Long Melford Church of England Primary School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 20/09/2004 Inspector Name Sara Bailey

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Sunshine Morning Nursery Setting Address The Village Hall Over Stratton South Petherton Somerset TA13 5LL

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Partnership of N Buckler, C Smith and S Gutteridge Address Sunshine Morning Nursery, The Village Hall Over Stratton South Petherton Somerset TA13 5LL

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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

Sunshine Morning Nursery/Pre-school opened in 1999. It is privately owned by three partners who operate from Over Stratton village hall, Somerset. It serves the local area. There are currently 25 children from 2.6 to 4 years on roll. This includes 22 funded 3 year olds and no funded 4 year olds at present. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting currently supports children with special needs but no children attend at present speak English as an additional language. The group opens five days a week during school term times. Sessions are from 09:15 until 12:15. Five part-time staff work with the children. Two are qualified in Montessori teaching and have additional early years qualifications to level 3. One member of staff holds a level 2 qualification. The setting follows Montessori principles. It receives support from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP).

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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?

Sunshine Morning Nursery/Pre-school provides high quality nursery education overall which enables children to make very good progress towards all of the early learning goals. The quality of teaching is very good. Staff are very well deployed and support children's learning effectively to encourage children's independence, perseverance and concentration with little intervention unless needed. This allows children to set their own challenges and choices and be self-disciplined, resulting in them being very well behaved. Staff create a purposeful atmosphere with well planned activities but also capitalise on spontaneity. Stimulating experiences and activities are readily available and easily accessed. Staff link the Montessori approach very well with the early learning goals. They keep detailed assessments on children's progress with Montessori graded equipment, however, progress does not link to the stepping

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How effective is the nursery education?

stones. Children with special educational needs are well supported. The leadership and management is very good. An established management team with a complimentary balance of childcare backgrounds provides strong, positive role models. Staff meet regularly and are constantly reviewing their practices and procedures to further improve the setting. The partnership with parents and carers is very good. Parents are well informed about the provision, including the Montessori philosophy and their children's progress through a variety of ways. Notice boards and letters are informative, key workers regularly share observations on individual children and have formal meetings once a term, although parents are not fully aware of how the stepping stones relate to their children. Parents are invited into the group to share skills.

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What is being done well?

• Staff create a purposeful atmosphere with well planned activities that are child led and capitalising on spontaneity to give an holistic approach to learning that links the Montessori approach effectively with the early learning goals. • Children have excellent fine motor skills through practical life experiences using a variety of tools and equipment to clean, polish, peg and pour. • Personal, social and emotional development is promoted through good role models and a calm environment for children to be independent, confident learners with good self discipline resulting in very good behaviour. • Children learn about mathematics in meaningful ways. They are provided with real objects to count, sort and measure, as well as Montessori equipment. All of these are used effectively to introduce mathematical concepts and language in stimulating ways.

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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 • Children with special educational needs are supported very well. All children can sign and staff clearly label the environment using relevant symbols. Children are carefully observed and supported as required to meet their individual needs. • Children explore and investigate their environment with enthusiasm for real experiences and objects. They develop a wonderful knowledge of the world through stimulating resources and activities that link their community, past and present to that of the wider world.

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What needs to be improved?

• the linking of assessments to the stepping stones and sharing of records with parents

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Very good progress has been made since the last inspection. A point for consideration was to improve opportunities for children to initiate their own craft and design activities. Planning now includes regular sessions where children have a wide range of materials and tools available to create their own art and craft work above and beyond the every day creative activity linked to the theme. During inspection it was observed how well a planned printing activity allowed scope for children to initiate their own way of accomplishing the set task. Staff encouraged children to use their imagination and develop their experimentation of the media how they wished. For example, fruit printing developed into hand printing and mark making with their nails to form shapes.

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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 Children are confident and independent learners. They self select their equipment, concentrate for long periods of time with each activity and return it to the shelf when finished. Their social skills are excellent with a respect for each other and their environment. Children are very well behaved, are self disciplined. They respond immediately when asked to listen and follow direction.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children communicate their needs very well and are confident to express themselves in a group. Keywords are signed by children. Their enjoyment of books is evident as they spontaneously visit the book corner throughout the session. Children can identify their names on arrival and some three year olds are showing an interest in pre-writing skills. They mark make spontaneously, copy staff's writing on their work and draw lines from left to right with pencil exercises linked to current themes.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children explore mathematical concepts with skill and interest. They are engaged in meaningful, practical activities to develop their counting, measuring and calculating. Children can count and recognise numerals, match numbers and are developing a wonderful mathematical vocabulary. A 3 year old showed interest in a ruler, he asked many questions about its use and then measured two cars of different sizes and concluded which was bigger by how many centimetres, and then inches, with support.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children explore and investigate using their senses, to look at similarities and differences in the world around them. They experiment with magnets, patterns, sand and water to learn about science. They use real equipment to understand how things work and are making intricate 3D models with Montessori construction sets that require high levels of concentration and skill. Children talk about their community, families and cultures of others from their experiences.

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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's fine motor skills are excellent. They use a wide range of tools and equipment with increasing control, returning to the same activities over and over again as they are stimulating and exciting. They develop co-ordination with fastenings, polishing and pouring. Children learn how to carry chairs safely and have good spatial awareness. They work well together to move skilfully around a climbing frame and play physical group games.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children are able to express what they see,hear,smell taste and touch. They explore colour, shape and texture across all areas of learning with natural resources and meaningful activities to be creative without adult intervention. For example, fruit printing with red paint, that allows the child to cut the fruit as they wish, examine the different fruits inside and out, create an imaginative picture or decide to handprint instead. Sounds are experimented with and enjoyed.

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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: • There are no significant weaknesses to report, but consideration should be given to improving the following: • ensure assessments are linked to the stepping stones and share these records with parents.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT

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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