Trinity Pre-School

Trinity Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY244005 Inspection date 29/09/2010 Inspector Robina Tomes

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Setting address East Borough School, Vinters Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 5DX Telephone number 01622 755474 Email Type of setting Childcare on non-domestic premises to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as

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you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way.

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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of the registered early years provision. ‘Early years provision’ refers to provision regulated by Ofsted for children from birth to 31 August following their fifth birthday (the early years age group). The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and welfare, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Introduction

The provider must provide a copy of this report to all parents with children at the setting where reasonably practicable. The provider must provide a copy of the report to any other person who asks for one, but may charge a fee for this service (The Childcare (Inspection) Regulations 2008 regulations 9 and 10).

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Introduction

Please see our website for more information about each childcare provider. We publish inspection reports, conditions of registration and details of complaints we receive where we or the provider take action to meet the requirements of registration. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Description of the setting

Trinity Pre-School opened at its current setting in 2001. It has previously been operating for over 30 years and has operated from three different sites. It oper ates currently from two rooms and a large foyer in a modern building. It is situated on the site of East Borough School in Maidstone. The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register. A maximum of 36 children may attend the pre-school at any one time. The pre-school is open Monday to Thursday from 9.00am until 12 noon, 12 noon until 1pm and 1pm until 4pm and Friday 9am until 1pm term-time only. Children may attend a variety of sessions. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. There are currently 61 children aged from 2 to under 5 years on roll. Of these, 36 children receive funding for nursery education. Children come from a catchment area of the immediate and surrounding areas. The pre-school currently supports children with special educational needs, and also

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Description of the setting

supports children who speak English as an additional language. There is access for disabled pupils. The pre-school employs six staff in addition to the manager who is working towards Early Year Professional Status. One member of staff holds Qualified Teacher Status whilst all the others hold appropriate early years qualifications. The pre-school is a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is good.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children make good progress overall in this inclusive, well resourced and well organised pre-school. Children are safe and secure and enjoy learning and exploring in their stimulating environment. The partnerships with parents, the local school and other agencies are a key strength and significant in ensuring the needs of all children are met together with any support needs. Regular self-evaluation by the manager and staff ensures that areas for development are identified and acted on, resulting in a setting which promotes a positive outcome for children.

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further?

To further improve the early years provision the registered person should:

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further?

 continue to develop the assessment system to ensure that analysis of data is effectively used to monitor progress toward the early learning goals.  ensure planning is more closely linked to children’s individual targets; clearly identifies learning intentions and includes opportunities for open-ended and effective questioning to further extend children’s learning  include more opportunities for children to plan and review their self-chosen activities in order to support them in beginning to evaluate their own activities, learning and decision making. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

The manager's vision and drive for improvement has ensured a committed and cohesive team who work together well to provide a welcoming, well resourced, safe learning environment. Leaders and managers consistently communicate high expectations about securing improvement. The previous recommendations have been met. The use of a variety of languages including Spanish and Nepalese within the pre-school not only supports pupils learning English as an additional language, but raises children's' awareness of other languages. Childrens' welfare is safeguarded through an effective recruitment and vetting procedure. Staff have a good understanding of their responsibility in safeguarding children; they know and follow the procedures if they have any concerns about a child in their care. All the required documents, policies and procedures are in place for ensuring the safety of children and the smooth running of the pre-school. The security of the premises is

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the early years provision

good and procedures for arrival and departure ensure children are handed over safely to a known adult. Annual appraisals assess the staff's ongoing suitability and identify training needs.

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the early years provision

The committed team continue to build their expertise through the sharing of ideas and practice and ongoing training. All staff are involved in the self-evaluation process and have opportunities to feedback and reflect on their practice. The good links with the Childrens' Centre, also based in the school grounds, and the local authority have supported effective training. The pre-school also has effective links with the school through which good transition procedures are developed and external agencies in order to ensure support where needed. Parents have the opportunity to contribute to self-evaluation through questionnaires, open days and ongoing feedback, in addition to their day-to-day contact book. Comments like 'brilliant', and 'couldn't ask for anywhere better', are an indication of the overwhelming positive views from parents about the pre-school. This is an inclusive setting where staff are effective in identifying any additional needs and

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the early years provision

ensuring appropriate support. All children including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or learning to speak English as an additional language make good progress toward the early learning goals.

