Long Eaton Preschool Playgroup

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 01/12/2004 Inspector Name Susan Riley

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Long Eaton Pre-School Playgroup Setting Address Baptist Church Hall Station Street Long Eaton Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG10 1GJ

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Long Eaton Pre School Playgroup

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Long Eaton Pre School Playgroup Address 305 Bennett Street Long Eaton Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG10 4JB

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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

Long Eaton Pre-School Playgroup is a committee run group. It opened in 1966 and operates from the Long Eaton Baptist Church. It is situated in the town centre. The playgroup serves the local community. A maximum of 26 children may attend the playgroup at any one time. The playgroup is open each weekday during school term time. Sessions are from 09:15 to 11:45. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. There are currently 50 children from 2 to under 5 years on roll. Of these 4 children receive funding for nursery education. The playgroup currently supports a number of children with special educational needs. The playgroup employs nine staff. Six of the staff, including the manager hold appropriate early years qualifications. The setting is a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance and receives support from the Derbyshire Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership.

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How good is the Day Care?

Long Eaton Pre-School Playgroup provides satisfactory quality care for children. There are effective procedures in place for the appointing of staff. The group do not always inform Ofsted of staff changes. There is sufficient staff working directly with children. They organise and use space well to meet children's needs. There are sufficient and suitable toys and resources readily available to the children. Most records and documentation are in place, however effective records of children's attendance, and accidents are not being made. Records are accessible, stored securely, but confidentiality is not always maintained. Staff maintain good supervision of children and show an awareness of safety issues around the setting. The premises are kept secure. Children are encouraged to learn about personal hygiene through the daily routine. Water is readily available for the children and staff are aware of children's individual dietary requirements. All children

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How good is the Day Care?

are valued, included and their needs met. Staff demonstrate an understanding of the

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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 signs and symptoms of child abuse, but not of the procedures to follow. Staff provide a stimulating range and balance of activities and experiences for children, which promotes their all round development. Staff display interest in the children, they play, listen and interact well with them. The staff do not observe and record what all children do, to enable them to effectively plan for the next steps in children's play and learning. Children are well behaved, the staff value and encourage good behaviour, by offering positive praise and encouragement. A warm and welcoming environment is provided for children and parents. Relationships between parents and staff are good. Not all appropriate written consents from parents are in place.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection the group agreed to a number of actions: - to ensure that adults providing day care looking after children were suitable to do so, to ensure that the recording systems for emergency and accident situations was kept, and to ensure that systems for the sharing of information with parents was in place. The group have developed appropriate checking systems for themselves to ensure staff are suitable to care for children. However they are not always informing Ofsted of new staff. Systems have been devised and implemented for the recording of accidents and emergency situations, to ensure parents are fully aware of what happens to their child, however not all accidents are being recorded. Both these have been carried forward from this inspection. The group have made an area for parents with good detailed information about the setting and its practice. This ensures that parents are fully aware of what is happening within the group.

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What is being done well?

• The staff takes positive steps to promote safety within the pre-school by completing a daily risk assessments around the setting. Staff are deployed effectively and are vigilant about children's safety at all times. Premises are kept secure, and effective systems are in place for the safe collection of children. • The pre-school is warm and welcoming to all, children's artwork is displayed, an information area for parents is provided and first names are used by all creating a friendly environment. • There are good relationships in place between staff and parents. Information is shared daily between staff and parents, through discussions, posters and notices around the setting

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What needs to be improved?

• staffs knowledge and understanding of when to inform Ofsted of any changes,

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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 • documentation, with reference to attendance records of children, • systems, for staff to regularly use their observations to plan for the next steps for the children's play, learning and development, • documentation, with reference to gaining written parental permission, for the seeking of any necessary emergency medical advice or treatment, • staffs knowledge and understanding, of keeping a signed record of all accidents to children, • staffs knowledge and understanding of the child protection procedures, • documentation, to ensure confidentiality is maintained at all times.

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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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The Registered Person must take the following actions by the date shown

Std Action Date 1 Ensure Ofsted is informed about any changes to the person in charge or adults working on the premises. 04/01/2005

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The Registered Person must take the following actions by the date shown

7 Ensure a signed record of all accidents to children is maintained, and request written permission from parents for seeking emergency medical advice or treatment. 04/01/2005

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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 2 Ensure that the system of registering children and staff presence shows the hours of attendance. 3 Continue with developing a system for planning and implementing a suitable range of activities for all children, which is appropriate for their stage of development and based on their individual needs 13 Develop staff's knowledge and understanding of child protection procedures in the event of an allegation being made against a staff member whilst a child was in their care. 14 Ensure confidentiality is maintained with reference to accident and incident records.

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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?

