Holgate Preschool

Holgate Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 321496 Inspection date 29/03/2011 Inspector Helene Terry

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Setting address Holgate Methodist Church, Acomb Road, York, North Yorkshire, YO24 4AE Telephone number 07957101801 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

Holgate Pre-school was registered in 1992. It run by a voluntary committee and operates from rooms on the first floor of Holgate Methodist Church in York, North Yorkshire. The pre-school runs Monday to Friday between 9.30 am and 12.30 pm term time only. All children share access to an outdoor play area. A maximum of 24 children in the early years age range may attend the pre-school at any one time. This provision is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register. There are currently 39 children aged from two to four years on roll, of whom 34 receive funding for nursery education. The pre-school serves the local community and supports children who speak English as an additional language. Children attend for a variety of sessions throughout the week.

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Description of the setting

The pre-school employs seven staff, of whom all have relevant early years qualifications. The setting receives support from the local authority and is a member of the Preschool 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

Staff are very caring towards the children and are fully committed to ensuring the children are happy and secure in their care. Children are engaged in a range of well-presented activities and they make good progress in their learning and development. Inclusive practice is promoted throughout the setting, ensuring all children are able to fully participate in all activities offered. The setting works in close partnership with parents and they generally work well with other professionals to ensure children's individual needs are met. The staff team are extremely committed to the continuous development of the setting and they demonstrate a strong capacity to maintain continuous improvement to improve outcomes for children.

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further?

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

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further?

 develop systems for the sharing of information with other settings that children attend who offer the Early Years Foundation Stage to ensure continuity of care and education for each child  extend further information gathered from parents about children's starting points when they begin attending the setting  use the observations made of the children to identify learning priorities and ensure that all six areas of learning are clearly tracked over a period of time for each child. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

Children are protected very well because staff have a clear understanding about their safeguarding responsibilities towards children and procedures for reporting any concerns. Strong recruitment and vetting procedures are in place for ensuring adults working with the children are suitable to do so. All visitors to the premises are recorded to further safeguard children and the staff team are vigilant in their supervision of the children to keep them safe. Children's safety is also promoted well as daily safety checks and risk assessments are completed with regard to the in and outdoor environment to ensure the facilities are safe and potential hazards to children are minimised. The warm welcoming environment is organised very well. The play areas are set up prior to children's arrival to ensure they have free access to many resources so that they can independently help themselves. Children are active independent learners and are confident to follow their own

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the early years provision

interests. The walls are adorned with children's work and informative and stimulating posters to ensure that everyone feels welcome and children have a sense of belonging. A good range of documentation, records and policies and procedures are used to effectively underpin the setting.

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the early years provision

Children benefit from the strong and sensitive approach to partnerships with parents. The effective key person system provides a good channel of communication between the setting and parents, which in turn ensures continuity of care and supports staff to meet each child's individual needs. Staff members are available to share information about children's ongoing progress with parents at the beginning and end of each session. There are also more formal avenues for parents to share their views about the setting and their child's learning. Although, staff do obtain information from parents about children's basic needs when they first start the preschool this is not in depth enough to ensure that staff can assess children's starting points on the early years framework. This limits staffs ability to plan for children's individual learning needs as soon as they begin attending the setting. Parents' make many positive comments about the setting, including the

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the early years provision

fact that the staff team are very caring, friendly and there is a regular exchange of information.

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the early years provision

The setting demonstrates a strong commitment to providing an inclusive service. All children and families are welcomed, valued and systems are effective in supporting integration into the setting for all children, regardless of need. The setting fully understands their responsibilities to work with parents and other agencies to meet the needs of children with additional needs and those who speak English as an additional language. However, they currently do not have strong links with other settings that children attend who deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage this potentially affects their ability to support children's continuity of care and progression.

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the early years provision

Self-evaluation and monitoring systems within the setting are good. The action plans show staff's clear vision for future improvements. The new management team have introduced many new strategies to bring about improvements within the setting to enhance the outcomes for the children. Parents and children's views This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 are used in evaluating the setting. For example, parent consultation events have been arranged owing to parents' requests for more information about their children's development. Staff also recognise the value of having outside support from their Local Authority advisors and the keen willingness from the staff team demonstrates the capacity to make any necessary improvements. Furthermore, staff continue to develop their childcare skills through attending relevant training opportunities, in order to update their childcare knowledge and to improve their

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the early years provision

practice. They have also addressed the recommendations from the last inspection effectively improving outcomes for all children.

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and outcomes for children

Children are very happy to come to the setting and show their growing confidence as they separate from parents on arrival and are keen to explore the inviting play environment. Staff are caring, considerate and genuinely enjoy the children's company. They show interest in children's news and ideas and offer them lots of praise and encouragement. As a result, children are happy and secure at this setting. Children behave well and respond to expectations. They interact with each other, play cooperatively, take turns and share resources well. The staff team monitor children's progress; they carry out regular observations and record these in each child's learning journal. However, not all staff are recording the next steps for children's development, which is used to link into the planning of the activities. Staff are also currently not tracking children's progress across all areas of learning and potentially gives rise to gaps in children's learning.

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and outcomes for children

Children are benefiting from enjoyable experiences linked to their interests and stages of development. There is a good balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities. Children's communication and language skills are effectively promoted. Staff ask children open ended questions to extend their thinking and they positively respond to the children's communication and lively conversation flows. Books and favourite stories are offered to all children as a way of engaging them in early literacy skills. Children know that print carries meaning as they look at books and listen to stories with staff members. They recognise their names as they self register at snack time and concentrate as they mark make with a range of pens and papers. Some children are writing their own names whilst younger children give meaning to their lines and squiggles. Children learn about different shapes as they play with puzzles and they begin to understand about size and weight when

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and outcomes for children

staff talk with them about things that are heavy and light in the sand tray. They have fun opportunities to explore different materials, such as play dough and develop their growing creativity as they paint and make collages. Role play equipment used by both boys and girls helps to foster children's imagination. Children enjoy pretending to buy tickets at the station office and making drinks and food in the play kitchen. Children are considerate and developing a rich understanding about others and the wider world to foster their future tolerance of difference. All children, regardless of gender or ability, are included in events and the setting ensures children are surrounded by positive imagery of wider society and celebrate world festivals. For example, they made boomerangs on Australia This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 day and tried Indian food and did henna style patterns as part of Diwali.

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and outcomes for children

Children learn to lead healthy lifestyles and adopt healthy habits. They develop good hygiene practices as they are encouraged to wash their hands after toileting and before eating their snack. Children learn about healthy eating and receive nutritious options at snack times. They also enjoyed making fruit pots as part of the activities on healthy eating. They are able to take responsibility for their own drinking needs throughout the sessions and delight in pouring their own milk or water at snack time. Children have regular opportunities to play outdoors in the grounds as part of their healthy lifestyle. They challenge their physical ability as they excitedly ride their bikes, play with balls or balance on the stepping blocks. However, they have limited opportunities to climb and swing. Children show they feel safe as they move around confidently both inside and out. They also are beginning to understand about keeping themselves safe when they take part in the

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and outcomes for children

regular fire drills and learn about road safety on outings. 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 3 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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