Heanor Pre-School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 15/10/2004 Inspector Name Sharon Dickinson

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Heanor Pre-School Playgroup Setting Address Heanor Baptist Church Derby Road Heanor Derbyshire DE75 7QL

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Heanor Pre-school Plagroup 1021801

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Heanor Pre-school Plagroup Address Heanor Baptist Church Derby Road Heanor Derbyshire DE75 7QL

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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

Heanor Pre-School Playgroup opened in about 1982. It operates from the main hall within Heanor Baptist Church in the town of Heanor in Derbyshire. The playgroup serves the local community and surrounding area.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 44 children from 2 years to 5 years on the register. This includes 23 funded three-year-olds and 2 funded four-year-olds. Children attend a variety of sessions. No children with additional needs or for whom English is an additional language currently attend the setting. The sessional day care opens five days a week during school term times only. Sessions are from 09:30 until 12:00 and 12:30 until 15:00. There are five members of staff working with the children, of whom three hold early years qualifications and two are working towards qualifications. The setting receives support from the Derbyshire Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership and are members of the Pre School Learning Alliance.

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How good is the Day Care?

Heanor Pre-School Playgroup provides good care for children. The setting has a high commitment to its own improvement, staff update their professional knowledge through on-going training. The pre-school is well-organised and staff are deployed effectively enabling them to provide focused support to children's play and learning. Children's art work is displayed creating a welcoming atmosphere. The setting has a exciting range of play equipment, allowing children to access a wide range of interesting and fun activities. Effective policies and clear procedures underpin the smooth running of the setting, though the complaints procedure does not include contact details of the regulator. Staff are vigilant about children's health and safety. A varied snack is provided in-line with children's preferences and parental wishes, though fresh drinking water is not

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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 readily available to children throughout the sessions. Staff have a good awareness of children's individual needs, all children are included and have equal opportunities to enhance their learning and play. Staff are aware of their duties and responsibilities in relation to the protection of children. Children relate well to adults and peers. Staff effectively support children during practical activities helping them extend and express their ideas and thinking. Sessions are well organised, children are interested in the activities presented and are well occupied. Staff create good opportunities for the children to build their confidence and play co-operatively. They use stage appropriate strategies to support

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How good is the Day Care?

and encourage the children which are consistently applied, consequently children's behaviour is very good. Good relationships with parents enables effective channels of communication. Parents receive useful information on forthcoming topics and events and have regular opportunities to discuss their child's care and welfare with the staff.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection the setting agreed to ensure that staff members have been suitably vetted. This has been addressed, there is now evidence available of who has been vetted, and all new staff are required to undergo appropriate vetting procedures.

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What is being done well?

• The setting has a high commitment to its own improvement, with all the staff holding or working towards early years qualifications and regularly attending training events. • Children have formed secure relationships with each other and the staff. Staff know individual children well and liaise closely with parents to ensure that all children's needs are met. • The setting has a exciting range of play equipment, which enhanced by the staffs input allows the children to access a wide range of interesting and fun activities. • Staff support children well during practical activities and extend their learning through effective questioning. They are good role models and encourage the children to play co-operatively together. • Staff have good relationships with the parents, who receive useful information on forthcoming topic and events. Parents are regularly able to discuss their child's care and welfare with the staff.

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What needs to be improved?

• children's access to fresh drinking water • the complaints procedure, so that it provides the regulators name and contact

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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 details.

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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 8 Ensure fresh drinking water is available to the children at all times. 12 Ensure that the complaints procedure names the regulatory body and provides their contact details.

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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?

Heanor Pre-School Playgroup offers a welcoming and well-organised learning environment where children feel happy and secure. Overall, children make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Quality of teaching is generally good. Sessions are highly organised with useful resources acquired to extend topics. Staff have a good awareness of the early learning goals. Children are generally well supported and staff give good levels of encouragement and interaction, but during a balancing activity children do not receive sufficient opportunities to develop their skills. Although planning is generally well balanced there are some inconsistencies and there is limited evidence on the full range of activities that are available to the children beyond the focused activity. The assessment system for recording children's development is effective and used well to offer suitable challenges to children. Effective systems are in place to provide

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How effective is the nursery education?

appropriate support for children with special educational needs. Partnership with parents is generally good. Staff have formed good relationships with parents. Useful information is made available to parents on planned topics and the early learning goals. Parents have opportunities to chat to the staff about their child's care and welfare at the start and end of sessions, though parents do not have regular opportunities to share nor contribute to their child's assessment records. Leadership and management is generally good. Planning is completed by the whole staff group. Staff have good information on the forthcoming topics, their roles and responsibilities. The setting has informal procedure for evaluating it own strengths and weaknesses through the regular staff and committee meetings. Planning has not been reviewed so inconsistencies and poor links between activities and learning objectives have not been identified. Good links have been developed with the Early

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How effective is the nursery education?

