Great Dalby Pre-School Playgroup

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 27/01/2003 Inspector Name Alison Edwards

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SETTING DETAILS

Setting Name Great Dalby Pre-School Playgroup Setting Address The Village Hall Melton Mowbray Leicestershire LE14 2HA

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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

Great Dalby Pre-School Playgroup is a committee-run group registered to offer sessional day care to 26 children aged from two to under five years of whom not more than 18 are under three years. It offers funded nursery education to three and four year olds and operates during term time between 9.15 am to 12.15 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and from 12.00 noon to 3.00p.m. on Tuesdays. There are currently 28 children on roll of whom six are funded three-year-olds and two are funded four- year-olds. No children currently attend with English as an additional language or with identified special educational needs. The playgroup operates from the main hall of the single-storey village hall in Great Dalby with use of male, female & disabled toilets, and staff access to kitchen, utility and store rooms. There is a grassed area behind the hall for outdoor play. Staff also take children to the primary school across the road to use outdoor playground equipment

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Information about the setting

. There are currently seven regular staff working with children. The group leader holds a currently recognised Level 3 childcare qualification and the deputy holds a secondary teaching qualification. Two staff are currently undertaking early years training at Level 2. Three staff hold current first aid qualifications. The playgroup receives support from a mentor teacher from the Leicestershire Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership.

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How effective is the nursery education?

Teaching and learning is generally good with some areas of weakness.The programme of activities incorporates a variety of learning methods, both adult-led and child-initiated, offering opportunities to support children's development.Staff share new knowledge and skills with each other through an informal cascade training programme, and assessments of children show sound awareness of the stepping stones in children's learning. However,long-term planning does not effectively identify how all areas of learning will receive balanced coverage and short-term planning does not take enough account of observations and assessment to ensure planned activities and experiences meet individual learning needs. Staff do not make best use of resources and daily routines to support children's learning and do not consistently set clear expectations for purposeful activity and appropriate behaviour. The partnership with parents is generally good. Parents receive useful

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How effective is the nursery education?

written information about topics and learning aims through notice boards and newsletters and staff encourage parents to support children's learning through home-based activities including participation in a book-loan scheme. Detailed key-worker assessments offer parents the opportunity to keep well-informed on their children's progress although there are too few planned opportunities for parents to share their own knowledge of their child's development. The leadership and management of the setting is generally good. A staff handbook clearly defines roles and responsibilities and staff and committee show a recognition of the need for on-going professional development However the setting does not yet have adequate systems to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of its nursery education programme

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What is being done well?

Staff help children develop confident and secure relationships in the group Assessments of children's development are thorough and objective and relate closely to the stepping stones Staff provide a range of useful information for parents on planned learning activities and aims Staff make good use of a variety of action rhymes and songs to support different areas of learning

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What needs to be improved?

Effective use of long-term planning to ensure all areas of learning are covered Use of assessments to inform short-term planning to ensure activities are appropriate to children's stage of development Organisation of the session to ensure effective use of time and resources Establishment of clear expectations for purposeful activity and appropriate behaviour Opportunities for children to make use of large equipment

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The setting has made limited progress since the last inspection. Staff have made good progress in developing an effective system to assess children's progress and have established methods to share this with parents. However there has been limited progress in ensuring activities are appropriate to children's age and stage of development since these assessments are not yet effectively used to ensure that short-term planning reflects children's developmental needs. Staff have made good progress in developing their knowledge of the curriculum through attendance at training, but there has been limited progress in developing long-term planning to ensure effective coverage of all early learning goals. There has also been limited progress in improving the organisation of the setting and in promoting appropriate behaviour.

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Staff help children to separate from carers with confidence and to build secure relationships within the group. A variety of planned role-play activities helps children develop their imagination and ability to co-operate with peers. However staff do not consistently set clear expectations for purposeful activity and appropriate behaviour, or encourage children to develop their skills and independence through daily routines.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children enjoy using songs & action rhymes to support their learning in maths and knowledge and understanding of the world. Staff use non-fiction books to support learning and help children extend their vocabulary by planned introduction and use of new topic words. However, children have too few opportunities to write for different purposes and staff miss opportunities to link sounds with letters and build children's awareness of rhyme and alliteration.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children confidently participate in a good range of action rhymes and songs using number names and counting to 10. Staff encourage children to consider shape and space in planned topic activities and use of small world toys such as dolls houses. Children have too few opportunities to compare numbers or undertake practical calculation in planned activities or in daily routines.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good A range of planned activities and games helps children explore and investigate the properties of objects and living things, and effective use of rhymes and songs supports learning about the natural world. However there are insufficient opportunities for children to investigate natural materials, and the presentation of resources does not effectively encourage independent design and construction skills at children's own developmental level.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Significant Weaknesses Children enjoy group action songs and ring games introducing different ways of moving and staff plan and provide a range of activities, including role play, which introduce use of a range of small tools. However there are too few regular planned opportunities for children to use large equipment or develop a sense of space. Resources are not effectively presented to support skilled independent use of tools, equipment and materials.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Adult-led craft activities introduce children to a good range of media and materials but children have too few planned opportunities to explore media and materials to represent their own ideas and experiences and develop their own creative skills. Children have regular planned opportunities to participate in role-play and small-world play.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

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

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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

develop long- and short-term planning to ensure there is balanced coverage of all areas of learning and that planned activities take account of assessment of children's stage of development review use of routines and resources to ensure these actively support children's planned learning and appropriate behaviour

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