London Road Pre-School

London Road Pre School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY419260 Inspection date 13/07/2011 Inspector Andrea Snowden

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Setting address The Scout Hall, London Road, Dereham, Norfolk, NR19 1AS

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Telephone number 01362 692139 Email briancoppack@hotmail.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. 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

London Road Pre-School opened in 1968 and re-registered in new premises in 2010. The pre-school operates from the Scout Hall in the centre of Dereham in Norfolk and serves the town and surrounding villages. Children use a large hall and an enclosed outdoor play area, and have access to bathroom and cloakroom facilities. The pre-school is open during school term time on Tuesdays between 9am and 12 noon, and on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 9am and 3pm.

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Description of the setting

The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register and provides funded early education for three- and four-year-olds. A maximum of 20 children may attend the setting at any one time and there are currently 38 children on roll attending on a part-time basis. The pre-school 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 pre-school is managed by a voluntary committee who employ a team of four staff to work with the children. Two staff members hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3. 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 satisfactory.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children are making steady progress in their learning and development and are appropriately provided for within the Early Years Foundation Stage. Their health and safety is consistently promoted by staff, although there is one omission in the documentation relating to safety. A strong partnership with parents ensures children's needs are effectively met, but partnerships with other providers are not established strongly enough. The setting has begun to use self-evaluation to improve the setting, however, systems are not yet fully in place to ensure this is wholly effective.

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further?

To meet the specific requirements of the EYFS, the registered person must:

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further?

 obtain information from parents with regard to who has legal contact with the child and who has parental responsibility for the child (Safeguarding and promoting children's welfare). 01/09/2011

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further?

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

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further?

 improve the approach to recording observations to ensure regular and up-to- date assessments are used to plan for children's development This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006  work together with other practitioners to support children's transitions between both settings and between setting and school  use self-evaluation more effectively to identify the setting's strengths and areas for development that will improve the quality for provision for all children.

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the early years provision

Children in this setting benefit from the staff's clear and precise understanding of safeguarding issues. Staff are trained, vetted and well informed about the policies and procedures in place to protect children. Additionally, there are robust recruitment procedures to ensure staff are suitable to work in the setting. Most documentation is in place to aid staff in caring for children properly, however, there is no information obtained from parents about who has legal contact with the child and who has parental responsibility for the child, having the potential to impact on children's safety. Risk assessments are effective in minimising potential hazards and children are able to play in a safe and secure environment. Toys and equipment are varied and are clean, safe and well presented. Children are able to make some choices about what to play with and enjoy the independence of being able to play outside throughout the session.

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the early years provision

Although there are currently no children on roll with special educational needs and/or disabilities or who speak English as an additional language, the staff demonstrate a sound understanding of meeting all children's individual needs. Sufficient information is obtained from parents before children start at the setting to ensure they settle well and are happy. Children are encouraged to make friends and value one another, and staff use day-to-day situations to talk with children and promote an understanding of similarities and differences. Resources in the setting promote positive images and celebrations of festivals, such as Diwali, help children learn about other cultures and religions.

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the early years provision

The partnership with parents is very good and as a result many parents are actively involved in the setting. They work closely with staff in planning for their children's ongoing learning and development through adding information, such as observations and photographs from home, to their learning journey. Parents report that they feel well informed about the setting and are able to contribute ideas to the organisation and running of the group. Their skills are recognised by staff and they are encouraged to be actively involved in working with the children when helping at the group. Partnerships with other settings delivering the Early Years Foundation Stage to children are not established effectively, and as a result transitions between settings and the schools are not always well supported.

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the early years provision

Staff have begun to reflect on their practice and have made plans for improvements to be made. These include reviewing the method used for recording children's interests and improving storage space and access to equipment. This will enable children to use more self-service storage, further promoting their independence. However, the self-evaluation system has not yet been effectively set up to include all users' views and identify the setting's strengths and areas for This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 development that will improve the quality of all areas of the provision for all children.

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and outcomes for children

Children are happy and generally well settled in the pre-school. They are confident because they are appropriately supported by staff who know them well. Staff ask questions sensitively to promote learning and offer choices to foster independent thinking. Regular observations of children at play are made with the intention of planning around individual children's interests and needs to promote their learning and development. However, children's assessment records suggest that some observations used for planning are not always up-to-date. As a result, children are not always challenged appropriately and their learning is less progressive.

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and outcomes for children

Children use a wide variety of equipment and enjoy activities which contribute to their learning. Young children use the music wall outside to explore sounds, while older children use instruments to beat out a rhythm as they sing. Children recognise and sound out letters and join in with well-loved stories. Some children count unaided to five, while others know that after the number three comes four. Older children are able to use calculation, for example, at the snack table a child observes that they have two pieces of fruit and two more would make four. Children excitedly look for snails in the garden and examine them through magnifying glasses, taking the leftover apple from the snack table to feed them. Children enjoy using the computer and are able to move the mouse with dexterity to play simple number, letter and construction games. They build towers from bricks and use other construction sets to produce butterflies. They run

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and outcomes for children

enthusiastically in the garden and enjoy pretending to be elephants or lions, and slither their bodies across the grass when they are snakes. They balance on stilts and use scooters and tricycles, becoming aware of the space around them. Children's imagination is developing as they act out stories in the home corner and tell stories about how the snail climbs up the wall to go and live in the house next door. They use paint and colouring pencils to make pictures and use and mix coloured glitter to make under the sea treasure.

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and outcomes for children

Children understand how to keep themselves safe indoors, reminding each other not to run and they use equipment safely with little prompt from adults. Children demonstrate that they have already acquired good hygiene practices and healthy habits. They clearly embrace physical activity and eagerly run outside to involve themselves in races. They recognise their own body's needs, for example, telling staff 'I'm getting hungry', and they help themselves to their own bottles of drinking water throughout the day. Children heartily eat the variety of fresh fruit offered at snack time, and a social occasion is enjoyed when they sit together of lunch.

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and outcomes for children

Children's behaviour is generally good and older members of the group are able to stand up for themselves. They report incidents to staff and as a result are learning to safeguard themselves. Older children share independently, using a timer to help them, and staff encourage this further with positive comments, such as 'well done, it's good to be nice to our friends'. Children are mostly secure in the skills they This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 require to progress their learning. Their progress in communication, literacy and numeracy skills is steady and their ability to cooperate and make choices is sound. 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 3 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 2 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 3 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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