Harris Primary Academy Crystal Palace

St Oswald's Playgroup Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 139966 Inspection date 18/01/2011 Inspector Chris Mackinnon

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Setting address St Oswald's Church Hall, Brocks Drive, North Cheam, Surrey, SM3 9UW Telephone number 07914 668285 Email After Hours Number 07742751331 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.

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You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as 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

The setting also makes provision for children older than the early years age group which is registered on the voluntary and/or compulsory part(s) of the Childcare Register. This report does not include an evaluation of that provision, but a comment about compliance with the requirements of the Childcare Register is included in Annex B.

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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

The playgroup first opened in 1966 and operates from St Oswald Church, on the Park Farm Estate in the London Borough of Sutton. Children use the main hall and two other smaller rooms, and have access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. The playgroup is open each weekday morning from 8.50am to 11.50pm for four days per week and on Fridays in the afternoon from 12.30 to 3.30pm during term time only.

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Description of the setting

The setting is registered on the Early Years Register and on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. Children aged between two and under eight years may attend and the setting may care for no more than 30 children. The setting currently has 53 children on roll, and all are in the early years age group. The setting receives funding for nursery education, and is able to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The setting is also able to support children who speak English as an additional language. The playgroup employs 13 members of staff, and 10 have early years qualifications, with others completing training.

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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

The setting has a confident and experienced staff team and, overall, children's welfare and development is successfully promoted. Staff are highly effective in their organisation of planning and presentation of activities and the excellent quality of the teaching and assessment, ensures children make progress with their learning. The setting maintains good links with other carers, and has close partnerships with parents. The setting makes consistent use of self evaluation to promote improvement and is developing the range of outdoor play and learning opportunities provided.

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further?

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

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further?

 develop the range of learning opportunities for chidren in the outdoor play area  extend the range of risk assessments to include the outdoor area and all outings This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

This long established pre school setting is effectively lead and managed, with a well organised staff team including many trained day care practitioners. A strong feature of the setting is the consistently well organised key person system, that successfully supports individual children and helps them to progress. Staff consistently encourage and develop the learning of their key group children and contribute positively to the setting's planning and monitoring of achievement. Safeguarding is well organised within the setting, and staff follow clear procedures to ensure children are kept safe and secure. A clearly written range of policies and guidance material is also provided, including a range of risk assessments. However, the risk assessments were found not to be fully complete, with insufficient detail provided for outings and the use of the outdoor area. The setting provides a well organised learning environment for children, with a

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the early years provision

large main indoor play area, and access to two smaller rooms within the church hall. The presentation of resources and play materials is well organised to stimulate children's exploration and interests, with a good range of role play and small world play materials available to encourage child led activities. Art crafts and creative activities feature strongly within the setting and a wide range of resources are presented to encourage learning with assembly and connecting play systems. Children benefit from frequent physical play in the setting's main hall and have access during the session, to outdoor play at the side of the building. The outdoor play area that is currently in use is restricted in space, and although secure, children have limited play opportunities. The setting is in the process of developing a larger area for outdoor activities, and the development of more learning opportunities for children outdoors, is an area for improvement.

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the early years provision

The setting consistently supports individual children's development. Staff take care to ensure all children are included and have a high level of one-to-one contact. Children with special educational needs are consistently well supported, and trained staff are in place to provide support and individual development programmes to ensure children successfully engage with the setting. The setting has a staff member designated to promote inclusion and diversity awareness, and children are effectively provided with activities to encourage their awareness of people?s differences. A series of planned festivals throughout the year, also helps children to understand about other cultures. Staff are effective in making links with other settings and share information on children with the teachers at the nearby school. Parents benefit from close and frequent contact with their children's key persons, and parents have regular

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the early years provision

opportunities to review the highly detailed and consistent information that is recorded on children's learning progress. Staff at the setting make good use of the home learning book to develop individual children?s interests and key staff gather information from parents on children?s home experiences. A parents' notices area is also used to advise parents about the setting's current play themes and learning projects. The setting shows confidence in the use of reflective practice, and staff use consistent methods to assess the effectiveness of the play programme. Staff have frequent meetings and key staff effectively share information and take time to evaluate individual children's progress and achievement. The setting has This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 successfully completed the Ofsted self-evaluation document, which has enabled staff to identify a number of areas for development, particularly the widening of

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the early years provision

support and contact with parents and improving children's access to outdoor play and learning. Since the last inspection the setting has successfully met all the recommendations made, with significant improvement in the use of observation and assessment, which is now a strong and highly consistent aspect of the setting's practice.