Long Eaton Pre-school Playgroup offers a stimulating environment where the children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals. The programmes for personal, social and emotional development and physical and creative development are particularly well taught and the children make very good progress in these areas. The quality of teaching is generally good. The staff's knowledge and understanding of the early learning goals is generally good and often very good. They are dedicated, ethusiastic and highly motivated. They effectively support children with special educational needs. Staff know the children well and are able to extend their learning informally through careful questioning, using high quality resources. The staff have high expectations for the children's behaviour which is very good especially when in small groups. The assessment procedure however, does not yet inform the formal planning for the next steps of the children's learning. The formal

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How effective is the nursery education?

planning procedure does not yet show how the children will be taught in groups according to their ability. Neither does it show an effective balance between activities chosen by the children and those directed by the staff. This means that the children's systematic progress towards the early learning goals is not ensured. The quality of leadership and management are generally good. Senior staff ensure that all staff are involved in the planning procedure. They regularly review the strengths and weaknesses of the setting. Plans are in place to improve their professional development. The staff however, are not routinely deployed to support specific learning opportunities. The partnership with parents and carers is very good. Parents support their child's learning by exchanging information about them informally. Staff give them an overview of the curriculum. Parents encourage their children's enthusiasm for

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How effective is the nursery education?

learning by regularly taking part in the rota system and by joining in their outings.

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What is being done well?

• Staff use excellent strategies to develop the children's confidence and self esteem. Their polite manner supports the development of good behaviour when the children are in small groups. • The children are given many opportunities to learn about festivals from other cultures. • The staff encourage the children's development of language for communication and for thinking by engaging them in role play and by talking about their stories and songs. • The children's development of counting skills is promoted well through the setting's routines and activities.

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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 • The staff plan many opportunities for the children to learn about the natural world. • The children's physical development is promoted through a wide range of exciting opportunities, using high quality resources. • Through the use of an extensive range of stimulating resources the children's creative development is fostered imaginatively. • Children with special educational needs are very well supported and included in all activities. • The leadership and management have built a team of caring, dedicated and highly motivated staff who work well together as a team. Their knowledge and understanding of the early learning goals is often very good. They share the pre-school's vision which is for the children to achieve their potential

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What is being done well?

through the best teaching they can provide.

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What needs to be improved?

• the number of opportunities for children to routinely see positive images of people from different cultures, gender and ability • the number of opportunities for the children to use information technology to support their learning • the formal planning procedure so that it is informed by the assessments of children's progress • and the identification of the next steps for their learning, especially in communication, language and literacy and mathematical development • the assessment procedure so that progress is recorded against all the early learning goals and incorporates information gained from parents.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The children's knowledge of other cultures is now strongly promoted through the careful teaching of a wider range of festivals and special days. The formal assessment sheets are now dated so that they show the children's progress over a period of time. This means that targets for their future learning are identified. At present the staff use these targets informally. They have identified the need to incorporate them into the formal planning procedure.

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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: Very Good The children are confident and have high self-esteem. Staff plan many opportunities for them to build good relationships with each other by taking turns and sharing fairly. Through learning about Christmas, their own birthdays, Diwali and Chinese New Year the children are becoming aware ot their own culture and those of other people. At present there are too few opportunities for them to routinely see positive images of people from different countries, gender and with different abilities.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Through listening to stories, singing rhymes such as 'Incy Wincy Spider' and discussing their activities, the children are given many opportunities to develop their language for communication. Staff engage the children in their imaginative play to extend their ideas and develop their use of language for thinking. At present the planning procedure does not promote the teaching of linking sounds and letters, reading, writing and handwriting through an effective number of directed activities.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good The staff effectively promote the children's skills in counting through planned activities and informal routines. They look at number lines on the wall and count on their fingers when singing counting songs. Opportunities for the children to calculate using addition and subtraction are missed at snack time when the staff provide the correct number of cups and chairs. Shape, space and measure are not routinely taught through directed activities which limits the children's progress in these areas.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Through looking carefully at spiders, butterflies and large African snails the children are finding out about some features of living things. They sow cress and sunflower seeds in compost and watch them grow. They learn about light through watching their foil stars twinkling in a darkened room. They learn to assemble and join recycled boxes when designing and making their models. There are too few planned opportunities for the children to use information technology to support their learning.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good The staff plan many opportunities for them to move confidently and imaginatively through using the climbing frame, slides, steps and trampoline. The children travel around, under and over holes in boxes, on balancing boards and assault course netting.Through the use of construction blocks, dough, knives to spread butter on their sandwiches, staplers, glue spreaders and scissors they are using a wide range of tools and equipment safely and with increasing control.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

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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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good The children have many exciting opportunities to explore colour, texture, shape form and space in two and three dimensions. They mix paint to make a group painting of autumn colours using differently-sized brushes. Through the use of fabric, foil, card, paper and tissue the children make a collage of their mini-beast topic. They use dough, pasta and straws to make hedgehogs. The children explore texture when using dry sand to pour through funnels and when feeling the cornflour and water mixture.

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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

• continue to develop the already detailed assessment procedure so that it includes all the early learning goals, incorporates information gathered from parents and informs the formal planning for the next steps of their learning, according to individual attainment • continue to develop the formal planning procedure so that it shows how the children will be taught all the early learning goals, how staff will be deployed and ensuring an effective balance between activities chosen by the children and those directed by staff.

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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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