Loughborough College

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 16/06/2004 Inspector Name Susan McCourt

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care, Out of School Day Care Setting Name Kipling Lions Pre-school Setting Address c/o Rudyard Kipling Primary School Chalkland Rise Brighton East Sussex BN2 6RH

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Kipling Lions Pre-school 10700306

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Kipling Lions Pre-school Address School House, Chalkland Rise Brighton East Sussex BN2 6RH

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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

Kipling Lions Pre-school first opened in 1993 as a sessional group, it was registered to provide for full day care in 2003, and is managed by a parent run committee. It is accommodated in a self-contained unit situated in the grounds of Rudyard Kipling School. The pre-school is open from 08.30 until 18.00, Monday to Friday, with some children only attending for after school care. The pre-school operates during term time only, but the setting runs a holiday play scheme in the same premises during the school holidays. There are currently 64 children on roll and of these 24 are funded three-year-olds and 11 are funded four-year-olds. The pre-school has good experience of caring for children identified as having special educational needs. There are eight members of staff, of which six hold appropriate qualifications. Staff receive support from a qualified teacher attached to the local Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership. There is a safe, secure outdoor area to the

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Information about the setting

rear of the building. The children attending are representative of the local community.

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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 Kipling Lions 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 the curriculum. The quality of teaching is very good. Staff are qualified, experienced and know the Foundation Stage very well. The room has specific areas for activities to do with creative, mathematical and language and literacy development. Resources are immediately available to children and staff in these areas to ensure learning is a natural consequence of the free play. Other activities in the room cover all aspects of the curriculum and staff are very skilled at developing children's learning from any natural opportunity. Key-workers accurately tailor activities to help the children develop through the Foundation Stage. When playing with the children, staff use questions well to stimulate the children's thoughts and help them solve problems.

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How effective is the nursery education?

The group makes excellent use of other professionals when supporting those children with special needs, and those with English as an additional language. The leadership and management is very good. The committee and staff have shared aims in developing the group, building on the excellent work that has already been achieved. Staff have regular updates in their training and receive annual appraisals. The partnership with parents is very good. Parents are welcome to act as volunteers in the group and can work as committee members. All policies and procedures are available and there is a parent pack for new parents. Staff are available at the beginning and end of sessions to share information about the child. Parents also have three meetings a year with their child's key-worker to look more closely at the child's progress through the Foundation Stage. The assessment process is largely done by staff and parental involvement could be developed further.

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What is being done well?

• Staff know the Foundation Stage well and can take advantage of any spontaneous opportunity to develop the children's knowledge. The staff use questions well to encourage children to think. • The key-workers have weekly times with the children in their group that they can use in a variety of ways. The key-workers know the children very well and one-to-one activities are carefully planned to meet the individual's immediate needs. Sometimes the key-worker will plan a small group session if that is a more appropriate way of helping the child's development. This ensures that children learn with confidence and make good progress. • Children are very independent in their learning as they have a good range of activities to choose from. They know the routine well and join in enthusiastically with group activities such as singing and tidying up.

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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

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What needs to be improved?

• There are no significant weaknesses to report, but consideration should be given to improving the following: • the involvement of parents in children's assessments.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the time of the last inspection the provider agreed to provide four-year-olds with more opportunities to associate sounds with patterns in rhymes and with syllables. To this end, the staff introduced more poetry books into the home corner and story sessions. Children clap out syllables in words and guess the end word in a series of rhymes. A computer programme is also available. Staff devised a number of other activities such as having a basket of objects where naming the objects produces rhymes. The provider also agreed to provide four-year-olds with more opportunities to be aware of and record number operations in practical activities. The creation of the maths area has done much to meet this as children freely play with games to do with counting. Staff also use activities such as singing and snack time to engage children in counting songs and matching objects to people. Children make simple bar charts

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What has improved since the last inspection?

and graphs to show eye colour or the results of a bug hunt.

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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 are attentive to new children, helping them to settle in with confidence. Staff plan interesting activities and children show great interest in unfamiliar things, becoming fascinated as they explore. Children are friendly with staff and each other and chat at snack and lunch times. Children help tidy, wash their hands and learn other aspects of self-care such as sun-safety. Children are well-behaved and considerate.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Staff encourage children to listen and take turns at speaking and children are confident in the group. Children learn sign language, and have excellent support where English is an additional language. Children enjoy books, including poems and stories, and staff write down the stories created by the children for display around the room. Children join in with writing for different purposes and have lots of opportunities to make marks. Children recognise their names on pegs and placecards.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Staff have created a maths area in the room where children can learn about shape, number and size in a range of practical activities. Children count to ten and beyond and can recognise numerals. Children learn about measurement and growth and record their observations in simple graphs and charts. Children learn simple addition and subtraction in counting songs and match objects to people when deciding how many cups are needed at snack time.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children are interested to explore new materials and experiment in activities such as pouring salt or food colouring on ice to observe the effects. Children have an array of construction materials and build large and small objects, co-operating in small groups for some activities. The computer and other technological toys are freely available. Children learn about the local environment and talk about recent past events. They learn about other cultures by comparing aspects such as transport.

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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 use the climbing frame, balance beams, see-saw and tunnel along with other equipment to develop their physical skills. Children learn to throw and catch and hit a target. Staff take every opportunity to talk with children about how their bodies work and how to stay safe and healthy. Children have numerous opportunities to handle small objects such as pegs and pencils to develop their small muscles.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Staff have created an art and craft area with a wide variety of materials stored close by for immediate use by the children. The role play area is regularly changed to become a travel agency or baby clinic and children enjoy a range of dressing up clothes, hats and masks. Children use musical instruments from around the world or that they have made, and join in with singing, learning to play loud and soft. Children use all their senses when exploring new objects such as the large ice balloon.

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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: • Involve the parents more closely in the assessment process. 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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