Accrington and Rossendale College

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 02/02/2005 Inspector Name Susan McCourt

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Amigos Multi-Cultural Pre-School Setting Address Cornerstone Community Centre 1 Church Road Hove East Sussex BN3 2FL

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Amigos Multi-cultural Pre-school

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Amigos Multi-cultural Pre-school Address Cornerstone Community Centre Church Road Hove East Sussex BN3 2FL

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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

Amigos Multi-cultural Pre-school was registered for sessional care in 1993. The setting is located in a Sure Start area and based in a community centre close to Hove town centre. It is open to members of the local community and is open from 09:30 to 12:00, Monday to Friday, term times only. The preschool is registered to care for 18 children from 2 to 5 years and there are currently 23 on roll. Of these, 16 receive funding for nursery education. The preschool supports children with English as an additional language and those with special needs. The preschool uses one room on the ground floor of the community centre with an adjoining kitchen and two toilets. For two days a week they have access to a larger adjoining room for physical play. There is no outdoor area. There are four staff, three of whom are qualified for their role and one who is currently training. The preschool receives support from the Early Years Development

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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?

The provision for nursery education at Amigos Multicultural pre-school is acceptable and is of high quality. Children are making very good progress towards the early learning goals in all six areas of learning. The quality of teaching is very good. Staff have set up an excellent learning environment where children can set their own challenges and persist in order to achieve them, with adults on hand to support where necessary. All staff contribute to plans which are based on the stepping stones of the Foundation Stage. Key-worker staff make notes and observations of their children to monitor their progress and organise specific learning activities on two days of the week. There are clear links between the assessments made and the plans for keyworker activities, but individual children's progress is not specifically referred to in the general weekly plans. The leadership and management is very good. The committee is very supportive of

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How effective is the nursery education?

the staff team and offers regular appraisals. The aims of the group are clearly reflected in the group's practice and the values are shared by the committee, staff and parents. Staff are supported to develop their qualifications and they use the support of outside agencies to great effect. The partnership with parents is very good. Parents can be involved at every level of the group as they are on the committee and can volunteer in the group. Weekly plans are posted on the notice board to inform parents of activities and parents are invited to termly meetings with key workers to discuss their child's progress. Parents also organise activities for children to learn about their respective cultures, including food, clothing, music and festivals.

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What is being done well?

• The preschool has respect for people and other cultures as its main aim. This is implicit in everything that the children do and is a shared commitment from the committee, staff and parents. Children are able to greet each other in different languages and see a variety of cultures in meaningful ways as they are part of a diverse community. Resources are well-used to discuss how different children live around the world as well as in the local area. • The learning environment is excellent. A good variety of interesting play experiences are on offer every day and children are free to choose between them. Children are very independent within the setting and can easily access further resources if their play takes them in any direction. Staff are on hand to offer suggestions or help them achieve their plans. The learning environment ensures that children who are less confident or less verbal can still arrange

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What is being done well?

their play as they would like, because the resources are at hand. • Children have numerous opportunities to write for a variety of purposes. The

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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 writing table has cards, notepads, diaries and envelopes as well as a good selection of pens and pencils. Children often use this table to make cards for someone or write notes. Children also have opportunities to write in other areas such as at the craft table and in the home corner. This ensures that children see writing as having different purposes and as an ordinary daily activity.

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What needs to be improved?

• the links between children's assessments and the weekly planning

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The improvement since the last inspection is very good. There were four key issues raised at the last inspection to do with the structure of the routine and the organisation of resources. The staff team have created and excellent learning environment that enables children to be independent in their play, increasing the opportunities to write their own names on their work, helping to tidy up and reducing the amount of time that staff spend in changing resources and activities. The use of an extra room for two sessions has increased the amount of time children have available for large physical play and on other days, activities are included either as part of the learning environment or at the end of the session.

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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: Very Good Staff give children excellent support to feel settled and secure in the preschool. Children are independent in their play and stay at their activities for lengthy periods. They persist when learning new skills and ask staff for help appropriately. They learn to share, take turns and co-operate, negotiating with each other successfully. The children build good friendships and show empathy for each other and for story characters. Children help to tidy up and learn to take care of personal hygiene.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children are engaged in a variety of interesting activities which helps staff to naturally expand children's vocabulary. Children chat with staff and each other and listen well, sharing their experiences. Children learn to link sounds with letters, recognising their own name on pegs and at snack time. Children enjoy books and stories, taking part with the use of simple props. Children have lots of opportunities to write around the room, and enjoy writing notes or creating their own books.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children can count up to 10 and beyond, and can recognise numerals. they learn about ordinal numbers and can match objects to people. Children learn simple calculations in practical activities such as seeing if there are enough breadsticks for everyone at snack time. Children use mathematical equipment in the home corner, floor play and table toys, learning about shape, pattern and size. They learn about capacity and weight in sand play and cooking activities. They compare numbers when tallying.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children use an excellent variety of natural, made and recycled materials in their craft activities and on the interest table or feely box. Children make a variety of objects to their own design. They learn to care for living things by planting seeds. Children use the computer and a good variety of technological toys. They plan journeys to local shops and go on outings. Children learn about an excellent variety of cultures in meaningful ways, looking at clothing, music, festivals and food.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

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

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children learn to throw, catch, climb, balance and dance. They enjoy action songs and play activities using a large lycra square. Children share the space well and take turns in the home corner to ensure that it is not crowded. Children learn about how their bodies work in specific projects or as a part of routine activities. Children learn to manipulate a variety of small objects such as glitter and coriander seeds. They learn to use scissors and other tools safely

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children make paintings, pictures and craft objects, from their own designs and imagination or from life such as painting flowers. They can easily access resources and all their work is valued by staff. Children enjoy singing and usually have musical accompaniment on different instruments from a member of staff. Children can beat the rhythm of their names and enjoy music from around the world. They take a huge interest in role play, sustaining co-operative play for lengthy periods.

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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 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

There are no significant weaknesses to report, but considerations should be given to improving the following: • develop the links between children's assessments and the weekly planning 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

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

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