Maycroft Primary School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 25/03/2003 Inspector Name Christine Slaney

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SETTING DETAILS

Setting Name Chudleigh Pre-School Rising Fives Setting Address The Community Room, Chudleigh Primary School Chudleigh Devon TQ13 0LS

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Chudleigh Pre-School Committee

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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

Chudleigh Pre-school operates from the Community Room in Chudleigh Primary School and Chudleigh Town Hall in the village of Chudleigh in Devon. The pre-school serves its local community and outlying rural districts. The pre-school is registered for 17 children aged from three to five years in the Community Room and 22 children at the Town Hall site. The older children only attend the Community Room sessions usually in the term before they start school. There are currently a total of 79 children on roll in the two settings. This includes 73 funded three- and four-year-olds. The children attend a variety of sessions. The pre-school supports children with special educational needs. None of the children have English as an additional language. The group is open daily during local school term times with sessions running from 9:15 to 11:45 in the Community Room and 9.30 to 12.00 and 12.30 to 15.00 in the Town Hall. There are a total of 21 part time staff members

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Information about the setting

working with the children, of whom the five supervisors have early years qualifications. The pre-school works closely with the foundation teacher at Chudleigh Primary School and is a member of the Pre school Learning Alliance. The pre-school is managed by a parents’ committee.

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How effective is the nursery education?

The nursery education is of a high quality and the children are making very good progress towards the early learning goals in all areas of learning. The pre school has continued to review develop and evaluate its planning and assessment sytstems. It has devised an effective method which is likely to ensure that the early learning goals are met. All six areas are covered in plans and there is good priority given to personal social and emotional development. The quality of teaching and assessment is very good. Staff use an excellent range of appropriate resources well overall, although the organisation of book time could be enhanced. The staff interact sensitively and appropriately with children although children's mathematical skills could be extended further through play. Teaching is likely to ensure children achieve the early learning goals. Leadership and management are very good. Staff and committee members are aware of their roles and responsibilities. The pre-school is

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How effective is the nursery education?

very well organised. The pre-school has developed effective ways of monitoring and evaluating performance. These then inform planning. The pre-school has a very good partnership with parents/carers, which is likely to contribute to the children attainment of the early learning goals. Parents are given helpful information regarding the planned educational programme. They are offered home visits prior to admission.

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What is being done well?

The pre-school continues to review develop and evaluate its planning and assessment sytstems. Very good priority is given to personal social and emotional development. Children are very confident and are eager to learn. The quality of teaching and assessment is very good and staff use an excellent range of appropriate resources. The quality of leadership is very good and staff and committee members are aware of their roles and responsibilities. The pre-school has a very good partnership with parents/carers and are given helpful and frequent information regarding the planned educational programme. Staff are motivated and very committed to providing quality care, they regularly meet to plan and review their work.

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What needs to be improved?

1.Organisation of book time to further enhance children's enjoyment of books 2.The use of naturally occurring opportunities to further extend children mathematical understanding.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The pre-school has made very good progress with the action plan made in response to the previous inspection. There are many more varied and exciting opportunities for children to use their imagination as they draw and paint. There are many excellent examples of observational drawings. The pre-school has increased its selection of mathematical games and a themed number line is used at child height. Mathematical concepts are monitored through play. There is an increase in the use of simple technological equipment in each session. This includes the use of programmable tills and calculators The pre-school has continued to develop and review its record keeping to ensure parents have regular opportunities to contribute to the assessment system

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children are making very good progress towards the early learning goals in the area of personal, social and emotional development. Children are very confident and are eager to learn. They enthusiastically choose activities and try out new experiences. They display very good levels of behaviour and are polite. Children work well in large and small groups. Staff are very skilful at encouraging personal independence eg opening lunch boxes by themselves.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children's progress in communication language and literacy is very good. Children have very good communication skills. They listen exceptionally well and are very attentive at story time. Children use the excellent role play resources well to explore language in real and imaginary situations. They enjoy looking at books. However, consideration should be given to the oranisation of booktime to enhance this further.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children's progress in mathematics is very good. There are good opportunities to use numbers in familiar situations and children's responses to numbers and counting is good. The use of naturally occurring opportunities to further develop and extend child mathematical understanding would enhance children's learning. Children demonstrate good understanding of heavy and light and explore the sand tray with enthusiasm. They use with confidence words like over, under and through in everyday play

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children's progress in knowledge and understanding of the world is very good. The excellent resources stimulate children's learning and develop their curiosity. This enables children to extend their knowledge and understanding of the world they live in. They explore meaningful technology, eg a programmable till, with enthusiasm. Children produce excellent observational drawings/paintings, which represent the town centre they live in. They use natural and plastic resources to recreate their own.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children's progress in the physical development is very good. Children have a very good awareness of space and learn to move safely and with confidence. They use a range of large and small equipment indoors/outdoors and demonstrate very good coordination, control and are skilful with balls. They negotiate space well. Children use a range of tools with very good control developing their fine motor skills well. Everyday incidents are used to good effect. Staff encourage a good awareness health.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children's progress in creative development is very good. Children enjoy imaginative role-play in the various areas. They use their imaginations extremely well. The resources are very well thought out and adults are deployed effectively to aid learning. Children experience a wide range of different materials including spicy dough, paint and sand. Everyday activities are used well to enable a good understanding of colours and texture. Children spontaneously sing simple songs from memory.

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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 high quality. Children are making very 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

Review the oraganistion of booktime to ensure that it enhances all children's enjoyment of books Make more use of naturally occurring opportunities to extend children's mathematical understanding as they play.

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