Years Development and Childcare Partnership.

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What is being done well?

• Children are outgoing, they speak with confidence during group discussions and readily suggest their own ideas. They are making secure relationships with the staff and peers. • Children are interested in the activities provided, concentrating for extended periods as they investigate the autumnal objects and learn about hedgehogs and squirrels during valuable hands on experiences. Staff actively encourage children to examine and find out more about the objects. • Children are developing a useful knowledge of letter sounds and the setting successfully shares the letter of the week information with parents so that they are able to support and be involved in their children's learning.

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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 • Children have good opportunities to use numbers and mathematical language. They are able to give amount values to written numerals and complete simple addition tasks. • The assessment system for recording children's development is effective, it is regularly updated and helps staff identify areas were children need further support and encouragement.

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What needs to be improved?

• opportunities for children to experiment with design and joining techniques, and individually select their own creative resources • staff deployment during large group activities so that the children are well supported, have good opportunities to gain confidence with new skills and are suitably occupied • planning so that the full range of activities provided is evidenced, that all stepping stones are covered and there is consistency within the planning between the long term, medium term and the recorded focused activities • opportunities for parents to be involved in their child's assessment records, so that they can regularly feed information in and receive updates on their child's progress

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The setting has made generally good progress since the last inspection. Children's word recognition is developing through the use of name cards at snack time. Staff have also labelled some objects around the room but children's attention is not being drawn to these. Staff have reviewed children's progress records which now contain a valuable range of evidence that clearly records the progress children are making against all six areas of learning. The setting has introduced differentiation into it's focused activity sheets but this is not specific and tends to rely on staff using a more challenging range of language rather than suggest effective ways that older children can be challenged and their learning extended.

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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 interested in the activities available to them, with both three and four-year-olds playing for extended periods. Children are comfortable expressing their ideas and confidently interact, sharing their experiences and knowledge from different parts of their lives. Younger children who overcome their nervousness to stroke the squirrels show delight and pride in their achievement. Children are developing independence skills and undertake some routine activities on their own.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children speak clearly and communicate needs well using a wide range of vocabulary. Some older children write familiar letters independently and younger children are suitably supported in their progress towards this. All children are engaged in activities that require hand to eye coordination. Older children are developing a good knowledge of letter sounds and are beginning to link these with initial sounds in words. They understand that print carries meaning and select books independently.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children are count confidently, they are developing a good knowledge of written numbers and can give amount values to numerals. Children have a secure understanding of colour, shape and size and use these skills to sort objects successfully and create patterns. Staff create suitable opportunities for children to problem solve and use mathematical language. Children have opportunities to record mathematical data in simple chart format.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children use their senses through a wide range of interesting activities such as investigating autumnal objects. They have good opportunities to explore their own and others cultures and beliefs through topic and group discussions. Children construct with imagination using a wide range of construction toys. Although IT equipment is used by the children there are no learning objectives set for the activity as it does not appear in planning.

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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: Generally Good Children have access to a useful range of equipment to develop their physical skills such as throwing and catching, though poor organisation of a balancing activity lead to children having limited access to equipment and little time to develop confidence and consolidate skills. Children have regular access to a wide range of tools which they are learning to use safely. They have opportunities to find out about caring for their bodies through the daily routine and topic work.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children explore different textures through a variety of tactile and malleable activities. A craft trolley has recently been introduced though the children are not using this resource. Children have good opportunities to develop their imaginary play, role play is well supported by staff who use effective questioning to extend the children's learning. They have suitable opportunities to move to music during movement time or through dance, and make and use instruments to create their own music.

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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

• Improve planning so it is reflective of activities provided, consistent and covers all aspects of learning. • Develop opportunities for children to select their own creative resources and experiment with design. • Provide opportunities for parents to share and contribute to children's assessment records. • Revise staff deployment during large group activities so that children are well supported enabling them to gain confidence with new skills.

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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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