Morda Village Pre School

Morda Village Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY407758 Inspection date 24/06/2011 Inspector Kath Harding

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Setting address Morda C of E Primary School, Morda, OSWESTRY, Shropshire, SY10 9NR Telephone number 01691688743 Email mordapreschool@btconnect.com 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

Morda Village Pre-school opened in 1986 and moved to its new premises on the school site in the village of Morda, near Oswestry, in 2010. The premises are shared with Children's Centre facilities. The pre-school make use of all areas of the building and have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The pre-school serves the local area and is registered on the Early Years Register to care for up to 24 children. There are curently 35 children on roll. The provision is also registered on the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register and provides out of school care.

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Description of the setting

The provision is open Monday to Friday during school term times. Sessions are from 8am to 3pm. Extra sessions are provided during various school holidays. There are five staff members working with the children, of these, over half hold child care 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 excellent progress towards the early learning goals. An exceptional knowledge of each child's individual needs enables staff to successfully promote children's learning and welfare to an exceptionally high level. Staff have an outstanding partnership with parents and have excellent links with other local providers. Staff have an inspirational attitude to improvement and have excellent systems in place to evaluate their practice in all areas.

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further?

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

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further?

 introducing children to further activities to help them understand about sustainability.

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the early years provision

Children's welfare is prioritised and is very well promoted because staff have a comprehensive understanding of their responsibilities relating to safeguarding children. They have all undertaken child protection training to promote their understanding of the Local Safeguarding Children Board's procedures and all staff have the appropriate checks in place. Children's well-being is further enhanced by staff's excellent organisation and comprehensive risk assessments, ensuring that children's safety is promoted at all levels. Children display an excellent awareness of safety issues as they remind each other not to run when taking part in the sack race and explain why. A comprehensive set of policies and procedures support the This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 exceptionally good practice. These are shared with parents and reviewed regularly.

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the early years provision

Partnerships with parents are excellent. Comprehensive information is sought from parents at induction visits as they complete a 'unique child' form, regarding their child's routine and interests, all of which are recorded and acted upon by staff in a consistent way. Home visits are also offered by staff to help children settle in the setting. Parents are very involved in contributing their views and suggestions about the provision in order to bring about future improvement. For example, a parent suggested the adjacent car park may be a problem. As a result the pre-school now ensure that during opening hours the car park is closed off, to help keep children safe. The setting offers parents opportunities to attend consultation meetings and asks for parents' contributions to their child's profile, so ensuring continuity of care for the children. Parents are invited into the setting for social occasions, such as

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the early years provision

concerts, picnics and stay and play sessions. Parents spoken with speak very highly of the nursery and comments include: 'The staff are wonderful and my child thinks the teachers are fabulous, he is always eager to come to pre-school'. 'The children do lots of sports and creative activities and going to the library was a big hit'. 'I feel staff have really helped him come out of his shell'. 'I am amazed at the quality of the environment. Staff have really helped my child and keep me regularly informed of what he has been doing'. 'I want to thank staff for allowing my child to develop confidence. It is so nice to see him running around with his friends, joining in, being relaxed and having fun'. Staff make and offer activity bags to be taken home that provide individually tailored activities for children such as number games or play dough activities. A website is available for parents and others to view to find out information about the setting. A parental agreement is

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the early years provision

signed by parents and children wanted to add to this about healthy living and keeping safe, so it was included.

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the early years provision

Children are invited to offer their opinions and ideas about what they would like to see at the setting, such as they wanted to change the shop area into a market stall and staff helped facilitate this. Their interests and play preferences are woven into the plans to ensure that they benefit from an excellent balance of child-led and adult-initiated activities that fully sustain their interest. Their profiles which contain art work, observations, learning journeys and photographs show how children make excellent progress towards the early learning goals.

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the early years provision

The welcoming, rich and varied environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children's learning. It is utilised to its full potential to provide children with choices about where and with what they wish to play. In particular the stimulating outdoor environment is used exceptionally well, not only for physical activity but to give children first hand contact with weather, seasons and the natural world.

