St Michael's Christian Pre- School

St Michael's Christian Pre- School Playgroup Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 253939 Inspection date 11/07/2011 Inspector Parm Sansoyer

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Setting address Maynard Avenue, Norton, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY8 3EE Telephone number 01384 393647 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

St Michael's Christian Pre-school Playgroup was registered in 1993 and is run by a committee. It operates from two rooms in a church hall in a residential area near Stourbridge. There is a fully enclosed area for outdoor play. The pre-school serves the local and surrounding areas.

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Description of the setting

A maximum of 31 children from two to five years may attend, at any one time. There are currently 48 children on roll in the early years age group. The pre-school is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register. The pre-school is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early years education to children aged three-and four-years-old. The pre-school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Description of the setting

The pre-school is open during the school term, Monday to Friday from 9.15am to 12.15pm, apart from the first Wednesday of each month. There are 12 staff employed to work with the children. Of these, one holds a qualification at level 4 in early years, eight hold a qualification at level 3 in early years, two hold a qualification at level 2 in early years and one is unqualified. The pre-school receives support from the local authority.

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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

All children are happy and confident in this well organised pre-school. An interesting and well-equipped environment and positive teaching methods, which are mostly used very well, contribute to children making good progress in their learning and development. The extent to which children develop healthy lifestyles and partnership with parents and carers is outstanding. There are effective procedures in place to ensure all children are kept safe and all staff have a good understanding of safeguarding issues. Well established links with other professionals, agencies and settings means children's individual needs are met well. Those in charge have good aspirations for quality and consistently secure improvement.

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further?

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

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further?

 develop further planning to ensure the learning intention of all activities is clear, to help further maximise the learning potential of all activities and experiences  provide increased opportunities for older and more able children to recognise and work with numbers and link sounds and letters, to help further extend children's learning. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

There are clearly written policies, strategies and procedures in place to ensure the safeguarding and welfare of children. All staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding children. There are effective procedures in place to ensure adults caring for children or having unsupervised access to them are suitably vetted, inducted qualified and or experienced. All records, policies, procedures and written risk assessments required for the safe and efficient management of the service and to meet the needs of all children are in place and regularly reviewed. The staff team are vigilant about the children's safety and supervise them well.

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the early years provision

Each child has an assigned key worker, which means staff have good knowledge of each child's background and needs and meets these individual needs well. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are included, valued and supported well. Highly positive relationships with all parents and carers, means they are consistently consulted and involved in decisions about the care and education of their children. Parents are kept extremely well informed about the provision and about all aspects of their children's achievements and progress. Parents and carers speak very highly of the pre-school and are meaningfully involved in contributing their ideas and suggestions. Partnerships with external agencies, services and other providers delivering the Early Years Foundation Stage are effectively established, to help support transition and continuity of their education and care.

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the early years provision

The good organisation of the educational programme, equipment and resources offers rich, varied and imaginative experiences that help children make good progress in their learning and development. The environment both indoors and outdoors is managed well and offers a good balance of adult-led activities and opportunities to freely choose, explore and discover. Systematic observations and assessment of what the children do and like are used effectively to guide planning and extend children's learning. However, on occasions the learning intention of some activities is not always clear and, therefore, the learning potential of these experiences not always fully maximised.

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the early years provision

The leaders and manager of the pre-school communicate ambition and drive and secure improvement well. Processes for managing the performance of staff and raising qualification and skills are used well to support further development. Leaders and the manager have a clear overview of the service they provide and a strong commitment to continuous improvement. They draw on a full range of quality improvement tools including an effective self-evaluation process, to continuously improve outcomes for children. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

Children's personal, social and emotional development is fostered extremely well. Children are happy and settled because relationships with staff are warm and positive, which contributes to their sense of belonging. All children are involved, busy and occupied with the wide range of opportunities on offer to them. They are developing their confidence well as they busily move around their environment both indoors and outdoors. For example, children are familiar with the routine for accessing their snack and choose to have their snack and drink, as they wish during the session. Children are well behaved and learn about sharing and taking turns. Deployment of staff is excellent and, consequently, staff offer good support to get all children actively involved.

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and outcomes for children

Children's communication, language and literacy is supported well. Children build good foundations for early literacy through having good opportunities to make marks, make sense of visual signs and symbols and to recognise their own and others names. However, older and more able children have few opportunities to link sounds and letters during their play, to further extend learning. Children begin to develop a keen interest in books because staff are skilled in encouraging children to enjoy stories, which capture the children's interest. Children benefit from time to develop spoken language and develop their listening skills through sharing conversations in their play and interactions.

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and outcomes for children

Children's knowledge and understanding of the world is supported well to help them make sense of the world. Children engage in a variety of good first hand experiences in which they learn about their natural environment. For example, they have been growing flowers, fruits and vegetables and learn how to care for them. Children avidly explore and find out about insects and learn about changes in the weather. Children begin to learn about their own and other cultures and customs through themed activities such as tasting food from around the world and accessing a varied range of resources depicting positive images of diversity.

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and outcomes for children

Children's problem solving, reasoning and numeracy is building well. They seek pattern, count, sort and match. Children learn about early calculation as they participate in singing number rhymes. Children have good opportunities to problem solve as they build with construction toys and complete puzzles. However, older and more able children have fewer opportunities to recognise and work with numbers during their play. Children's creative development is supported very well. They have very good opportunities to use their imagination and adopt roles through an extended range of role play resources and small world toys, which they enjoy. Children respond well to what they hear, see, smell and touch. They enjoy a wide range of arts and crafts materials and explore sound and musical instruments to develop their own ideas.

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and outcomes for children

Children learn how to stay safe through gentle reminders from the staff and through themed activities and visitors, such as a visit from the fire brigade. The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles is outstanding. Children benefit from the access to fresh air and the outdoor environment throughout the session, This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 which contributes significantly to their health and well-being. Children build their confidence well as they competently use large and small physical play apparatus. Children benefit from a substantial healthy and nutritious snack, which is meticulously prepared and presented for all children to enjoy. They show a comprehensive understanding of making healthy choices and an understanding of the benefits of fresh produce. They are extremely aware about the importance of adopting positive personal hygiene practices and staff adopt effective hygienic

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and outcomes for children

practices to prevent the spread of infection. They successfully developing skills that contribute to their future economic well-being through becoming active and inquisitive learners, which contributes well to helping children develop skills for the future. 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 2 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 1 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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