Hart Primary School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 11/05/2004 Inspector Name Charlotte Jenkin

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Holbrook Park Pre School Setting Address Holbrook Primary School Holbrook Lane Trowbridge Wiltshire BA14 0PS

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Holbrook Park Pre-School 1016250

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Holbrook Park Pre-School Address Holbrook Primary School Holbrook Lane Trowbridge Wiltshire BA14 0PS

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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

Holbrook Park Pre-School operates from a mobile classroom at Holbrook Primary School in Trowbridge, and serves the south west of the town. The pre-school has access to the school playing field and the school courtyard. It is registered for 20 children aged from 2 to 5 years. The pre-school is owned and managed by a committee of parents who employ the leader and four staff members. There is additionally one relief staff member. The leader and one of the staff hold level three childcare qualifications, a further two staff members holds a level two, and one more is currently level one. All regular staff attend training with the Wiltshire Early Years team and are supported by the Wiltshire Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership. The pre-school is open Monday to Friday 9.00 to 11.30 and 12.30 to 15.00, term time only. There are 50 children on the register, of whom 43 are three and four-year-olds in receipt of nursery education funding.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school is working towards the Bristol Standards accreditation award.

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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?

Holbrook Park Pre-School is an acceptable provision of good quality where children make very good progress towards the early learning goals in personal, social and emotional, and creative development, and make generally good progress in all other areas of learning. Teaching is generally good. Staff have a generally good knowledge of the early learning goals and this is reflected in their interaction and use of open ended questions with the children, which make them think during activities. Plans cover most areas of learning effectively, and focus activities have clear learning outcomes. Evaluations of activities do not determine whether children achieved the learning outcomes of activities or link to assessments of children's progress. They are not used to inform future planning, to ensure more able children are suitably challenged. Children with special educational needs are not fully supported to ensure their

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How effective is the nursery education?

progress is monitored and reviewed regularly. Leadership and management is generally good. The Chair is closely involved with the day to day running of the group and the well established staff team communicate well and share responsibilities. Staff are committed to attending training and see this as a positive in updating their skills and in implementing new ideas into the pre-school. The appraisal system identifies areas for training, but their effectiveness is restricted due to the committee having no input in the process. Partnership with parents is generally good. Parents receive detailed information regarding the pre-school routines, curriculum and activities their child will be involved in. They are kept up to date with the current theme of learning and have access to topic plans. Staff offer formal meetings with parents to discuss their child's progress and they regularly exchange information informally, although there are limited

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How effective is the nursery education?

opportunities for parents to comment and contribute to assessments of their child's progress.

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What is being done well?

• Children are happy and confident in the pre-school. They enter with confidence, seek out their friends and interact well with staff and peers. They demonstrate a sense of belonging, and are very aware of the routines of the group. • Children have regular opportunities to explore colour and texture in 2D and 3D. They select resources, express themselves freely and talk about their creations and what they are trying to make. • Staff organisation of story time enables children to see the pictures and words in the book well. Children, therefore listen to stories with enjoyment, join in with repeated refrains and their interest is sustained.

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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 • Staff are very good role models for children. They treat one another and the children with respect and are consistent in their approach, which creates a pleasant learning environment for children where they are busy and engaged in purposeful play.

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What needs to be improved?

• staff's use of the evaluation system to identify where children are in their learning, so they can use this to inform future planning, help children move to the next stage of their learning and ensure more able children are suitably challenged • staff's provision for children with special educational needs, to include setting up individual plans, and liaising with other agencies to ensure their progress is supported, monitored and reviewed • opportunities for parents to comment on and contribute to records of their children's progress • the committee's involvement in monitoring staff's strengths and weaknesses and in ensuring training and development opportunities are available to them.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Holbrook Park Pre-School has made limited progress since the last inspection. At the last inspection the pre-school agreed to find ways for children to select and use resources independently and put in place a manageable system for staff, to enable them to identify areas for future training. They also agreed to extend the current record keeping system to ensure that all children are progressing appropriately and to use these records to inform teaching and to identify what children should learn from activities. Staff have re-organised resources in the environment so they are more accessible to the children. They are at their level in easy to use drawers, and children are now confident in selecting resources and initiating their own play. The new appraisal system enables staff to identify areas for training, however they do not develop staff's confidence in sharing areas of strengths and weaknesses and

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What has improved since the last inspection?

their effectiveness is restricted due to the committee having no input in the process. The current record keeping system does not fully identify where children are at with respect to their learning, and there is limited observations and evidence to support those records kept. They are not used to inform future planning, which limits the progress more able children could be making. Planning does now have clear learning intentions for children during focus activities.

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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 show increasing confidence in selecting and carrying out activities and using resources independently. They persevere for extended periods at activities of their choosing and complete chosen tasks. Children interact confidently with familiar and unfamiliar adults and peers and talk freely about their experiences. They develop skills in turn taking, work co-operatively, and behaviour is very good. Children demonstrate a sense of pride in their achievements, sharing their creations.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children talk to one another and listen to others when interested. They speak with confidence about their interests and to organise their ideas, for example, when making cakes. More able children hear and say initial sounds in words and recognise rhyme. Children select books, hold them correctly and turn pages. They freely make marks and more able children write their names. More able children are not challenged suitably through routine activities in developing their writing skills.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good More able children count up to 19 objects with confidence, recognise numerals 0 to 9 out of sequence and say the number after a given number. Children use mathematical language to describe shape and size, and use this in their play, for example when threading beads to make snakes. More able children select and persevere to complete 30 piece puzzles independently. More able children are not suitably challenged through routines activities in using their mathematical awareness to solve problems.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children investigate various objects and materials and use their senses to explore them. They observe and comment on change in properties and observe change over time when growing bulbs. Children explore construction materials, and use various resources to build, sometimes with a purpose in mind. They develop skills to operate simple equipment and computer programmes. They have limited opportunities to gain awareness of other cultures.

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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: Generally Good Children move with confidence indoors and outdoors, and change direction to avoid obstacles. They move in a range of ways, for example, they crawl, run and when outside jump off tyres and land with ease on their feet. Children develop climbing and balancing skills, and throw, catch and retrieve balls and beanbags. They use writing implements, tools and construction kits with increasing control. Children do not have enough opportunities to move their bodies in response to music.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children mix colours and explore what happens, talking about what they see and feel. They explore various textures and make collages, drawings and paintings and communicate their ideas and express themselves freely. Children show interest in the sounds musical instruments make and recognise and match sounds. They sing simple songs with enjoyment and join in ring games. Children engage in role play and play co-operatively in the same story line, using props to support their 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 evaluation system to determine whether children achieved the learning outcomes of activities, link these to assessments of children's progress and use them to inform future planning, to ensure more able children are suitably challenged • improve provision for children with special educational needs by supporting, monitoring and reviewing their progress regularly, to include setting up individual plans and liaising with outside agencies to ensure consistency of care • increase opportunities for parents to comment on, and contribute to, assessments of their children's progress.

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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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