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the early years provision

Staff are proactive in developing partnerships with other settings that children attend. This results in productive dialogue and exchange of information to fully promote continuity in the children's care and learning. They are highly motivated and totally committed to providing a high level of care and education to ensure the best possible outcomes for children. They have a strong commitment to continuous professional development and attend regular training to update and develop their knowledge and expertise and to enhance their excellent practice. Staff implement This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 ideas gained through liaison with other professionals, to offer the best opportunities for children's development in all areas and to help smooth transition into school.

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and outcomes for children

Children are very happy, confident and settled and particularly enjoy their time spent in the outdoor area. They make excellent progress towards the early learning goals. Children behave very well and form strong relationships with each other and with adults. Good manners are used and encouraged with staff role modelling respectful interactions with children and each other. High priority is given to maintaining children's good health and well-being. Children adopt good personal hygiene routines as they wash their hands prior to eating and after playing outdoors. Staff take opportunities to remind children about the importance of milk and how it helps to make bones stronger. The setting provides nutritious snacks for the children. Staff attended 'Healthy Lunch Box' training and cascaded this information to parents. As a result children's lunch boxes became healthier with children reminding parents that certain food items are not a healthy option.

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and outcomes for children

Visitors are invited into the setting to re-enforce healthy practices such as the oral hygienist. Children take part in Pyjama drama and sleep week so they have plenty of exercise and are reminded about the importance of good bedtime routines. They get plenty of fresh air as they go out to play in the well-equipped outdoor area where they can access a wide range of physical activities such as quoits, milk crates to help with balance and co-ordination, bikes and sit and ride toys. They learn to throw and kick the small and large balls, jump, crawl, slither and run in the fields as they practice for their forthcoming sports day event.

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and outcomes for children

Staff interact very well with the children, skilfully supporting children's play and using effective questioning techniques to challenge their knowledge and understanding. They continually chatter with the children so modelling language effectively to encourage development of communication skills. Children get excited about going outdoors to practice for their sports day and cheer each other on as they take part in different races, so promoting their self-confidence. They are thanked for helping to carry the equipment indoors and their names are put on the 'Kindness Tree' to give recognition to their helpfulness. They develop their self care skills as they dress and undress into their sports kit. They have fun as they talk about last years sports day with children saying that staff won because they cheated. Staff respond by saying they had cereal for breakfast which made them big and strong. They use number, language of shape and size and problem solve

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and outcomes for children

in everyday activities as they count the number of children as they go onto the field, talk about who is the tallest and decide how many cups and plates are required at snack time. They freely talk about their families, past and present events as they talk about going swimming with their daddy and what presents they had for their last birthday. They freely explore in the water with the sea creatures, in the compost with the trowels and in the wet sand. They have access to binoculars and magnifying lenses in their investigative area and use these when they take part in their weekly visit to their on site forest schools project. They build This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 fires, toast marshmallows and make dens as well as searching for mini beasts. They make mud paint and peel off the bark of a tree with a potato peeler, so learning about the natural world. They plant carrots, parsnips and sunflowers, tend

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and outcomes for children

these and measure their growth so caring for living things. Although staff recycle items, children do presently take part in any recycling activities to promote their understanding of sustainability. They look at homes that people live in and visit a nearby castle as they look at a topic on the royal wedding, so gaining an understanding of the wider world. They play imaginatively indoors and outdoors as they push the dolls around in the buggies to the shop buy porridge and make connections in their learning as they go back to the cosy cottage or the tepee. They use an excellent range of open-ended materials such as fir cones, lengths of scarves, big tube rolls and pegs to make their own creations and fuel their imaginative play.

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and outcomes for children

Children take part in charity events, such as a sponsored toddle, growing daffodils and jeans for genes day to gain an understanding of raising monies and helping others. They develop their knowledge of their local community as they go for outings to the library, the post office and Park Hall farm. They have access to an excellent range of toys and resources that help them to learn about diversity. They look at different festivals, such as Chinese New Year and the Japanese Spring doll festival, look and handle figurines, and make peg dolls and taste customary dishes with the children, to gain an awareness of the wider world. 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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