St Bartholomew's Pre-School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 10/01/2005 Inspector Name Anne Georgina Phillips

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name St Bartholomew's Pre-School Setting Address Grimley & Holt C of E Primary School Grimley Worcester Worcestershire WR2 6LU

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of St Bartholemew's Pre-School

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name St Bartholemew's Pre-School Address Grimley Village Worcester WR2 6LU

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ORGANISATION 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

St Bartholomew's Pre-School playgroup opened in 1988. It operates from a demountable building, which is in the grounds of Grimley & Holt Church of England Primary School. It is situated in a rural village setting near the northern outskirts of Worcester City and has a voluntary management committee made up of parent representatives. It is open each weekday except Wednesday from 08:30 until 15:00 during school term times only. A maximum of 20 children aged from 2 years to under 5 years may attend at any one time. Children share access to the secure school outdoor area. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 15 children from 2 years 6 months to 5 years on roll. Of these, 13 children receive funding for nursery education. Parents provide a packed lunch for children present at midday. Children with special needs are supported. At the time of this inspection there are no children who speak English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

Six staff work with the children, two hold early years qualifications. One member of staff is a qualified teacher and another is currently attending a training programme. The group receive support from an early years mentor teacher. The group belongs to the Pre-school Learning Alliance (PLA).

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How good is the Day Care?

St Bartholomew's Pre-School provides good quality care. Good progress has been made in addressing previous actions and an action plan is being implemented to improve staff qualifications. Staff are experienced child-carers. They work effectively with parents to create a welcoming, accessible and child-friendly environment. Resources are used creatively to make them inviting and interesting to children. There are reflections of diversity in books and play materials and daily opportunities to play actively outdoors. Documentation is generally well kept, but the operational plan and written risk assessments are incomplete and staff details are not readily available.

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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 Staff have a good awareness of risks to children. They supervise them well, encourage them to act safely and ensure that the premises are secure. Regular routines are in place to encourage good hygiene, but these are not always consistently maintained and access to adult toilet facilities is limited. Snack and meals times are sociable and well paced, but drinking water is not readily accessible to children. Appropriate child protection procedures are in place. The staff team communicate effectively about children's needs. They provide varied play-based activities that involve and interest children who enjoy good opportunities to make choices and play imaginatively. They are developing independence putting

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How good is the Day Care?

their coats on and using the toilet. Children are learning to behave well in response to calm, consistent guidance from staff and support for their individual needs. They are secure and develop good relationships with staff and each other. Partnership with parents is good. They make very positive comments about the group. They value the friendly atmosphere and good verbal feedback from staff. There are frequent newsletters and some well presented information about the group, but access to policies, procedures and information about children's daily programme of activities is limited.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection, a number of actions were raised. Good progress has been made in addressing most of these, although a further recommendation about one document has been made at this inspection. The pre-school was asked to: develop and implement an action plan to improve the qualifications of staff; conduct a risk assessment; and keep a record of significant incidents. It was also asked to ensure that; staff checks were in place; there is a written behaviour management policy; there are written procedures for lost or uncollected children; children's arrival and departure times are recorded; and parent's written consent is obtained for emergency treatment. All actions have been addressed so that the procedures in place for organising the setting and keeping records have been significantly improved. An action plan to improve staff qualifications is being implemented and all the documentation listed is

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What has improved since the last inspection?

in place. However, the scope of the written risk assessment is limited and so further expansion of this has been recommended.

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What is being done well?

• The small group size and high adult: child ratio ensures that staff know individual children very well so that children's learning individual needs are identified and met. • The environment is welcoming, attractive, accessible and child-friendly so that children enter readily and become involved in activities straight away. Children enjoy very good opportunities to make choices about their play, concentrating and persisting with activities. There are good daily opportunities for children to play freely outdoors, and enjoy fresh air and

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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 exercise. • Staff organise their time well so that they are able to work directly with children, providing for and supporting children's learning. • The parental management committee and staff work effectively together to improve the environment and resources available to children, which enhances their play and learning. A very well presented and resourced play area is very attractive and interesting to children and provides good opportunities for them to play imaginatively. • Active parental involvement and close links with the adjacent school give children opportunities to be part of their local community and build links that will support their future development.

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What needs to be improved?

• the qualifications of staff to meet the requirements for all supervisors including deputies via the action plan in place • the arrangements for staff to use separate toilet facilities • the consistency of the implementation of good hygiene practices • children's access to drinking water • parents’ access to policies, procedures and written information about the activities available to children on a daily basis • the detail and reviewing of the written operational plan and risk assessment • the availability of staff recruitment, training and qualification records.

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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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CONDITIONS OF REGISTRATION

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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by the time of the next inspection

Std Recommendation 7 Ensure that good hygiene practices are consistently maintained and understood by all staff. 8 Improve children's access to fresh drinking water. 12 Improve parents access to the policies and procedures and information about the daily activities provided for children. 14 Expand the operational plan and written risk assessments to cover all aspects of the organisation of the setting and ensure that they are regularly reviewed and updated; and ensure that all documentation is readily available for inspection including details of staff recruitment, qualifications and training.

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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?