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the early years provision

The pre-school uses a variety of assessments, including photographs, samples of work and observations which feed into each child's unique story to record their progress. Individual targets linked to the Early Foundation Stage framework are beginning to be set from these assessments, although these are not yet clearly enough linked to learning intentions through their planning. Parents share information through the daily contact book, the pre-school is in the process of developing a system of sharing the recently introduced child's unique story with parents to more fully involve them in their child's progress. Whilst staff know individual children well, they are still in the early stages of collecting and analysing the data from individual records to ensure that all areas of learning are covered effectively over the term and year. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

Children arrive eagerly at the pre-school where they are welcomed and use their name cards for self-registration to support the development of their literacy skills. Then they happily choose one of the activities set out in the clean, well-organised and attractively resourced areas. Children feel safe and secure in this inclusive environment where equality and diversity are effectively promoted. Parents are welcome to stay with children new to the pre-school to enable them to settle more easily. Children take responsibility for themselves and others as reflected in way they collaborate to tidy up or sound the triangle to call children to 'welcome time'. They enjoy the focused input in the adult-led sessions at the beginning and end of the day. Opportunities for every child to take a leading role in the whole class sessions help to develop children's self-confidence. Also the use of the 'mantra lingua' pen to translate common phrases is an indication of the high quality input

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and outcomes for children

for children learning to speak English as an additional language. There are few opportunities to enable children to plan and review their self-chosen activities which would involve them more closely in thinking, and making decision about the activities they experienced. The key worker system ensures staff have a good knowledge of their children which promotes good progress in both their learning and well-being.

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and outcomes for children

The ongoing assessments feed into planning and link to the framework, which results in a range of suitable and stimulating activities both in and outdoors. However there are not enough planned opportunities for effective, open-ended questioning to enable children to reflect on their activities and decision making. Mark making is high profile in all areas and children take up the opportunities to write and record both inside and on the board outside. Others eagerly use the outdoor area, for instance, confidently negotiating the track on the cars and scooters or using the wheelbarrow to transfer items around. The pre-school makes good use of their large wooded area to provide quiet areas for reading, socialising or exploring numbers but also has exciting opportunities to enable children to explore and devise their own activities, such as the building of the track for cars from the logs available. Children take the opportunities offered o rest, share and

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and outcomes for children

read books, use the computer programs available or play in the role play areas.

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and outcomes for children

Children have a good understanding of how to be healthy including the need for exercise. They apply and practise their learning whilst engaged in a variety of physical activities, for instance, one child continually counts six, seven, eight, nine as she pushes a car round the track. They participate well at snack time and are aware of the need to wash their hands; they take responsibility for selecting fruit and pouring their own drinks. Individual children help to prepare for snack time. Most children have a good understanding of routines and expectations and follow them well, however, there are missed opportunities to involve children in thinking further about or devising rules, for instance how to take turns on the cars or scooter. Children are developing good skills for the future. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Annex A: record of inspection judgements

The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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Annex A: record of inspection judgements

Grade 1 is Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Grade 2 is Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Grade 3 is Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Grade 4 is Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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children in the Early Years Foundation Stage?

The capacity of the provision to maintain continuous improvement

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Early Years Foundation Stage

The effectiveness of leadership and management in embedding ambition and driving improvement The effectiveness with which the setting deploys resources 2 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 2 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 1 The effectiveness of the setting’s engagement with parents and carers

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Stage

The quality of the provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage 2

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 2 The extent to which children feel safe 2 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 2 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 2

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Stage

procedures set out in the guidance available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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