Happy Days Kindergarten

Happy Days Kindergarten Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY431975 Inspection date 06/02/2012 Inspector Gillian Cubitt

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Setting address St. John the Baptist Church, 251 Eden Park Avenue, BECKENHAM, Kent, BR3 3JN Telephone number 02086503515 Email jane_cannon9@hotmail.com Type of setting Childcare - Non-Domestic 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

Happy Days Kindergarten is a pre-school that opened in 2003 and re-registered in September 2011. It is privately owned and operates from a community hall, situated in the grounds of St. John the Baptist Church, in a residential area of Beckenham, in the London Borough of Bromley. Children have the use of one large hall and staff make an enclosed area for outside play. The pre-school is open each weekday from 9.15am to 12.30pm during term time.

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Description of the setting

The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. They may care for a maximum of 28 children in the early years age group; of these, not more than 12 may be under 3 years and of these, none may be under 2 years at any one time. There are currently 35 children aged from two to under five years on roll, some in part-time places. The pre-school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, as well as children who have English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

There are five members of staff, all of whom hold early years qualifications to at least level 2. There is also one part time volunteer. The pre-school staff include French as part of the learning programme.

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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 safe as staff provide a secure environment and they have a good understanding of protecting children from harm. Staff promote children's welfare and learning acceptably and they are developing their knowledge of each child to help meet children's individual needs overall. Children enjoy their learning and they are making at least satisfactory progress across each of the areas of learning; however, the assessment and planning systems do not yet incorporate children's next steps effectively. Staff support the development of children's independence skills overall, although more dependent children are not always given opportunities to increase their skills and challenge their learning. The partnership with other agencies and local schools is strong; however, the key person system used to support individual children on a daily basis is not yet fully developed to track children's progress or share their achievements with parents and children. All staff

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

and the manager evaluate the effectiveness of the service, demonstrating their ability to maintain continuous improvement, as they identify priorities for development and work towards providing a service that responds to all user needs.

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further?

To further improve the early years provision the registered person should: This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006  support the development of children's independence skills, particularly for those who are dependent, for example, by allowing them take the lead in focused and everyday activities to increase their skills and challenge their learning  use the key person system more effectively to provide a means for sharing children's achievements with parents and the child to track children's individual development and progress  extend planning and assessment systems to enable children's next steps in learning and development to be incorporated into plans for individual children and use this to inform or guide everyday planning.

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the early years provision

Staff adhere to a range of well written policies and procedures that underpin the safe and satisfactory management of the pre-school. All staff checks are thorough and show adults are suitable to work with children. Documentation that supports children's safety and welfare is in place. This includes written risk assessments for the indoor and outdoor spaces, which help to make all areas secure and suitable for children. Regular checks for the safety of equipment, together with good deployment of staff and resources, enables children to play safely under correct supervision. Additionally, children's outings to the local park are risk assessed appropriately and staff know procedures well. Staff protect children from harm as they have a good understanding of safeguarding children issues, including who to contact if they have any concerns about a child.

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the early years provision

The manager promotes equality and diversity well, tackling any unfair discrimination and making the setting inclusive for all. The pre-school establishes good partnership working with outside agencies to support children with special educational needs and makes strong links with local schools to support children's transition.

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the early years provision

Staff work very closely as a team and have satisfactory systems to monitor and evaluate the care and learning they provide. They regularly discuss and review ways to develop the service and work closely with their early years advisor to develop practice. As a result, the manager has a clear understanding of areas for improvement. For example, the pre-school has successfully introduced a 'grandparents day' where feedback was very positive and beneficial to building bonds with other family members. There are also plans to include parents formally in the self-evaluation process.

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the early years provision

Parents are positive about the friendly and welcoming staff. They receive informative registration documents and there is a gentle settling in period for children. Staff care for children using the key person system; however, this is not yet fully developed to enable key staff to use it effectively to track individual children's progress and achievements and share this information with parents and the child. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

Staff get to know the children well. They plan a variety of interesting and fun activities, which cover all areas of learning. Individual files are in place to record observations of the children and to aid in the assessment of their progress towards the early learning goals. Staff have a good understanding of children's next steps in their learning, however, current planning and assessment systems do not enable children's next steps in learning and development to be incorporated into plans for individual children or to inform or guide everyday planning. Good use is made of the space to allow children to move around freely and choose activities. This means that children become confident and enhance their growing independence.

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and outcomes for children

Children are very settled and happy at the preschool. They run in confidently and are interested, motivated and remain involved in the activities for extended periods. For example, children initiate their own play in the role play areas, having fun shopping, talking about fruit and vegetables and negotiating prices which improves their social skills. Children's communication skills are developing well and staff support these especially well during circle times, where everyone is included. Children take turns to introduce themselves and count each other, promoting their understanding of numbers. Staff extend children's learning by introducing numbers to them in French. Children's love of books is particularly well supported. At times, children snuggle up to a member of staff for a favourite book and all children enjoy gathering for group story times.

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and outcomes for children

Children also enjoy focused craft activities where they spend time building rockets from such junk resources, as cardboard cylinders, milk cartons and egg boxes. They also make Valentines cards as part of their learning about different events during the year. Although staff eagerly participate in these activities, they do not always set children tasks to increase their skills and challenge their learning. For example, by cutting out shapes to stick on cards and taking the lead in sticking items together, staff restrict children's creative and physical skills. Many other activities develop children's independence, such as dressing themselves before going outside and accessing programmes on the computer. Many interactive toys and games help to promote children's growing knowledge and understanding of technology in their world.

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and outcomes for children

Children have regular opportunities to play outside which helps to promote their physical development and good health. They wrap up warm to play in the snow and run around in the fresh air. On warmer days, children have a variety of bikes, scooters and other outside equipment to help them to develop confidence and coordination skills. Inside, children follow good hygiene procedures before eating their buffet style snacks of cereals and/or fruit.

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and outcomes for children

Well planned activities help children to begin to learn about how to keep themselves safe. For example, staff introduce topics about 'people who help us', where children meet the police and fire service and learn about safety. Staff also remind children why running inside can cause accidents. Children attentively listen This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 and look at pictures about how to keep themselves safe. They learn to be aware of others, especially those who are younger than themselves. As a result, children receive the support they need to enable them to think how their behaviour affects others. Staff are good role models, making children feel special which enables them to develop friendships that continue as they go on to school. 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 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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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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