Spring Pre School

Spring Pre School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY350431 Inspection date 21/07/2011 Inspector Louise Bonney

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Setting address St. Barnabus Church Centre, Brinns Lane, Frogmore, Blackwater, Camberley, Surrey, GU17 0BT Telephone number 01252 873 839 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

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

Spring Pre School was originally registered in 2001 and moved to its current location in 2007. It operates from St Barnabus Church Centre in Frogmore village. Children have use of a large and small hall and the occasional use of rooms upstairs for smaller group work, accessed by stairs only. There is a large enclosed outdoor play area. Children attend from the local community.

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Description of the setting

The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 86 children, aged from two years nine months to four years, on roll. The pre-school provides free early years education for children aged three and four. The pre- school opens from 8.00am until 4.00pm during term-time only. Children provide their own lunch if staying all day. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The pre-school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and who speak English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

There are nine full and part-time staff working with the children. Of these, seven hold recognised early years qualifications between Levels 2 to 5 and one is attending training for a qualifications at Level 3. The pre-school receives support from the local authority and is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is satisfactory.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children very much enjoy their time spent in the pre-school and make steady progress in their learning overall, with good outcomes in their; personal, social, emotional and physical development. Their environment is stimulating, safe and welcoming, and all adults have been appropriately vetted to safeguard the children. The manager acts on external advice and shows sufficient capacity to drive forward improvements and maintain development, but weaknesses remain in the grouping of children and hygiene routines. Staff provide a wide range of activities that support children's learning, but are awaiting further training in order to more effectively implement assessment and planning systems. There are strong partnerships with parents and others supporting the children that provide good continuity in children's care and development.

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further?

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

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further?

 develop the use of observations to identify children's individual next steps and use these and children's interests more effectively when planning in order to extend and make links in their learning towards clear aims  review how adult-led activities and group sizes are organised to better meet This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 the needs of individual children  review routines for hand-washing prior to eating in order to further promote children's good health.

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the early years provision

The manager develops comprehensive policies and procedures that are implemented by staff. Records are well maintained and shared with parents, such as for accidents and injuries children arrive with. All staff and regular visitors undergo rigorous vetting procedures. Staff attend safeguarding training and are aware of the procedures to follow if they have any concerns about children's welfare. Staff reduce hazards effectively. They record their annual risk assessments and more frequent checks they carry out. They review new activities such as the rope swing and ladder and identify how to minimise any risks. This safeguards the children. They implement hygiene routines that keep equipment and resources clean. However, hand-washing arrangements prior to snack time do not sufficiently prevent the spread of germs.

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the early years provision

The owner has begun to more systematically evaluate and develop her provision with support from early years advisors. She carries out staff appraisals and encourages their professional development. All but two staff are qualified and one unqualified member is attending level 3 training. Staff attend in-house training and external workshops. This reflects their enthusiasm and commitment for ongoing development. The owner shows ambition but development plans have not been clearly defined until recently and changes have had differing levels of success. The introduction of free-flow activities between indoor and outdoor areas, setting up of a parent group and more regular key worker meetings are changes that have been most successful. Areas that have been less successful are the implementation of observational assessment and new planning systems, and the grouping of children and adult-led activities are not always effective. Overall, the owner secures

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the early years provision

sufficient improvement that benefits the children.

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the early years provision

Staff set up the hall each week into defined activity areas that are well resourced. The garden is a great asset and resources outside are imaginative and stimulate exploratory play and active learning. Staff are deployed effectively and have defined roles, such as for supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, adult-led group activities are not sufficiently well planned and often too large to support effective learning. Although additional rooms are available group sizes do sometimes exceed 26, which leads to an environment that is very busy and/or noisy.

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the early years provision

Staff promote equality and diversity well. They use training to develop materials that support children with English as an additional language. They work closely with other agencies, such as Portage, speech therapists and health visitors. This helps staff identify and support any special educational needs and/or disabilities or other needs. Feedback shows that staff have strong partnerships with parents. They have successfully supported a parent with little English by finding a translator, so she was fully informed about the provision. The new parent group is This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 establishing an effective and supportive link between staff and parents as well as an excellent fundraiser. The owner responds to parents suggestions, for example by increasing opportunities for them to meet with their child's key worker in order to share progress records. Staff support transitions well as they introduce children

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the early years provision

to their new schools by visiting and sharing photographs, and teachers visit the pre-school to get to know their new pupils.

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and outcomes for children

Staff use the Early Years Foundation Stage learning and development requirements as they link their observations of children's progress to the early learning goals. They record children's current interests and meet up to plan future activities together. However, as they do not use their observation records to clearly identify children's next possible steps, planning is for the whole group and does not reflect children's differing abilities or learning aims. Staff use different approaches to support children's learning and the outdoor area is made good use of, with children having free access throughout the session and all-weather gear available. Children enjoy staff's involvement in their activities. During their imaginary play outside staff join in as they are taken prisoner, or help act out a favourite story as they go on a bear hunt with a crowd of children following. Children make good progress in

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and outcomes for children

their personal and social skills and physical development. However, due to weaknesses in planning, adult-led activities do not have clear learning aims and the amount staff extend and challenge children varies. This leads to satisfactory outcomes in children's learning overall.

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and outcomes for children

Children show confidence and have friendly relationships with each other and staff. They show good behaviour and social skills as they play together, with staff only occasionally having to offer support for minor disputes. Children know right from wrong and tell staff if they feel others act inappropriately and staff help them use a timer to share resources when necessary. Children take responsibility as they self- register on arrival and when having their snack, recognising their written name. They develop early writing skills as they paint, draw or make patterns in the sand. They show independence as they make choices about their activities and for most of the time initiate their own play and learning, taking advantage of the wide range of resources available. They develop a sense of belonging as they help choose what should be set up outside to play with and make friendships with others. Children are helpful and look after their environment as they tidy away toys,

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and outcomes for children

showing great cooperation as they pull a large cover over equipment. They show concern when staff find a torn book and problem-solve as they suggest using sticky tape to mend it. Children play with recycled resources such as used tyres. They harvest, cook and eat vegetables and fruit they have grown, developing their understanding of sustainability. Children develop healthy lifestyles and good levels of physical control as they play very energetically outside. They continually assess risk as they climb ladders made of rope or wood, run with buggies and play chase without colliding or falling over on the uneven ground. They know to dress appropriately before going out, and put on rubber boots and coats on wet days. They have healthy snacks prepared by staff and pour their own drinks. However, This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 they do not have soap and share a bowl of water and towel, which does not teach

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and outcomes for children

them how to clean their hands properly before eating.

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and outcomes for children

Children have many opportunities to explore and develop curiosity. They feed their worm farm and experiment as they use water to move balls along guttering. They develop an understanding of the natural world as they plant seeds, look after their vegetables or hunt for insects in the nature corner. They explore different materials and have time to experiment, such as when they stir and spread glue and notice how the brush stiffens as it dries. They show a love of stories as they develop their role play or have books read by staff or a regular visitor. They learn about the wider world, such as when a parent comes in to show them traditional clothes, jewellery and artefacts used during Diwali. Adults support children as they count and match different animals, construct models or look at cards to correctly sequence colours - a game that took considerable persistence but which gave the children a sense of achievement when they succeeded. Children learn about

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and outcomes for children

technology as they use programmable toys or the computer. They recite rhymes and join in action songs and staff introduce activities provided by therapists to develop children's speech. Labelling reflects children's different languages and resources. Displays reflect positive attitudes towards diversity and promote opportunities for discussion with the children. 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 3 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 3

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 3 The extent to which children feel safe 2 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 3 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 2 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 3

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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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