Westgate Pre-School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 28/02/2005 Inspector Name Lesley Ormrod

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Westgate Pre-School Setting Address Braddon Close Morecambe Lancashire LA4 4UZ

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REGISTERED PROVIDER 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

Westgate Pre-School is run by Wendy Nunn. It opened in 2001 and operates from two rooms and associated facilities in a church hall. The pre-school is situated in Morecambe. A maximum of 30 children may attend the facility at any one time. The setting is open four weekdays from 09.30 to 12.00 and 13.00 to 15.30 for 39 weeks. There are currently 66 children aged from 2 to under 5 years on roll. Of these 45 children receive funding for nursery education. Children come from the town of Morecambe and the adjacent area of Westgate. The pre-school currently supports a number of children with special educational needs. The pre-school employs six staff. Five of the staff hold appropriate early years qualifications.

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How good is the Day Care?

Westgate Pre-School provides good care for children. The pre-school has a warm and welcoming environment that helps children to feel secure. There is good organisation of the pre-school for the provision of sessional care for children. The staff have extended their knowledge and expertise by completing additional qualifications and regularly attending a wide range of courses. There is a very good range of age-appropriate play resources and equipment that provides children with very good learning opportunities. Most documentation is in place and fully shared with parents and staff. There are good arrangements for health and safety and security to protect children. Staff have good daily hygiene routines and children use well-cared-for equipment in a well maintained environment. Children have healthy snacks and drinks. Staff meet children's health care needs well. There is very good support for children with

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How good is the Day Care?

special needs and disabilities. Staff have a good knowledge of child protection and keeping children safe. Children have a good range of resources and activities to support their awareness of diversity and equality.

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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 There is very good planning of learning and play opportunities for children and they make good progress. Children's development of skills in all areas is regularly observed, recorded and assessed. Staff use effective strategies to manage children's behaviour but do not yet have access to guidance on managing bullying behaviour. There are good arrangements to keep parents fully informed about their child's progress. Parents receive regular newsletters and meet termly with key workers to discuss their children's progress. Staff give good information to parents about their children at the daily handovers.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection the provider agreed to one action: to extend the child protection policy by including an allegations' procedure and contact telephone numbers. The provider has improved the arrangements for children's protection by establishing procedures for the handling of any allegations against a member of staff or volunteer. A revised child protection policy that includes the referral numbers has been drafted and is in the process of being finalised.

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What is being done well?

• Staff plan a wide range of exciting and stimulating activities for each session. Children enjoy sculpting with snow flakes and feeling the texture of the shaving foam. They pat and shape the play dough to make cakes and take to 'bake' in the oven in the home corner. • Children enjoy many opportunities to develop their writing and numeracy skills. They draw the gingerbread man and the scary wolf and write about the story. They confidently count in their play and decide how many cups they need to get out for their group's drinks. •• Children with special needs make very good progress through the very good support offered by staff. The staff set up effective learning programmes and work on children's individual targets planned with parents. • Parents are given very good information about their children's progress at the termly meetings with their key workers. Staff and parents assess their children's achievements and together set new targets for each child's next

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What is being done well?

individual learning plan. • There are very good arrangements for staff development and an excellent parent education programme is offered. Staff regularly attend a wide range of curriculum courses to enhance their practice. Parents are offered courses such as 'Maths is Fun' and a series of days exploring the areas of learning of the foundation stage curriculum.

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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?

• the wording of the medication and emergency medical advice and treatment consents • the statement about the management of bullying • the finalisation of the new draft child protection policy

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inspection or 1st April 2004 whichever is later.)

There are no complaints to report since April 2004

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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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by the time of the next inspection

Std Recommendation 11 Provide a statement about the management of bullying and the strategies to be used by staff. 14 Finalise the updated child protection policy, share with parents and staff and update the prior parental consents for emergency medical advice and treatment and for any medication.

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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?

