Periton Mead School

Broad Oak Pre-school Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 109390 Inspection date 09/03/2011 Inspector Liz Caluori

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Setting address Broad Oak Village Hall, Burwash Road, Broad Oak, East Sussex, TN21 8SS Telephone number 01435 864326 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

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

Broad Oak Pre-school is a committee run provision which opened in 1969. It operates from two rooms in the village hall, on the main road through Broad Oak. There are toilet and kitchen facilities and a fully enclosed outdoor play area.

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Description of the setting

The group is registered to care for a maximum of 30 children at any one time. There are currently 42 children, aged from two to four years, on roll. The setting is able to welcome children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and to care for those who speak English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

The pre-school operates Monday to Friday during school term times with sessions from 9.15am to 12.45pm each day and extended lunch sessions until 2.15pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Children attend for a variety of sessions.

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Description of the setting

There are eight members of staff employed to work with the children, six of whom hold recognised early years qualification and two are working towards a qualification. The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is outstanding.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children make excellent progress in the inclusive, child-centred and extremely friendly environment. The care and attention given to identifying and addressing their needs promotes their self-esteem and enables them to develop as individuals. A strong commitment to safeguarding ensures that children are appropriately protected and impressive self-evaluation enables staff to offer a service which is constantly evolving to meet the needs of its users. Highly effective communication and information sharing with parents, carers and other professionals ensures that children receive carefully planned, co-ordinated and consistent care.

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further?

To further improve the high quality early years provision the registered person should consider:

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further?

 reviewing the organisation of the written risk assessments to more clearly indicate the good practices in place. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

Excellent focus is placed on safeguarding children. The manager is the designated child protection officer and has attended training to support her in this role. The procedures in place to record and monitor concerns are entirely appropriate and the contact details needed to make a referral are kept on file. Children are also protected by the robust recruitment procedures in place to ensure that children are cared for by staff who are fully vetted and suitably qualified. Risk assessments are undertaken to identify potential hazards and these are skilfully adapted to ensure that the varying abilities and personalities of individual children are taken into account. Whilst the required written records of these assessments are clearly maintained and well ordered, the manager has struggled to find a format that she feels is easy to use and entirely suits the playgroup's needs.

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the early years provision

The committee, manager and staff team work very effectively together creating a harmonious, well organised environment in which children thrive. Excellent systems are in place to observe children, monitor their progress and identify their individual next steps. As a result, children take part in activities which they thoroughly enjoy, unaware of the considerable planning and coordination that has taken place in order to address their individual needs. Similarly, an outstanding commitment to continuous improvement and highly effective self-evaluation results a practices which are constantly reviewed and adapted to reflect the evolving needs of the children and their families.

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the early years provision

Children play with a wonderful selection of toys and resources which are very attractively presented, well maintained and in sufficient quantities to enable a large number of children to join in most games. Children are given good encouragement to share and take turns and, on occasion a timer is used to resolve conflict over a particularly popular toy. Space is well organised to allow children to explore and investigate safely and independently. They very confidently move around the setting selecting the activities they wish to take part in and the resources the wish to play with. The organisation of the arts and craft equipment is particularly inspiring and very successfully engages children's interest.

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the early years provision

Children's individual personalities, learning styles, interests and levels of achievement are fully recognised and staff use this knowledge to offer care and support that is entirely appropriate to their needs. The playgroup is based in an area which currently has little ethnic or cultural diversity and so experiences and activities are planned which are specifically aimed at encouraging children to understand and respect diversity. The traditions and beliefs of the children and their families are marked wherever possible. Examples of this include a celebration organised to reflect a German carnival in which children dressed up and enjoyed pretzels and doughnuts. The children have also recently learnt about a Greek custom of painting red eggs which runs alongside the Easter celebrations.

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the early years provision

Outstanding arrangements are in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery makes excellent use of the support available from the local authority to seek advice and support where necessary. The building This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 is fully accessible and staff are committed to attending additional training in order to meet children's specific care needs. Similarly effective procedures are in place to support children and families for whom English is an additional language.

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the early years provision

Children gain great benefit from the very positive relationships which are fostered with their parents and carers. Staff and committee members offer a very friendly greeting as parents and carers deliver and collect their children. They also provide an impressive range of written information including newsletters, policies and regularly updated notice boards. Parents and carers are extremely well informed about the progress their child is respond well to the opportunities provided for them to contribute observations from home and to set future goals for their child. The playgroup has been pro-active in its efforts to create good working relationships and effective communication with other professionals.

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and outcomes for children

Children have a fabulous time as the play and learn. They make outstanding progress as a result of the excellent range of experiences on offer and the high level of support they received from the staff. They enjoy very good encouragement to explore and investigate their environment and to develop the confidence to experiment and discover for themselves. There is an appropriate amount of structure and routine in each session but the majority of the time children play freely with their chosen activities. The staff very skilfully extend children's learning by building on their interests to introduce new concepts and ideas.

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and outcomes for children

Children are exceptionally sociable, enthusiastic and independent in their learning. Those who are less confident when starting at the pre-school are given extremely good support to settle. Children chat happily as they play and use language very effectively to voice their opinion, share stories, ask questions and crack jokes. They also enjoy looking at books and listening to staff reading stories. Many are able to recognise, write and sound out many letters. Similarly impressive support is offered to promote children's problem solving, reasoning and numeracy skills. They count, compare, match, sort and sequence confidently and make good use of resources such as tape measures in order to understand the importance of numbers in everyday life. Children demonstrate wonderful levels of creativity as they make cards and pictures either as a gift for a parents, carers or a member of staff or to contribute to the displays around the room. They also enjoy charming,

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and outcomes for children

imaginative and often hilarious role play games during which they interact very cooperatively with their friends.

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and outcomes for children

The outdoor area is attractively presented and for much of the session children are able to move freely between the indoor and outdoor play areas. They have superb opportunities to take part in a broad range of activities such as investigating nature, using chalks, imaginative play and physical games. Children are well prepared for the future, including their transitions into school, as a result of their impressive learning achievements and the practical skills they develop such as dressing, cooking and using computers. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Remarkably good consideration is given to ensuring that children understand the importance of adopting healthy lifestyles. They are very independent in their toileting and routinely wash their hands. They benefit from very regular opportunities to take part in physical exercise. They also enjoy a range of healthy

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and outcomes for children

snacks and drinks during the session and speak knowledgeably about the importance of good nutrition. Children demonstrate their sense of security through their easy, comfortable interaction with staff and their clear understanding of the boundaries and routines in place. They are extremely well supported to learn how to keep themselves safe through discussions, stories and visits from agencies such as the police. 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 1 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 1 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 1

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 1 The extent to which children feel safe 1 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 1 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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