Great Dalby Pre-School Playgroup

Great Dalby Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 226329 Inspection date 06/07/2011 Inspector Alison Edwards

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Setting address The Village Hall, Top End, Great Dalby, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, LE14 2HA Telephone number 07933313806 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.

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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

Great Dalby Pre-School has been running for over 25 years. It is a committee-run group operating from the village hall in Great Dalby in the Melton district of Leicestershire, and serving the surrounding area. Children use the main hall, with access to associated cloakroom facilities. There is an enclosed outdoor area for outside play.

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Description of the setting

The pre-school opens each weekday during school terms from 9.15am to 12.15pm. It is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register to care for a maximum of 26 children in the early years age range, none of whom may be under two years. It is also registered on the voluntary part of the Childcare Register. It receives funding to provide nursery education to children aged three and four years. There are currently 31 early years children on roll, including a small number with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Description of the setting

There are currently seven regular staff, of whom five hold recognised early years qualifications at level 3.

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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 thrive in this highly stimulating and very well-organised environment where they develop excellent relationships with adults and peers. Partnerships between the pre-school, parents, other relevant agencies and early years settings are extremely effective in ensuring that children's individual needs are met and that they are helped to make extremely good progress in their learning. The leadership team is extremely successful in establishing very high standards and levels of motivation. This enables the pre-school to identify and implement very clear and ambitious plans for sustained 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?

 extending use of the full range of quality improvement tools and expert guidance to further enhance existing reflective practice and improve the quality of provision for all children.

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the early years provision

The pre-school is organised extremely well to underpin children's welfare and development. Extremely systematic arrangements are in place to ensure that This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 committee members legally responsible for the pre-school have a thorough understanding of their roles, and that required Criminal Records Bureau disclosures are promptly sought for new members. Recruitment procedures for new staff are extremely thorough, with very clearly designated arrangements to ensure that all necessary clearances are completed and recorded, and that a comprehensive induction programme is successfully undertaken. The pre-school is extremely proactive in local support networks and in making use of available local training. The staff team also make full use of regular staff meetings to cascade and share new information and best practice ideas from external sources, and to undertake

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the early years provision

the ongoing review of their own policies and procedures in the light of the most recent guidance. Consequently, this ensures that the well-qualified staff team have an excellent up-to-date awareness of their roles and responsibilities, for example, with regard to what child abuse and neglect are, and of how to implement the pre- school's detailed and comprehensive policies should there be any concerns about a child or any allegation of abuse. Required records are used extremely well to underpin the safe management of any specific health or dietary needs, for example, by fully documenting advice and guidance from external specialist agencies for the management of specific chronic conditions, such as allergies. Comprehensive risk assessment procedures, together with excellent supervision, are very successful in supporting children's extremely independent and purposeful use of the highly stimulating indoor and outdoor play areas.

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the early years provision

There are excellent arrangements to work in partnership with parents. Participation in the pre-school's committee enables parents to become fully involved in the management of the group. Parents have been extremely closely involved in contributing to the design, funding and construction processes which have created the pre-school's new outdoor learning area. In addition to informal daily discussions with staff, a suggestion box and regular questionnaires enable parents to raise any queries or ideas, and staff are prompt and thorough in acting on these. Staff are also extremely keen to take account of children's views. For example, they have involved them in drawing and talking about what they would like to include in their outdoor play and their preferences for healthy snacks. Staff are very active in encouraging children's purposeful choice between the extremely stimulating range of play resources which are readily accessible indoors and out. In

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the early years provision

addition, they provide picture catalogues of additional stored resources, enabling children to identify any additional preferences for their play. The pre-school makes full use of parents' initial and ongoing knowledge of their own child to contribute to continuing assessment processes, and shares extremely detailed information with parents about the next steps in each child's learning and ways to support these at home. Excellent working relationships with other agencies, such as health professionals, help to ensure that the needs of any children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified and met extremely well. The pre-school has extremely close links with other early years settings which are highly effective in promoting continuity and progression in children's care and learning, and which have been used as models of good practice for other settings. Leaders are very proactive in participating in local support groups to share best

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the early years provision

practice, for example, with regard to ways of using active play to promote boys' mark making. The pre-school has a very clear awareness of the importance of helping all children recognise and value different cultures, lifestyles and abilities, and incorporates use of a varied range of resources, helping to enrich children's This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 understanding and awareness of the wider community.

