Cropredy Pre-School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 29/06/2004 Inspector Name Claire Elizabeth Johnson

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Cropredy Playgroup Setting Address Cropredy Primary School Station Road, Cropredy Banbury Oxfordshire OX17 1PU

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Cropredy Playgroup

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Cropredy Playgroup Address Cropredy Primary School Station Road, Cropredy Banbury Oxfordshire OX17 1PU

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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

Cropredy Playgroup has been registered at the school premises since 1993. It operates within two rooms at the village school. The premises are located in a rural setting near to open farmland. It serves the village of Cropredy and several other surrounding villages. There are currently 29 children aged from 3 to 5 years on roll. This includes 12 nursery education funded 3 year olds and 4 funded 4 year olds. The group currently supports children with special needs and there are no children attending who speak English as an additional language. The group currently operates 4 mornings a week, Monday-Friday, during term time only. The number of mornings the group opens vary according to numbers of children on roll. Sessions are from 09.00 – 12.00 and Tuesday until 14.30 or older children preparing for school. Three full time staff work with the children. Over half of the staff have early years qualifications to NVQ level 2 or 3. The setting receives support from the Early Years

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Information about the setting

Development and Childcare Partnership. The playgroup has strong links with the school.

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How good is the Day Care?

Cropredy playgroup provides satisfactory care for children. The group is well resourced to provide a bright and stimulating environment for children. Staff work well together to provide a good range of planned activities, which are interesting and exciting for the children. The outside area is well utilised to provide an environment which is rich in learning opportunities. The committee are aware of their responsibilities and support the staff in the running of the group. Some documentation is lacking sufficient detail. Staff and management have drawn up comprehensive risk assessments to ensure

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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 children are cared for safely. The children are learning good hygiene practices, the group is organised to allow children to take responsibility for their own hygiene routines. The recording of accidents ensures parents are kept well informed, however, not all consents have yet been obtained to act in an emergency. Staff are aware of their responsibilities when managing child protection issues but there is insufficient detail of group procedures and policy. Children are interested in the activities, they move freely around the room making choices in their friendship groups and play. Children are aware of staff expectations regarding behaviour and respond quickly to staff requests. Children are polite, considerate of others and well behaved. Staff manage behaviour very well. Children

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How good is the Day Care?

are learning to value others but the environment is not sufficiently resourced to promote cultural diversity or to make children from other cultures feel included. Parents are kept well informed about the day to day activities undertaken by their children. Parents are clear about the roles of the committee members and know who to contact to discuss their child's development. A rota system provides the opportunity for parents to involve themselves in the group and to meet with their child's key worker to discuss any issues. Parents report staff as being caring, warm and friendly.

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What is being done well?

• Children are well behaved. Children are clear about staff expectations relating to behaviour, they respond quickly to requests to tidy up and join in with enthusiasm. They are polite to each other and are very well mannered. • Staff provide a well balanced range of resources and activities for children to select from freely. An interest table containing large snails, growing beans and snail eggs are supported by reference books where children explore to further develop their knowledge for themselves. Children talk with enthusiasm about the topic they have covered, their involvement in the care of the snails and the process of planting and growing beans. • Parents share good relationships with staff. They are kept well informed through notice boards, information folders and the opportunity to come in and spend time in the group. Planning is on display and newsletters keep parents up to date about topics being covered and how they can involve themselves

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What is being done well?

further in their child's playgroup experiences. • The environment is bright and stimulating. The outside is rich in learning opportunities; children make good use of the school facilities enjoying large well-resourced areas where they practice their physical skills and the value of being part of a team. The garden is a shared facility that the children contribute to; they grow plants from seed in the classroom and plant in the garden and help to care for the outside plot.

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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

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What needs to be improved?

• child protection, insufficient statements of policy and procedure are held to provide guidance to staff when managing a child protection concern • equal opportunities, children are provided with limited opportunities to explore and develop understanding of cultural diversity and differences. Resources are limited to the use of books • documentation, the complaints procedure and behaviour policy contain insufficient detail • health, consents have not been obtained to seek emergency medical treatment/advice.

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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 13 Provide a written statement of child protection arrangements based on ACPC procedures. 01/10/2004

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by the time of the next inspection

Std Recommendation 9 Devise an equal opportunities policy that provides detail of how the group is going to promote positive images of other cultures and ethnicity to ensure an inclusive environment for all children. 7 Ensure permissions have been obtained from all parents to seek emergency medical advice and treatment. 11 Extend written statement for behaviour to include management of bullying.

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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?