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and outcomes for children

The setting is highly effective in its presentation of planned learning, and overall the quality of the support provided for children's enjoying and achieving is outstanding. The main organisation of planning relies on the setting's highly successful and well maintained key person system and overall high quality of staff's individual skills. For example, each key person is responsible for having individual planning in place for all of their key group children. Staff have a good level of training, and show excellent confidence with teaching and promoting children's achievement. Staff are able to easily describe what areas of learning are being explored during focused activities. For example, during a paint pattern making activity, staff develop children?s awareness of colours and make links to what they see around them. Staff are able to confidently demonstrate how they extend children's learning and make use of questions to

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and outcomes for children

develop children's creative thinking. For example, during an art craft activity making paper flowers, staff help children to explore shapes and size; and encourage their manipulative skills and use of tools. The setting effectively uses key person working to manage the observation and assessment of children's progress. Staff make good use of information from home to establish children?s starting points. Staff work in a highly organised and consistent way to provide detailed observations, with periodic written assessments, that are well linked to the six areas of learning and children's learning stages. The setting makes excellent use of photographs within the children's development records, and a clear visual guide is also provided, so parents can easy follow their children's achievements. Throughout the play programme, key staff show the effectiveness of their assessment system, and provide an outstanding level of

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and outcomes for children

continuous input, to monitor and record children's progress. Staff take care to ensure children are made welcome and feel safe within the setting and key staff work closely with parents, to help new children settle within the provision. Staff follow clear procedures to maintain safety and security and daily checks are made of the resources and play environment. Staff successfully promote children's healthy development and children enjoy healthy snacks and learn about different foods. Frequent opportunities are provided to promote children's physical and active play, and children benefit from a range of physical challenges with climbing, balance and music and movement sessions. A range of outdoor activities are provided, including push rides and sand play; where children learn to fill and pour from containers. Children are also encouraged to be observant outdoors, which supports their knowledge and understanding of the

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and outcomes for children

wider world. They learn about the weather, and the seasons and talk with staff This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 about the shapes and colours of trees and clouds. Close support is provided to encourage and maintain the children's good behaviour, and staff are effective in helping children to make a positive contribution to the play sessions. Group learning activities, successfully foster children's personal and social learning. For example, at set times during the morning, small groups of children in the rising fives age group take part in a planned learning activity, such as a challenging memory game. This helps them learn to take turns and be able to sit and listen to guidance from staff. Children are able to learn about feelings and explore emotions, though the use of stories, and children and staff together enjoy reading and learning with books. Children learn

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and outcomes for children

to be considerate and aware of others and are successfully guided to work together during child led activities, with the play kitchen and roadway sets. The promotion of children's future learning skills is highly successful and a direct result of the setting's consistent activity planning and high quality interactions with staff. The setting makes effective use of learning themes, and at inspection it was 'colours of the rainbow'. Weekly play themes are also introduced and these prove to be highly effective in helping children to extend their learning and awareness, by looking for the colour yellow within the play environment, for example. A good range of activities are included to support children's creative learning, and well organised art and craft projects are provided, and children also have excellent opportunities to explore problem solving, and learn about shapes and numbers; with puzzles, assembly tasks and memory games. Staff are consistent in their

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and outcomes for children

encouragement of children's speech, and children are successfully helped to communicate their ideas and wishes. Opportunities for mark making and recognising letters and words are also well included, and staff take care to promote these important learning elements effectively during both planned and child initiated activities. 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 2 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 1 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 1

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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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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are: Met

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are: Met

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