Patchway Centre Pre-School & Tots

Patchway Centre Playgroup Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 136049 Inspection date 24/05/2011 Inspector Carol Cox

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Setting address Patchway Community Centre, Rodway Road, Patchway, Bristol, Avon, BS34 5PF Telephone number 07875201322 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

Patchway Centre Playgroup opened in 1986 and operates from Patchway Community Centre, in Patchway, on the outskirts of Bristol. The group uses the main hall, new hall, toilets and an enclosed outside area. The playgroup is managed by a committee and serves the local community.

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Description of the setting

The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register to care for a maximum of 42 children at any one time. There are currently 53 children on roll aged between two and four years of age, of these 31 receive funding for free early years education. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The playgroup currently supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

The group is open daily between 9.15am and 12.15pm. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday they also offer a lunch club between 12.15pm and 12.45pm and an afternoon session from 12.45pm to 3.45pm, during term times. The setting employs nine members of staff, all hold appropriate early years qualifications.

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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 exceptionally good progress overall in all areas of care, learning and development. The well qualified and experienced staff in the pre-school offer an exciting and stimulating environment where each child is recognised as a valued individual and their needs carefully identified and met. Staff build extremely strong partnerships with parents, other professionals and services involved in the care of children, resulting in excellent support for children. The manager and her staff continually strive to improve the setting through highly effective use of self- evaluation to identify next areas for development, thus demonstrating extremely good capacity to maintain continuous improvement.

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further?

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

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further?

 developing the emergency evacuation procedure so that younger children have a greater understanding of the drill. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

Children's welfare is extremely well safeguarded through appropriate procedures and robust systems which follow the guidance of the Local Safeguarding Children Board. Staff members have an excellent understanding of the actions they should take should they have concerns about a child and have experience of doing so. Children's safety is further safeguarded from rigorous risk assessments and daily checks of all aspects of the pre-school provision. There are robust procedures in place to ensure that all staff working with children are checked by the Criminal Records Bureau before being allowed to work unsupervised with children. There are excellent recruitment procedures to ensure that new staff hold appropriate qualifications and have suitable references. Staff are very well qualified and benefit from strong leadership from the manager and her deputy and enjoy robust and professional support from committee members. They have a clear vision to provide

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the early years provision

excellent experiences for young children to offer them best possible life chances. The pre-school is firmly rooted in the community and offers care to successive generations of local families. Parents are highly valued as partners in their children's learning and development and are involved in identifying and supporting their individual needs. Children are further supported by excellent partnerships developed with other services and agencies working with individual children. Excellent links are built with the schools to which children move on to aid a smooth and happy transition.

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the early years provision

The manager and her staff work collaboratively to evaluate the quality of the pre- school provision. They continually review actions plans and clearly demonstrate their commitment to improvement. For example, in 2009 the self-evaluation identified the need to develop the garden. With help from parents, the committee and the local authority, the garden has been transformed and now offers a very exciting place for children to play and learn about the world. Resources offer great challenges to children; natural and recycled materials stimulate their imaginations and use of the local library extends the range of books. Many resources are home made and made freely accessible to children who learn to select materials to progress their play. Staff are very effectively deployed, for example one member of staff has been employed to cover the rolling snack time and attend to all administration. Children benefit from uninterrupted attention and support from

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the early years provision

staff. Children learn about equality and diversity in their everyday play. Their individual cultural, learning, health needs are carefully detailed and met. Children learn about the wider world through making regular visits in their local community and celebrating different festivals relevant to children's experiences and backgrounds.

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and outcomes for children

Children make outstanding progress in relation to their starting points. They quickly become happily and busily engaged in a wealth of activities and This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 opportunities to develop their own learning through play. For example, two three year-olds assemble a selection of materials, tools and media on a large floor cloth and demonstrate their competency with scissors and glue to create their own pictures. They chat happily and proudly explain the results with an attentive member of staff who admires their efforts and congratulates them. Children have free access to an abundance of tools and dig energetically. They learn about the natural world through observing the seasons and listening to bird songs. The garden is challenging with differently textured flooring, pebble beds and 'tree' climbing frames made out of wood. They build dens and use torches to make light

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and outcomes for children

patterns under a table. At story time a skilful reader holds a large group of children entranced in a story. Children begin to recognise their own names and some sound out initial letters when recognising name cards at registration. They begin to recognise numerals when they identify the date and count children and adults present at circle time. Staff use Makaton signing with all children, one boy demonstrates the sign for 'Friday'. Key persons maintain detailed and well illustrated learning journals which clearly demonstrate children's progress and identify next steps in learning. These journals are regularly shared with parents and children whose comments are carefully recorded. Staff meet weekly to plan activities to include every child's next steps and activities are reviewed to ensure each child's needs have been met. When children need further support this is recognised and accessed in full partnership with parents and other services.

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and outcomes for children

Children learn about the wider community through well planned visits, these visits are integrated into activities and offer extended learning for children, for example, when a vet visited the role play corner became a vet's surgery, this developed into a GP surgery as children started examining each other. They enjoy regular visits to a local library where children choose books to take back to pre-school, thus contributing to the good of all. Children learn excellent skills to support their future learning; they are enthusiastic and curious learners who begin to make choices about their own learning needs.

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and outcomes for children

Children benefit from developing very good independence skills and learning about healthy lifestyles. They understand the importance of protecting themselves from infection by washing their hands before eating. A rolling snack time means they start to understand their own physical needs and how to address them. Children grow fruit and vegetables in their garden and learn about the provenance of the food they eat. They enjoy physical exercise and fresh air from walks, outdoor play and music and dancing. Staff are highly skilled at meeting the specific medical needs of children, seeking parental advice and guidance and accessing medical training when needed. Adults help children learn to keep themselves safe, for example when crossing roads on their walks. They practise fire drills with all pre- school children but do not yet take younger children outside during drills, although they line up and learn to respond to staff instructions. Children appear extremely

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and outcomes for children

safe and secure in the setting and older children show a good understanding of the standards of behaviour expected and generally behave extremely well. They learn to use tools and equipment safely and are able to express their need for support appropriately. Excellent interactions with younger children help them settle and gain confidence in their play and learning. Children are proud of their pre-school and show a real sense of belonging. They help tidy away and understand the routines such as sitting at tables to eat and drink and enjoy sociably chatting with each other over lunch. As children get older they begin to cooperate with others This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 and younger children learn to share. They celebrate their festivals and share their experiences confidently with others. Children begin to show a regard and care for younger children. For example, in the garden a three year-old helps a younger

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and outcomes for children

child learn to pedal a car. Through excellent interactions with adults and a wonderful range of activities children begin to understand their place in the community. 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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