St Bartholomew's Pre-school provides good quality nursery education for children which enables them make generally good or very good progress in all six areas of learning. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered well. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff manage children very well and build good relationships with them so that they develop confidence, self esteem and a positive attitude to learning. Staff have a sound knowledge of the way children learn and plan a good range of adult led and free choice practical play activities that children enjoy so that they are keen, interested to learn and concentrate well. Staff have appropriate expectations of what children can achieve. They work closely with them supporting their learning and asking questions that encourage them to think. Planning and assessment systems are clear and provide an effective framework, but

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How effective is the nursery education?

some staff are not yet confident in assessing individual children's learning to identify children's future learning needs. Leadership and management are generally good. Staff time, the environment and resources are effectively organised to create an attractive and accessible setting for all children. Resources for children to climb, balance and experience challenge in their active play are not regularly available to children. The team are committed to monitoring and improving the setting as evidenced by the inviting role play area for children and the identification of staff training needs e.g. to support staff in identifying children's special needs. Partnership with parents is generally good. Parents make very positive comments about their children's progress. Verbal feedback is good and parents are involved in contributing to children's records. There is well presented information about the six areas of learning in the prospectus and some information is displayed about current

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How effective is the nursery education?

topics, but it does not include daily activities.

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What is being done well?

• Staff work directly with children asking questions to encourage them to think. They plan purposeful activities linked to the early learning goals so that children progress well. They communicate well with each other about what is planned and carefully evaluate the outcomes. The small group size and high adult:child ratio means that staff know individual children very well and are able to ensure that there is sufficient challenge in activities for all. • Relationships between staff and children are very good. Children are praised and encouraged often so that they progress well and build good self-esteem. Staff are good role models for children and set clear consistent boundaries so that children are confident, happy and well motivated to learn. • Children enjoy varied practical play opportunities which encourage their

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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 learning and active involvement. They make choices about their play confidently, persisting and concentrating well. The environment is very well laid out and attractive to children. They experience good opportunities to develop their independence • Parents are warmly welcomed and actively involved in the pre-school so that there are good opportunities for developing effective partnerships with parents to support children's learning as well as develop the environment and resources available.

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What needs to be improved?

• the confidence of some keyworkers to use the assessment procedures effectively • the use of daily planning to inform the next steps in individual children's learning • the opportunities for children to climb, balance and use large equipment • the information for parents about what children do on a daily basis.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection, the pre-school was asked to develop further the assessments kept on children's attainment and progress to ensure all aspects of learning are included. Generally good progress has been made in developing and using clear procedures that monitor children's learning in line with the current local authority guidelines for the transfer record that will follow children through the remainder of the Foundation Stage in school. A keyworker system is in place and assessments are completed regularly. All staff are not yet completely confident with the new system and its relationship with the stepping stones in children's learning and further development is recommended at this inspection.

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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 are keen and interested to learn. They are developing confidence, independence and self-esteem. They contribute in the group by helping to tidy up and putting their drawings in their drawer. Three and four year olds persist well with their chosen activities and show interest in what others are doing. They behave very well and are learning to share and take turns during projects. They are developing an awareness of themselves and others by looking closely at themselves in a mirror.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children are keen to communicate with staff and one another. They ask for help, talk about what they are doing, contribute to group activities and communicate feelings. They enjoy and confidently join in stories, songs and rhymes. They listen well and respond to instructions. They are starting to recognise and remember initial sounds and linking these to letters. They recognise their names on the drawers, which store their possessions, and some write their own names correctly.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children learn about number, space, shape and volume through a wide range of activities. They are becoming competent counting in many different situations. They count children at snack times, add or take away using groups of small plastic animals, and spontaneously decide to find out if there are more or less boys or girls in the group. They are learning to match numbers against written numerals. They recognise shapes, draw them correctly and explore volume through sand play.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children are very inquisitive and notice changes in the world around them such as the new doorbell, visits from the postman and animals in their surroundings. They observe the weather and learn about the days of the week and seasons passing. They build and join materials together confidently. They use simple equipment such as a tape player and a computer. They see positive images of diversity around them and learn about their own culture and that of others.

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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: Generally Good Children move confidently both indoor and outside. They are skilful at changing speed and direction as well as negotiating spaces, stopping, hopping, sitting and standing still, but lack opportunities to climb, balance and use large equipment regularly. Children are becoming very competent with a range of tools and equipment, using pencils, felt tips pens, scissors, glue sticks and paint brushes effectively. They learn about their bodies and how they work e.g. feeling for their bones.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children enjoy lots of opportunities to develop their creativity through a range of interesting media and materials e.g. painting, drawing, making collages of themselves and decorating the 'feely' box. They become very involved in imaginative play alone, in pairs and sometimes in small groups. They listen and respond with much enjoyment to the sounds musical instruments make and use them to join-in songs. Some improvise by using a whistle to match the rhythm of an action rhyme spontaneously.

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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 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

• ensure that all staff have a clear understanding of the use of assessment and further develop the existing procedures to inform the planning for individual children's learning needs • improve the opportunities for children to climb, balance and use large equipment • expand the information available to parents about what children do on a daily basis.

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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 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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