Cropredy Playgroup provides good quality nursery education overall which enables children to make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Provision for their personal, social and emotional, creative and physical development are very good. Resources and the presentation of activities to develop children's scientific and listening skills are particularly good. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff are skilled at managing large group sessions and are creative in the provision of activities where children are developing the skills of maintaining attention and concentration. Planning for the foundation stage curriculum is good in most areas but use of information technology is limited. Children are learning the basic skills of counting and making marks but both activities lack opportunity to practice and further develop these skills. Staff manage children's profiles but observation and assessment is not used effectively to inform

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How effective is the nursery education?

and update children's records or to inform future planning. Leadership and management are generally good. There is a strong staff team who are well supported by the committee. The management and staff are committed to making the children's transition from playgroup to school a smooth and positive experience. The management are committed to the further improvement and development of the group but the implementation of the action plan following the last inspection has not been effectively monitored in all instances. Partnership with parents and carers is generally good. Parents are kept very well informed both about the topics their children are covering and also of the policies and procedures, which underpin the running of the group. Parents contribute to a rota and use this time to speak informally with staff about their child's progress. When children become rising fives there is increased opportunity for parents to

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How effective is the nursery education?

discuss their child's progress at parental consultations and leaver’s reports.

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What is being done well?

• Staff are skilled in managing large group teaching sessions. Children sit, concentrate and listen attentively in large group. They are excited by the learning experiences and respond enthusiastically to any questions asked. Children learning about floating and sinking and use their scientific knowledge when making predictions about which was going to float or sink. When learning new vocabulary staff ensure children have an understanding of a word by asking them to describe what was happening in their own words. • Resources provided for children enable them to further their understanding by providing hands on experiences. They learn about the natural world, visit the interest table to feed and care for their giant snails, they speak knowledgeably about the care required and life cycles. Children have extended their indoor growing activities and planted vegetables in the school

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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 garden. Children readily use available reference books to increase their knowledge. • Children are fostering a love of books. Children make several visits each session to the book area to select and share books with friends. Children are confident when handling books. They are reading using picture clues and in some instances by identifying key words. When sharing books children take turns in being the reader and support each other when they are uncertain about what comes next.

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What needs to be improved?

• information technology, increase and develop the curriculum for information technology to provide the opportunity for children to develop skills when operating equipment • observation and assessment, increase use of observation and assessment to monitor the children's progress through the stepping stones and to inform future planning • mathematical development, increase provision for children to use number to add, subtract and to calculate through everyday play opportunities • communication, language and literacy, increase opportunity for children to write for a variety of purposes, for example in the role play area.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Generally good progress has been made since the last inspection. Management and staff have introduced a number of effective measures to address the key issues raised at the last inspection. A major improvement has been in the planning and implementation of the curriculum to provide increased opportunities for children to participate in music, movement and dance. Children now have regular sessions arranged in the school hall and resources to deliver the curriculum have been increased. Children are now developing the skills of moving with control and co-ordination in response to music. A second issue addressed was the monitoring of the effectiveness of teaching and identifying training needs. An informal system has been established where observations are made of practices and feedback given. Training needs have been identified and staff have attended numerous courses to increase their knowledge of delivering the foundation stage curriculum. The planned curriculum is now an

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What has improved since the last inspection?

interesting and exciting programme for children to follow. The third issue was to monitor the system for assessing children's progress and development. Each child now has a foundation stage profile, which is kept updated, and the stepping stones children achieve are recorded. All assessments are made in small group sessions with the key worker. This system is not wholly effective in identifying children's progress across the foundation stage curriculum and their

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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 individual learning needs are not always identified or used to inform future planning.

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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 Children concentrate well. They are confident when speaking in groups and are eager to share ideas. Children are making good relationships with their peers. They share, take turns and have a strong sense of right and wrong. They negotiate with others and offer support in play situations. Children select resources for themselves and are interested in exploring available activities.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children are developing excellent listening skills through a range of well planned activities. They enjoy participating in story sessions and demonstrating their reading skills by using picture clues and rhyme to respond to questions asked by staff. Children are fostering an interest in books, they readily select books to share with others and absorb themselves in the story. Resources are available for children to make marks but there are few activities planned to develop this skill.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children count beyond 10 and practice their counting skills when sharing books with friends. They match numbers of objects to numbers but activities which develop their understanding of using number for addition, subtraction and calculation are limited. Children are learning about positional language through everyday situations where they follow simple instructions. Children use their knowledge of shape when completing puzzles and solving practical problems.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children explore as scientists. The excellent provision of resources and interest tables motivate the children into learning more for themselves. The available outside environment builds on their knowledge of the natural world. When investigating children use their scientific knowledge to make predictions about what happens next. Children are developing a good sense of time; they discuss and sequence future, past and present events. Children's learning in information technology is limited.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children manoeuvre around obstacles and show awareness for others space when using bikes and ride on equipment. Children follow a well planned curriculum for physical development. They are developing good control and co-ordination when using large and small equipment. Children handle tools and materials with growing confidence; staff promotes safety and support children when developing new skills.

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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 Children are exploring using a range of tools and materials. Children explore the properties of the materials using a range of tools to test them. Wall displays demonstrate a range of artwork techniques used by children when using colour and texture. Children sing songs from memory, clap rhythms and enjoy the hands on experience of making sounds using musical instruments. Staff provide good quality activities in which children are developing their senses.

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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

• increase the opportunities for children to use and develop knowledge of information technology • extend assessment programme to ensure it covers the whole curriculum and is used to inform future planning • provide increased opportunities for children to practice and build on their basic skills in handwriting and working with numbers.

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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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