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the early years provision

The pre-school has taken extremely effective steps to address several recommendations made at its previous inspection four years ago. Consequently, assessments and planning are now used extremely well to meet children's needs and provide excellent levels of challenge. Additional controls have also been fitted to the plumbing system to ensure that water temperature in the cloakrooms does not pose a hazard to children. The current leadership team are extremely effective in setting extremely high expectations and establishing very high levels of morale. They demonstrate an excellent capability to devise and implement ambitious and extremely well-targeted plans to enhance children's experiences and well-being, such as the extremely successful development of outdoor learning provision. Staff are involved in rigorous self-evaluation processes which continue to identify key priorities for further development, and including consideration of various external

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the early years provision

sources of advice and quality guidance. However, managers recognise the value of further extending the full range of quality improvement tools and expert guidance to enhance existing reflective practice and improve quality of provision for all children.

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and outcomes for children

The pre-school has established excellent systems to track each child's developing skills across each aspect of learning, and to identify how to best build on their own observed interests. This enables staff to very successfully promote children's independence, concentration and thinking within their self-chosen play. For example, parental and staff observations identified that a number of children shared a particular interest in a popular fireman character. Consequently, staff encouraged children to share their own ideas on how to create a 'fire station' in the pretend play area. This included incorporating telephones, notepads and signs reminding people how to dial 999 in the event of an emergency. As a result, this very successfully encourages children to develop their purposeful mark making and 'message taking' in their active and practical play. Staff also make excellent use of discussion and relevant books and stories to extend children's thinking and safety

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and outcomes for children

awareness. Consequently, children show an excellent understanding of safety in the wider world. For example, they very confidently explain that their helmets will stop their heads from getting hurt if things fall on them, and that their special jackets will mean that they can be seen if it is dark and smoky. They readily identify to adults that they also need thick gloves, so that their hands do not get burnt when fighting a fire. Children very readily take the initiative in developing their own ideas. For example, two boys successfully make use of a very extensive and well-presented range of construction and creative materials to independently and purposefully make additional hose pipes for their firefighting play. Children make excellent links with their own experiences within the pre-school, for example, explaining that they practise how to get out of the building by walking quickly and quietly in case there is a fire. Staff are extremely effective in building on children's

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and outcomes for children

interests and extending their understanding of the wider community. For example, they successfully incorporate visits from agencies, such as the fire service, police and road crossing patrols. This enables children to experience the power and size This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 of real fire hoses and to extend their understanding of the use of different signs and symbols, such as police 'stop' and 'accident' signs. Children also show excellent levels of understanding and interest as they eagerly listen to the story of what happens when passengers take no notice of the safety request 'don't talk to the bus driver', confidently recalling the growing sequence of unfortunate events. Staff are very skilled in using carefully worded questions to encourage children to express their own ideas. They listen with care to children's responses, often using techniques, such as rephrasing and extending, to confirm to children that they

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and outcomes for children

understand and value their views, and helping to increase children's vocabulary and understanding of more complex sentences.

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and outcomes for children

The pre-school's recently created outdoor play area is used extremely well to promote all aspects of children's learning. Use of waterproof clothing, together with the provision of tents and gazebos, very effectively promotes children's safe and independent use of this area in a range of weather conditions. Children very enthusiastically challenge and extend their own physical skills. For example, they experiment with combining items, such as wooden planks and sturdy plastic crates, with large tyres to create challenging climbing and balancing opportunities. Staff very effectively build on children's self-chosen activities to help extend skills, such as catching and throwing. They spontaneously jump and spin as they eagerly twirl coloured streamers, showing delight in how the ribbons move in the wind in different ways. Children very purposefully construct with large blocks, confidently comparing the sizes and shapes of their constructions. They show very high levels

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and outcomes for children

of sustained attention when using an outdoor decked area individually or in small groups to create their own imaginary worlds. For example, two children develop extended play using emergency service vehicles and play figures to rescue a figure trapped in a toy multi-storey garage. Children very enthusiastically contribute their own ideas for what to grow in their own vegetable patches in order to be able to subsequently make mashed potatoes and coleslaw. They are often fascinated by the natural world, peering through a 'spy hole' in the sturdy fencing to report on the cows in the adjacent field, or using good quality picture reference books and magnifying containers to identify a wide range of mini beasts. 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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