between staff and parents. Parents receive information about the setting, its routines and activities provided and are kept up to date about the group's activities through regular verbal contact and via the notice board. Arrangements are not yet fully effective to ensure parents are informed about their children's progress in relation to the early learning

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How effective is the nursery education?

goals and how they can be involved in their learning.

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What is being done well?

• Staff know the children well and are interested in what they say and do. They interact well with the children, introduce new vocabulary to them and ask them questions to challenge their thinking. • Children's behaviour is good. Staff use effective strategies to teach children to share, take turns and show care and concern for others. • Good planning and good facilities mean that children have very good opportunities for physical development throughout the year. • Children are involved in a varied range of appropriate activities that involves them in sustained play.

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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

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What needs to be improved?

• the opportunities for children to take initiative in choosing activities and selecting resources for themselves • the systems used to inform planning and inform parents of children's progress and next steps in learning • the resources to support children's learning in information and communication technology • the system to monitor and evaluate the quality of 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: Generally Good Children are confident to seek out known adults for support and to share experiences. They are developing good relationships with other children and initiate interactions well. Behaviour is good and children respond well to the boundaries set. Their understanding of the need to share and take turns is developing well. Children are interested and motivated to learn and try new activities, but independence in selecting and carrying out activities of their choice is not being developed.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good All children take part in a wide variety of activities, which develops their listening and language skills. They are beginning to confidently communicate ideas and feelings and use speech to explore real and imagined experiences. An understanding that print is used to communicate is not developing well as children have limited opportunities to take part in activities such as recognising their own names, making marks with meaning in print and linking sounds to letters.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good All children take part in activities which develop their understanding of number, such as singing action number rhymes. They are beginning to count confidently up to ten and beyond. However more able children are not challenged enough to use numbers to solve practical problems, or to use calculation in a variety of practical situations. Children's ability to recognise and match shapes is progressing well. They are beginning to use mathematical vocabulary correctly, such as big and little.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children's curiosity of their environment and features of the natural world is stimulated through regular outdoor activities. They are beginning to develop a sense of time and place and can predict the day of the week. Children design and construct using a variety of methods, although the tools required are selected by staff hindering children's ability to use new and refine existing assembling techniques. A lack of resources limits children's understanding of ICT.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children are involved in well-planned daily physical play sessions, in and outdoors. They are developing a good awareness of space and judge space well in relation to their own bodies and equipment. They explore ways of moving over, under and through equipment using crawling, sliding and rolling techniques. Control over objects is good and children are able to kick, throw and roll balls and other equipment well. Children are developing a good awareness of their own bodies.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good The children enjoy simple songs and rhymes and they join in enthusiastically. They are developing an awareness of colour, texture and media through collage, painting and drawing. Individual creativity is not developing sufficiently as craft activities are usually adult-led and directed. Children engage in imaginative play with small world equipment, but their imagination is not stimulated by the poorly presented role-play area.

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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

• structure the environment to enable children to take initiative in choosing activities and selecting resources for themselves • use observations to make assessments of individual children's needs and learning and use this information to plan the next steps for children to progress and as information for parents • provide resources to support children's learning in information and communication technology • devise a system to rigorously monitor and evaluate the quality of nursery education.

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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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