Clackclose Pre-School

Clackclose Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY423085 Inspection date 26/09/2011 Inspector Glenda Field

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Setting address Downham Market Sure Start Children's Centre, Paradise Road, DOWNHAM MARKET, Norfolk, PE38 9JE Telephone number 07599551271 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

Clackclose Pre-School is committee run and was re-registered at a new setting in 2011. It operates from the Downham Market Sure Start children's centre, in Downham Market, Norfolk. The Pre-School serves the local area. It is accessible to all children and there is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Description of the setting

The Pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register to care for a maximum of 16 children in the early years age group. There are currently 34 children on roll. The Pre-School opens Monday to Friday term time only. Sessions are from 9am to 12 noon and 12.15pm to 2.45pm each day, apart from on Fridays whereby they only operate the morning session. Children are able to attend for a variety of sessions. The group supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

The Pre-School employs four members of childcare staff. All hold appropriate early years qualifications.

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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

A warm and welcoming environment is provided for children and they clearly enjoy their time at the setting. Children make good progress in their learning and development. Staff form extremely sound relationships with parents and other carers to ensure the individual needs of children are met. The environment promotes children's welfare and most of the essential documentation is in place to ensure their health and safety needs are met. The pre-school demonstrates a sound commitment to continuous improvement through self-evaluation and show capacity to improve.

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further?

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

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further?

 improve the written records of all medicines administered to children; this particularly refers to detailing who administered the medication and obtaining parents signatures to acknowledge the entry.

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the early years provision

Children are effectively safeguarded because there are robust systems in place to ensure staff are suitable to work with children. All staff working directly with the children are vetted and records which demonstrate their suitability are maintained. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of the setting's child protection policy, which is in line with the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB). Detailed risk assessments are in place for the premises and for outings and daily checks are conducted to minimise risks to children and to ensure the premises are safe. Most of the essential documentation is in place to ensure their health and safety needs are met. However, the administration of medication documentation requires further information.

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the early years provision

A consistent, well-established staff team, together with a key person system, ensures continuity of care and support for children. Staff make good use of space in the playroom to provide areas for focussed, quiet and active play, ensuring children have room to move freely between activities. Documentation and information contained in children's records is mostly well maintained. Children benefit because staff have strong relationships with parents. Parents receive good information about the setting when their children start and are appropriately involved in settling their children. The parents receive termly newsletters and have opportunities to talk to staff, both informally and in a more structured way at parent forums, which are held on a regular basis. Effective procedures ensure parents are appropriately informed of their children's development and progress. They are able to view their child's development records and have opportunities to

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the early years provision

Sound strategies, such as visits to the local primary school and visits from the primary school teachers take place. Along with a folder containing photographs of teachers and the areas of the school that children will access, mean that they are well prepared for their move to school. Daily contact booklets are also kept and shared with other settings delivering the Early Years Foundation Stage that children attend. Thus, promoting continuity of care and learning for children.

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the early years provision

Inclusive practice is promoted because staff have a good knowledge of each child and as a result, their individual welfare needs are well met. Good partnerships are formed with external agencies to ensure children with additional needs benefit from further support as required. Children have opportunities to develop their understanding of diversity, when they play with resources that reflect positive images of people within our society. Visits are made to the setting by the police service, ambulance service and nurses. Children also make trips out into the local community. As a result, they are learning to respect and value others. The pre- school shows a sound capacity to improve. Areas for improvement, such as providing digging and planting activities in the outdoor area, which has been identified as part of their self-evaluation, will enhance the quality of learning for the children.

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and outcomes for children

Staff have a good understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage, therefore, children's progress towards the early learning goals is well supported. A sound range of resources and equipment is available for staff to choose from. Staff plan This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 flexibly and set out a basic selection of activities at each session, which cover the six areas of learning. Children can then freely access additional equipment that they would like to play with, giving them independence. This coupled with good quality low level visual displays or images means that the overall environment is rich and stimulating to develop children's interest and curiosity.

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and outcomes for children

Staff know the children's starting points, measure their progress against the Early Years Foundation Stage and identify their next steps in learning which are then incorporated into future planning. These are appropriately recorded, as observations with the support of digital photographs and examples of children's craft work. This enables staff to accurately access the progress which children are making.

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and outcomes for children

Children generally play cooperatively, share resources and talk confidently about what they are doing. Staff question and guide children in their activities, whilst allowing them to play and learn at their own pace. Their independence skills are encouraged. For example, they independently access the toilet facilities and wash their own hands. They are developing sound literacy skills. They choose books to be read at whole group time. They freely access the quiet area and look at books, carefully turning the pages and looking at the pictures. They have opportunities to mark make on paper and to independently access tools for writing from a low level shelving unit. Mathematical language is encouraged and children are helped to recognise capacity and understand measurement when they use containers and plastic pipes during water play. Staff use open-ended questions consistently, such as asking children during registration time, how many children and adults are

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and outcomes for children

Careful regard is given to children learning about the world around them. They have good opportunities to participate in activities, such as visiting the local post office and observing nature when taking walks around the school field. Visitors to the setting, include the ambulance service, nurses and parents with new born babies. Children use tools with dexterity when they roll out the play dough, use brushes to create paintings and scissors for collage activities. They build a train track and then run their train and its connected carriages carefully along the track. Children delight in dressing-up as different characters, play with purpose in the role play kitchen or carefully balance on the balance blocks in the outdoor area.

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and outcomes for children

Children are encouraged to adopt healthy lifestyles in which healthy eating and exercise are encouraged. They have a healthy snack, such as sandwiches and fruit and snack time and a choice of milk or water to drink. Children have direct access to a permanently enclosed play area where they benefit from large physical play.

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and outcomes for children

Appropriate hygiene procedures are practised by staff to help protect children from infection. Children have a positive attitude to hygiene routines and talk about washing their hands before they sit down for snack. When asked why they wash their hands, children respond by saying, 'because there might be germs on them'. The children develop a good awareness of staying safe. They learn about safety when moving about the setting and know where it is not safe to run. They also take part in the fire drills and learn about road safety. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Children are learning to manage their own behaviour. They are encouraged to listen to staff and show some understanding of the boundaries of the setting. The children have positive relationships with the staff and are developing some good relationships with their peers. When the children talk about their families and what

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and outcomes for children

is happening at home, they are listened to by staff, which boosts their self-esteem. Staff are very good at praising the children and use a wide variety of appropriate, and at times specific, methods to support children's understanding of right from wrong. 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 2 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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