Hollinhey Primary School

Datchworth Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 146430 Inspection date 21/03/2011 Inspector Lindsay Hare

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Setting address Datchworth Village Hall, 52 Datchworth Green, Datchworth, Hertfordshire, SG3 6TL Telephone number 01438 814310 Email info@datchworthpreschool.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

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

Datchworth Pre-School opened in 1994 and operates from the village hall in the village of Datchworth which is located in a rural area of Hertfordshire. The children have access to two rooms and have shared access to an enclosed outside area.

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Description of the setting

A maximum of 26 children in the early years age group may attend the pre-school at any one time. The pre-school is open each weekday from 9am until 12pm and there is an option of an additional lunch club from 12pm until 1pm. The pre-school is open term time only. There are currently 40 children on roll, all of whom are in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register only.

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Description of the setting

The pre-school currently supports children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and has systems in place to support children who speak English as an additional language. The pre-school employs seven staff, including the manager who all hold appropriate early years qualifications. The pre-school has completed the Herts Quality Standards accreditation.

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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 provides a safe and welcoming environment for children, ensuring they are all included and supported. Partnerships with parents are excellent and clear procedures ensure that they are kept well informed, and the children's needs are met. All the required documentation is in place, although some lack the necessary details and a requirement has not been met. Children make good progress in their learning and development, although there are some minor weaknesses in the assessment process. The setting seeks feedback from parents and children in order to further identify priorities for improvement and implement changes to improve the quality of the provision and the outcomes for children.

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further?

To meet the specific requirements of the EYFS, the registered person must:

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further?

 obtain information from parents about who has legal contact with the child; and who has parental responsibility for the child (Safeguarding and promoting children's welfare) 06/04/2011

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further?

 ensure that an accurate record of the children's hours of attendance is kept (Documentation) 06/04/2011 This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 To further improve the early years provision the registered person should:

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further?

 link the observational assessment to the specific elements of the Early Years Foundation Stage

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the early years provision

Children's welfare, care and safety are promoted well. Staff have a sound understanding of the procedure to follow, if they have a safeguarding concern. They have attended safeguarding children training and have recently updated their safeguarding policy. There are robust vetting procedures in place to ensure the suitability of staff and good security measures in place to ensure children are kept safe at all times, such as, the collection book and staff standing by the door at arrival and collection times. However, accurate times of arrival and collection are not recorded on the register. Comprehensive risk assessments with timescales for actions are carried out as well as daily safety checks to ensure all hazards are minimised. The setting goes on outings within the local area, such as, Bluebell woods, local shop and post office and risk assessments are conducted prior to the outing. The necessary documentation is in place, however, a requirement has not

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the early years provision

been met with regards to obtaining information about who has parental responsibility for the children.

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the early years provision

The setting's professional and friendly approach to maintaining effective partnerships with parents ensures that children's care is consistently promoted. Staff are proactive in developing ways to support children and families with additional needs. For example, using text messages to contact parents who are deaf. A visual timetable, photographs and key words are used in promoting communication with children with speech and language delay, as well as those who speak English as an additional language. There are excellent systems in place to share information and keep parents informed about their children's care and progress, through daily discussion, newsletters, website, consultations and sharing of children's learning journeys. Parents are able to contribute to their children's learning, for example, they are encouraged to come in and help, and a 'dad's week' was held especially to encourage fathers to be involved. Children take home

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the early years provision

story sacks to share at home with their families; one child developed this by making her own nest like the one in the story. Detailed information is gathered from parents when they start and questionnaires enable parents to have input into topics and planning for children's individual interests and needs. The provision has lots of involvement with external agencies, liaising with childminders who bring children to the provision as well as links with the primary school to aid transition. Children explore different cultural backgrounds and customs, for example one parent visited in traditional Nigerian costume and cooked plantains, and showed how a baby is held in a papoose. Another parent from Poland came in to cook with the children. Other visits from a vet, dental nurse and harpist encourage children's knowledge and understanding of the world around them.

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the early years provision

Staff attend regular staff and network meetings and are encouraged to attend ongoing training and continue their own professional development. All staff are This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 involved in evaluating the setting, using a reflection book to evaluate and make changes in any aspect of the provision There are clearly identified areas for development and action plans are in place to implement these. Improvements have been made, taking into account the actions and recommendations from the last inspection and feedback from parents. For example, recent changes, such as, holding consultation evenings to accommodate working parents and giving a picture survey to children so they are more involved in choosing resources.

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and outcomes for children

Children have access to activities and resources which are stimulating and interesting The free-flow outside area has been developed to offer lots of experiences both inside and outdoors, such as painting, planting, building and dressing up. Children dig the soil, water the daffodils and make mud pies. Through the topic work, they have planted seeds and know what seeds need to grow, talking to each other about what they are doing 'my seed is going to grow into a yellow flower, oh; I've run out of water'. The role play area is set up as a garden centre and children make paper flowers to sell. Staff ensure that children are given opportunities to settle, for example one child continued with his painting instead of joining the others as it was his first day.

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and outcomes for children

The flexible planning ensures all children are involved in learning and taking part in activities of their choice and interest and parents are also able to contribute to the planning of activities. Detailed observations, photographs, examples of work are collected in the learning journeys and are linked to the six areas of learning, rather than the specific steps leading towards the early learning goals. The key worker is able to identify from the learning journeys the next steps for those children and this is then fed into the planning. Children's independence is fully promoted, as they use small jugs to pour their own drinks, cut up their banana and put their finished pictures in the box. One child was overheard telling another child that he needed to put his coat on if he was going outside.

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and outcomes for children

Children gain an understanding of how things work as they use the interactive board to create pictures and then play back what they have drawn. Children self- register using named photo cards and there are lots of written labels around to encourage word recognition, including a Braille alphabet. The older children are beginning to recognise individual letters and their sound. They use large paper to write their names outside and various items dipped in paint, such as cotton reels and toy cars, to make marks. Opportunities within the routine, such as counting the number of adults and how many cups they will need promotes children's understanding of numeracy and they are able to recognise the numeral on the number line. Children develop physically as they use beanbags, bats and hoops, dance with scarves and do star jumps around the hall. Staff support them in walking on stilts and they practise balancing on the wooden planks.

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and outcomes for children

This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Gentle reminders and clear explanations as well as good role models contribute to children's understanding of how to behave well. Staff promote children's awareness of a healthy lifestyle as they talk about cleaning the table to get rid of germs before snack and discuss why they feel hot and tired after dancing. High priority is given to helping children learn to keep themselves safe as they practise the emergency evacuation procedure and know not to use the hot taps which are covered. Staff reinforce this as they talk about the knife being sharp as children use it to cut their banana and discuss recycling the banana skin into the compost. They learn about road safety as they role play with props, being a lollipop lady and using a zebra crossing. Children are encouraged to take turns and understand why they need to wear one of the three bands when using the climbing frame.

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and outcomes for children

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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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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