Beddington Park Primary School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 30/06/2003 Inspector Name Anna-Marie Moyse

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name St Nicholas & St Faith Pre- School Setting Address St Nicholas & St Faith Church rooms Alexandra Square Saltash Cornwall PL12 6AN

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of SS Nicholas and Faith Pre-School 513883

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name SS Nicholas and Faith Pre-School Address u/a , u/a

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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

St Nicholas and St. Faith Pre-school operates from the main hall of the St Nicholas and St Faith church premises, situated in Saltash town centre and serves the immediate locality in Saltash. The group is managed by a voluntary committee. The Pre-school is registered for twenty four children and cater for children aged from two and a half to five years. The group have funding for three and four year olds. Children with special needs attend and the group support children who speak English as an additional language. The group opens five days a week during school term times. Sessions are from 9.15 am to 12.15 pm. Five members of staff are employed, with four members of staff at each session. Three of the staff members have a relevant early years qualification. The setting receives support from a teacher from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership.

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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?

St Nicholas and St Faith Pre school offer generally good nursery education. Children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Children are making very good progress in personal, social and emotional development. However there are some significant weaknesses in some areas of learning such as mathematical, physical and creative development. Teaching is generally good. Although there have been some major changes in the staff recently, they work hard as a team. The staff have good interactions with the children, staff and children talk and listen to each other well. Some good assessments of the children are made and recorded. However these are not used effectively to ensure that the information is used in the planning to ensure that all children are making progress in all areas of learning. Leadership and management has some significant weaknesses. The new manager has worked hard to organise and establish a new team of staff and review the

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How effective is the nursery education?

documentation required. Although some changes have been made, further monitoring and self assessment should be used to ensure that the activities and routines of the setting maximise the opportunities for children to learn through play. Some consideration should be made to the organisation of story time, snack and circle time to ensure that the needs of all children are met. The partnership with parents is generally good. Parents are well informed of the children's activities and themes used in the curriculum. Parents are pleased with range of activities provided and the progress their children are making.

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What is being done well?

• Children's personal, social and emotional development is very good. Children are well behaved and confident to make conversation. They enjoy attending the setting and have formed some good friendships. • Staff work hard to transform the community room into a child orientated environment. They have a good relationship with both the children and the parent's, and are friendly and helpful. • Staff use good, clear explanation to extend children's learning and understanding. • Parents are well informed and involved in the group. There are strong links with the local community.

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What needs to be improved?

• Children's opportunity to freely access a wide variety of materials and

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What needs to be improved?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 resources, including music, to explore and express themselves creatively. • Systems to monitor the routines and activities of the setting,(especially story, snack and circle time) to ensure that they are enabling children to learn according to their needs, challenge the more able child, and to ensure that children receive a balanced curriculum. • Children have frequent opportunity to develop their mathematical knowledge by using everyday situations to solve problems and to recognise numbers and patterns. • Children's physical development is progressing by ensuring learning intentions are identified, especially when using the outdoor area, and that more able children are challenged.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Limited progress has been made since the last inspection on the issues raised. The planning of the curriculum has improved in general. The learning intentions are identified on the plans and it offers a balanced curriculum of all the areas of learning. However, there are still limitations on the monitoring of the children to ensure they all receive a balanced curriculum at the setting, and participate in a wide range of activities. There are now good records of the children's assessments made and they are shared with the parent's. However the information gathered is not used effectively to influence the planning to ensure that all children are progressing to the next stage of their learning. The development of the programme for creative development has been poor. The children have access to a wide range of craft activities, but this is very adult lead and structured, and does not enable children to be creative. There are limited

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What has improved since the last inspection?

opportunities for children to select freely from a variety of creative resources to express themselves, explore colour, texture and develop their own ideas. There is limited evidence to suggest that music is used for children to express themselves in movement and dance.

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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 make very good progress in personal, social, and emotional development. Children and staff have good relationships and the children have formed some strong friendships at the setting. Children are well behaved and willing to help the staff, especially at tidy up time.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children are making generally good progress in communication, language and literacy. The high adult presence at the setting promotes good language development, children are confident to talk in large groups or to individuals. Books are used well. Children independently looked at and 'read' books during the session. The provision of more mark making equipment in the role play and construction area would encourage all children to further develop their writing skills by 'writing' for a purpose.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Significant Weaknesses Children's progress in mathematical development has some significant weaknesses. Some very good mathematical activities are provided at the setting. Some, but not all, children enjoyed playing, counting, matching and recording the results of a collection of shells. However there is limited use of maths to count objects and problem solve by the children in everyday situations. More use of numerals as labels would encourage children to recognise and use numbers confidently.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children's progress in knowledge and understanding of the world is generally good. Children enjoy learning about a wide variety of topics. Children use the garden area to plant and raise seeds and bulbs. Currently the children are predicting what happens to a variety of foods and rubbish over a two week period. There are strong links with the church and local community. The group will benefit from the new computer package, which will help children's understanding of information technology.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Significant Weaknesses Children's progress in physical development has some significant weaknesses. The children are confident to use a wide variety of tools and small equipment. Children are able to access the outdoor area for free play when the weather is good. However there is limited equipment and identified learning intentions for the large physical play to sufficiently challenge the more able children.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Significant Weaknesses Children's progress in creative development continues to have some significant weaknesses. Children have limited opportunity to explore and express their ideas in a creative way. Craft activities are planned and prepared by the staff and focus on the end result rather than the process of a child expressing their idea's. Limited resources are made available for the children to access freely, and express themselves in music, dance and through role play.

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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

• develop the creative programme to ensure that materials and resources are made readily available to the children so they can express their ideas and use their imagination. • utilise the assessment system to ensure that the children's learning program will move them onto the next stage of learning. This should include setting appropriate challenges for more able children, especially in physical development. • develop a system to monitor and evaluate the routines and activities provided at the setting to ensure that all children's needs are met. A special regard should be made to story, snack and circle time to maximise the learning potential during these regular activities. Ensure that each child receives a balanced curriculum. • provide opportunities for children to extend their mathematical development through everyday situations, including recognition of numbers, patterns, and problem solving.

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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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