Queen's Park Infant Academy

White Rock Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 139447 Inspection date 20/01/2011 Inspector Heather Morgan

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Setting address Hookhills Community Centre, Freshwater Drive, Paignton, Devon, TQ4 7SB Telephone number 01803 845989 Email karenhornabrook@hotmail.co.uk 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

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

White Rock Pre-School is a well established, charity run pre-school, registered in 1992. It operates from Hookhills Community Centre, in Paignton, Devon. It has its own room and access to an outdoor area that is also used by community centre members.

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Description of the setting

The pre-school is run by a committee and is registered on the Early Years Register. It cares for up to 20 children aged between two and five years. It is open between 9am and 3pm on weekdays, during school term times. There are currently 43 children on roll. The pre-school receives funding for the provision of free early education for three- and four-year-olds. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

A staff of six work with the children, five of whom hold appropriate childcare qualifications. The sixth member of staff is working towards a qualification.

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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 are safe, secure and enjoy participating in both indoor and outdoor activities. They make good progress overall in their learning because the skilled team of staff knows each of them well, and plan a range of interesting activities that reflect their current interests. The staff regularly review and evaluate their practice to develop and implement action plans that drive improvement. Staff are currently building on the good relationships they have already established with parents and other practitioners to ensure that all adults are working together to support all children in achieving their full potential.

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further?

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

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further?

 develop further the procedures for identifying children's next steps for learning, taking account of information from parents and other early years providers where appropriate  encourage more social interaction between children during snack and lunch times. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

Good attention is paid to keeping children safe and secure at the pre-school. Robust recruitment and vetting procedures ensure the suitability of the staff team. A comprehensive assessment of risks is undertaken and steps taken to minimise hazards both indoors, outdoors and when on outings. Staff are particularly vigilant when monitoring outdoor play in the garden of their shared premises in a community facility. Staff attend regular training to keep them up to date with procedures that are in place to help them protect children from harm.

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the early years provision

Children are making good progress in their learning and development because staff offer them an interesting range of activities. Staff are skilled at responding to children's interests and developing their play to extend their learning. For example, they ask open-ended questions to encourage children to work things out for themselves, they introduce relevant vocabulary to help children express themselves and they suggest resources such as mark-making materials to develop their role play. Staff use the indoor and outdoor environments well to engage all children in purposeful play and encourage them to make independent choices. For example, they recognise that some boys prefer the outdoor environment, so staff ensure they provide activities and resources to promote children's literacy and numeracy skills in the garden as well as indoors.

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the early years provision

Regular self-evaluation is used effectively to drive improvement. All of the staff are committed to their own professional development and to improving outcomes for children. They enthusiastically access training to explore new ideas which are shared with the rest of the team and implemented to promote children's learning and development. For example, they have introduced activities that encourage children to recognise and explore rhyming words, and to focus on favourite stories, creating attractive story boards to help children recall different aspects of the story. Staff also value the input of other professionals, and have recently improved their risk assessment procedures following the advice of the local early years advisory team.

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the early years provision

Staff are deployed effectively to support children's independent choices and interact sensitively with their play to challenge them and extend their learning. They provide children with an attractive range of resources, both indoors and outdoors, that they are able to access independently and that sustains their interest well. Children are beginning to develop an awareness of their own and other cultures by exploring favourite stories and celebrating different traditions and festivals. On occasions, staff do not make the most of opportunities to encourage children's social interactions with each other, for example at snack and lunch times.

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the early years provision

The pre-school staff are currently focusing on developing their partnership with parents, building on the good relationships they have already established. Parents have access to a wide range of information about the group and have recently been able to access this electronically as well as in hard copy. Parent evenings are used to provide further information, such as the introduction of new programmes This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 to promote children's early communication skills. Parents value the information gathered in learning diaries and some contribute information about children's learning at home or their particular interests. Good relationships have also been established with other professionals. For example, staff seek external advice to help them support children in specific areas such as language development. The pre-school has also developed good communication links with other early years

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the early years provision

providers attended by some of the children. However, they do not incorporate this information when developing children's next steps for learning to ensure a consistent approach to building on what children already know and can do.

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and outcomes for children

Children are developing a good awareness of how to keep themselves safe. They use tools such as scissors safely, carefully carry chairs, keeping the legs pointing downwards, and skilfully navigate their way around the indoor and outdoor environment. For example, when playing outdoors they know that they all need to ride their bikes and scooters in the same direction.

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and outcomes for children

Children are also developing healthy lifestyles as they make independent choices about playing outdoors in the fresh air, and enjoy plenty of physical exercise. They help themselves to drinks of water when they are thirsty and enjoy eating fresh and dried fruits at snack times. They are very familiar with hygiene routines and carefully wash and dry their hands after visiting the toilet or before they eat.

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and outcomes for children

Children are independent and enthusiastic learners. They enjoy initiating their own play and are good at cooperating with one another, sharing resources and taking turns. Children's behaviour is good. They settle quickly, are familiar with the daily routines and clearly enjoy their time at pre-school. They are supported well by a team of staff who skilfully engages with them to extend their learning. For example, they encourage them to count two circuits of the play area on their scooter before letting another child have a turn, they join them in the book area and read them stories and they help them express themselves by using vocabulary such as 'taller than' and 'higher' when supporting them in the construction area.

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and outcomes for children

Children are making good progress in their learning and development because they engage in a wide range of activities that are planned specifically to reflect their current interests. They enjoy a good balance between activities they choose for themselves and those that are instigated by adults. For example, they choose whether to play indoors or in the garden, and have a good selection of resources that they can access independently. At other times of the day they enjoy planned, group activities, such as listening to stories. The activities on offer provide children with opportunities to explore sound, colour and texture during creative activities and to develop an awareness of their own and the wider environment on walks and visits to places of local interest. The children's computer is equipped with a large, colourful keyboard featuring lower case letters, which helps them become confident and independent in managing technological equipment. Children enjoy

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and outcomes for children

experimenting with different resources to make marks on paper and in the outdoor This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 environment. They are proud of their achievements and enjoy looking at their own learning diaries or examples of their work displayed around the room. 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 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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