Cliffe Woods Pre -School & The Acorn Club

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 14/09/2004 Inspector Name Ann Revell

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care, Out of School Day Care Setting Name Cliffe Woods Pre School Setting Address Cliffe Woods CP School View Road Cliffe Woods Rochester Kent ME3 8UJ

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Cliffe Woods Pre School 1024218

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Cliffe Woods Pre School Address Cliffe Woods CP School View Road Cliffe Woods Rochester Kent ME3 8UJ

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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

Cliffe Woods Pre-School opened in 1989. The pre-school now operates from a classroom room in the Primary School and serves the village community and the local, rural area. The setting opens five days a week during school term times. Sessions are from 9.00 to 11.30 on Monday to Friday mornings with, additionally, sessions from 12.30 to 15.00 on Tuesday and Friday afternoons. The afternoon sessions are for the older children. There are currently 61 children from two to five years on roll. This includes 11 three year olds and 18 four year olds who are in receipt of nursery education funding. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting does not have any children, at present, who have special educational needs or who speak English as an additional language. Six staff work with the children. All have early years qualifications. The setting receives support from a teacher and mentor from the local Early Years Development

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Information about the setting

and Childcare Partnership. It is a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance. As the Acorn Club, the setting is also registered to provide out of school care for 26 children under eight years.

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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?

Cliffe Woods Pre-School provides good-quality nursery education. Children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Provision for personal, social and emotional, physical and creative development is particularly good and children make very good progress in these areas. The quality of teaching is generally good. Children benefit from the real interest staff show in their chosen activities and the way they encourage children to talk about their play and recall past learning. Children's learning is sometimes hindered as staff are not clear about the intended learning outcome for activities they present. This is a weakness in the planning. The planning format does not facilitate checks for coverage and this leads to aspects of some areas receiving insufficient attention. Children benefit from the calm, quiet management and are considerate and well behaved. Effective strategies are in place to support children with special

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How effective is the nursery education?

educational needs. The recording of children's progress is being developed. It currently reflects the stepping stones towards the early learning goals but the format is not consistent or concise. The information is effectively used to plan learning targets for older children which the key workers implement ensuring steady progress. Leadership and management are generally good. The supervisors work closely together and all staff are clear about their roles. Staff meet regularly to discuss the provision and update their knowledge and skills. In some aspects of mathematics and literacy, expectations for children's achievements are not sufficiently high. Teaching and assessment are carefully monitored but the monitoring of the planning is not sufficiently rigorous. Partnership with parents is very good. Parents are very well informed about the curriculum and how it is implemented. They are fully involved in the pre-school and

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How effective is the nursery education?

support their children's learning. They receive regular reports of their child's progress.

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What is being done well?

• All relationships are very good. Children are confident with the staff and polite and considerate to each other. • Partnership with parents is very effective. Parents are enabled to be involved in their children's learning and are well informed of their children's achievements. • The Key Worker groups are very effective in enabling the older children to make steady progress towards the early learning goals. Staff plan learning targets in all the areas of learning for their groups and work with individual children to achieve them.

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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 are developing good speaking and listening skills. They confidently share their news with the large group and listen attentively to others.

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What needs to be improved?

• the medium term plans, in order that they are sufficiently detailed to enable checks to be made for coverage of all the aspects of each area of learning, and for staff to be fully supported in their teaching • the recording of children's progress to ensure it is easily managed by staff, is consistent throughout the setting and is clear and concise for use by staff and parents • the opportunities for all the children to practise forming letters correctly in order to write their names and to write for a purpose • the planning of activities and routines to develop the younger children's counting and number recognition skills.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Improvement since the last inspection is generally good. Staff have developed the medium term plans and they now reflect the stepping stones of the early learning goals overall. However, these plans lack detail and do not identify the specific learning outcomes for the planned activities. This results in staff being unsupported in their teaching. The lack of detail and the current format of the planning does not facilitate rigorous monitoring and this has resulted in insufficient priority being given to aspects of mathematics and literacy and an aspect of knowledge and understanding of the world being missed. Further development of the medium term plans remains a key issue.

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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 have very good relationships with the staff and each other. They are kind and polite, share favourite toys and wait for their turn when playing a game. Children are confident in expressing their ideas at news time. They work with good concentration for appropriate periods of time, for example, when mark making. They tidy up very responsibly and show very good personal independence at snack time. They are learning about other beliefs and cultures as well as their own.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children listen carefully at news times and they are confident in speaking clearly to the whole group. They all enjoy books and understand how they work. The younger children participate in rhyming stories and the older children are learning the sounds that letters make. Mark making materials are available, but children are not confident writers. Opportunities are missed for them to write for a purpose, for example, in their role-play. They do not reliably practise writing their names.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Planned activities in children's key worker groups in the afternoon sessions and the good use of routines enable the older children to count accurately and to recognise numbers. However, specific activities are not planned for the younger children in this aspect of the programme Learning is not reliably building on what the younger children already know and progress is left to chance. All the children can use language to describe shape, size and measure and are able to create a simple pattern.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good In the course of their topic work, children are finding out about the features of living things such as minibeasts. They build interesting models with construction kits and practise their cutting and joining skills. They are developing good skills on the computer using a range of programs that effectively support their learning. Children are learning to differentiate between past and present but there are no planned activities to develop their understanding of their locality.

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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 All children benefit from regular physical activity both indoors and outdoors using a wide range of apparatus. The older children's skills are extended during their visits to the school gym. Children move imaginatively and with a good awareness of space as they hop on one foot and hold a balance. Children use dough tools and scissors with increasing skill and attention to safety and are able to pour their drinks carefully. They are learning to understand the importance of staying healthy.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children enjoy drawing, painting and modelling and examples of their work are well displayed. They are learning the skills to enable them to use the resources confidently in order to express their own ideas. Children sing enthusiastically and know a range of songs. They play instruments freely and to accompany their singing. They act out their experiences in the varied role-play scenarios and show good imagination in their response to art and music.

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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 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

• provide opportunities for all the children to write for a purpose, for example, in the course of their role-play. Encourage children to form letters correctly and to practise writing their names • give greater priority to the planning of activities and routines for the younger children in order to further develop their counting and number recognition skills • simplify the recording of children's progress. Ensure that it is consistent throughout and is clear and concise for staff to use in their planning and informative for parents • further develop the medium term plans to ensure there is sufficient detail to facilitate the monitoring of coverage of all the aspects of the areas of learning. Clearly identify the intended learning outcome for activities.

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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 Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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