Westgate Pre-School provides high-quality nursery education overall which enables children to make very good progress towards the early learning goals. Provision for their personal, social and emotional development with all other areas of learning is very well planned and children make very good progress in all areas. The quality of teaching is very good. Staff have very good relationships with children and give a good level of individual support. They use effective strategies to manage children's behaviour and encourage their understanding of simple rules. Staff plan a very good range of well-resourced focussed activities and continuous provision that offers children exciting and stimulating opportunities to play and learn from. They understand what children need to learn in all areas and differentiate well to support and challenge all children's learning. Staff fully include children with special needs

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How effective is the nursery education?

and make very good provision to meet their learning needs. There is a strong sense of community in the nursery. Staff regularly observe, record and assess children's progress against the stepping stones and early learning goals to inform planning. They meet termly with parents to evaluate children's learning plans and set fresh learning objectives. There are good detailed records about children's progress shared fully with parents. The leadership and management is very good. The manager works collaboratively with the committed staff team. Staff have regular appraisals and access a full range of training and further qualifications. There is very good development planning to enhance the provision for children. The manager informally monitors and evaluates the quality of teaching but has not yet fully established a system to do so. The partnership with parents and carers is very good. The key worker system is

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How effective is the nursery education?

effective with good daily handovers. Parents receive good information about the setting. They take part in a very good parent education programme.

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What is being done well?

• Children have very good opportunities to play and learn in the well-planned continuous provision. They use the creative area to make a collage from natural resources and paint with textured mark-makers. Children use their sensory skills to explore shaving foam and soap flakes in the large trays. • Children are making very good progress in their use of number language and mathematical thinking. They recognise numerals one to five as they play the monkey in a tree game. Children use their calculating skills to decide how many cups they need to put out for a drink for a group of their friends. • Staff use very good strategies to manage children's behaviour. They discuss, negotiate and help children to work through their feelings and emotions.

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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 Children are praised and rewarded with a 'jewel' for their achievements. Staff work closely with parents to develop behaviour management plans to support children as needed. • Children are developing good skills in linking sounds to letters. They recognise the initial letters of their names and can relate to other words beginning with the same letter. Children are proud of their 'letter of the week' work in their home link books. • Parents have very good opportunities to share and be involved in their children's learning. Key workers and parents meet termly to look at their children's record of achievement and examples of work. They evaluate the progress made and set new targets together.

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What needs to be improved?

• the system of monitoring and evaluating the quality of teaching • the system of weekly exchange of information with parents to inform 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 develop good self esteem supported by their close relationships with staff. They confidently choose their activities and contribute their ideas at circle times. They persist for good periods of time in play that interests and challenges them such as the duck and goose chase game. Children are developing good self care skills such as pouring a drink. Staff encourage children to understand simple rules. Children have a clear sense of community and show concern for each other.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children are confident speakers and eagerly communicate their ideas in circle times. They use their thinking skills to describe what to do in a game. Children intently listen to stories and excitedly use their recall and anticipation skills as they use the Red Riding Hood puppets. They enjoy books and happily read to each other. Staff provide many good opportunities for children to write for a purpose such as signing their duty monitor sheets. Children can form recognisable letters.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children enjoy numbers and confidently count in their play. They can rote count to 20 and beyond and recognise number associations. Children use their good calculating skills to compare which group has most children. They use simple subtraction to decide how many chairs are left when one is taken away. Children can name basic shapes and create recurring patterns in their art work. They use the language of measurement as they hand weigh the play dough balls and describe the size of dinosaurs.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Staff plan many exciting activities that encourage children to explore and investigate freely. Children describe the changes to the soap flakes as they whisk. They learn about the care of babies as they meet a new baby and talk to the midwife. Children are proud of their design skills when junk modelling. They use a till as a bar code reader and make telephone calls as they play. Children understand time and can name the days of the week. They talk about special events in March such as Easter.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

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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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children move confidently and with control. They imaginatively move to music creating firework shapes. Children ably use large apparatus to climb, balance and slide. They have good spatial awareness and understand directions as they play games. Children discuss their preferences for healthy foods and decide when they are hot or cold. They develop good motor skills as they play with balls and hoops. Children can use an appropriate grip to hold mark-makers as they paint and cut with scissors.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children happily explore media and materials in the good creative area. They mix colours as they paint and manipulate clay to make baskets. Children sing confidently in groups and make up their own tunes. They listen intently to the symphony orchestra play dinosaur music and move to the rhythm. Children develop good imaginative ideas in the well-planned home and role play areas. They make pancakes, cook and serve to their friends. Children describe their ideas for preparing their story book.

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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 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: • formalise the system to monitor and evaluate the quality of teaching and enhance the system for weekly exchange of information with parents to fully inform the short term planning.

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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 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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