The Villages Childcare

The Villages Childcare Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY439978 Inspection date 29/05/2012 Inspector Rachel Wyatt

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Setting address Leigh & Bransford Memorial Hall, Sherridge Road, Leigh Sinton, MALVERN, Worcestershire, WR13 5DE Telephone number 07854477445 Email 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

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

The Villages Childcare is a privately owned group that was re-registered in 2011. It operates from the Leigh & Bransford Memorial Hall near Leigh Sinton in Worcestershire. The group serves the local and surrounding areas. The group is accessible to all children and there is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play and opportunities for nature walks on site. The group is open on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday during school term times. Sessions are from 9am until 2.30pm. Children are able to attend for a variety of sessions. There are opportunities for children to attend Forest School sessions run by the owner and a colleague in conjunction with another pre-school. This session is held at a nearby school on a Wednesday morning.

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Description of the setting

The group is registered on the Early Years Register. A maximum of 24 children may attend the group at any one time. There are currently 21 children attending who are within the Early Years Foundation Stage. Support is available for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Description of the setting

The group employs four members of childcare staff all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications, including two who are qualified to level 6. The group provides funded early education for three- and four-year-olds and 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 outstanding.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

The owner and her colleagues create a most welcoming and stimulating atmosphere at this group where children thrive and make excellent progress. Children and the adults working with them relish the action-packed but relaxed sessions. Strong partnerships with parents, carers and others contribute significantly to the staff's great success in knowing each child well and in fully meeting every child's care, learning and development needs. Robust systems underpin the smooth running of the group and ensure each child is fully safeguarded, kept safe and their health promoted. The owner and staff are highly motivated and effective in driving improvement. They consistently reflect on their procedures and practice and always make sure children's needs are central to the changes they take, as in the case of recent further developments to the outdoor provision.

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further?

To further improve the high quality early years provision the registered person should consider:

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further?

 revising the organisation and management of some adult-led small group activities in order to further promote children's differing abilities and needs. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

Children are fully safeguarded. The owner and her colleagues have a comprehensive understanding of safeguarding issues and what action to take if they have any concerns about a child's welfare. Rigorous policies and procedures are consistently applied, and are carefully monitored and updated to ensure children are always protected from harm and kept safe. Robust recruitment, vetting and staff development procedures ensure children are looked after by adults who are suitable, experienced and well qualified. All required documentation, risk assessments and procedures are in place to ensure Early Years Foundation Stage regulations are met and to aid the smooth running of the group.

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the early years provision

The owner and her staff are highly successful in promoting children's welfare and helping them make significant gains in their learning. The adults are dedicated and highly motivated in the way they work together as a team and as key persons to ensure each child and their families access high quality provision. They are passionate about meeting the needs of children and are very successful in how they plan and organise activities, resources and adult support. They create a most inviting environment where everyone feels welcomed and included and organise sessions which are rewarding, relevant and stimulating. However, when children are learning in small mixed age groups with their key person, there are a few times when more able children's skills and understanding are not fully extended. The owner and staff have already recognised this and are considering ways to make improvements. Overall, they are highly motivated and effective in monitoring and

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the early years provision

evaluating their procedures. They accurately identify areas to develop and take prompt, appropriate action to make timely and relevant changes. For example, extending the outdoor provision has enabled every child to play and learn outside for much of the day.

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the early years provision

There are excellent relationships with parents, carers and other agencies and providers. From the outset, the owner and staff give priority to ensuring children and their families feel comfortable and safe at the group. There are individual arrangements for settling children and to enable parents to get to know how the group operates. This can include key persons making home visits. Families are given a wealth of helpful information about the group, including via a website and a secure social networking site. Parents really appreciate the quality of the provision which they feel is 'exceptional'. They happily stay to chat to staff about their child and to settle their child at the start of a session. They help with reading or contribute resources, such as plants for the garden or food for the group's Diwali celebrations. Valuable partnerships are also well established with other agencies enabling the group, for example to effectively narrow the achievement

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the early years provision

gap for those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Positive links, including shared activities and visits with local schools and other early years settings, give children consistency and help them to make smooth, successful transitions into full-time education. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

Children attending the group make outstanding progress in relation to their starting points. From the time children arrive to the end of the session, they have a great time. There is a consistent buzz of purposeful play and activity. Children are eager to learn, remain curious and interested, confidently express their views and readily try new things. Staff make robust assessments, based on their observations, interactions with children and regular information from parents. This ensures each child's starting points and next steps are fully understood and reflected in activities. Clear achievable individual targets are agreed for each child, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and staff capably plan and organise relevant and exciting activities and resources indoors and outside.

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and outcomes for children

Children develop very good skills for the future. Staff interact really well with them. They consistently promote their involvement and concentration, encourage their ideas and imagination, and help them to extend their skills. As a result, children are very confident, increasingly independent and often resourceful. They are very well behaved and helpful. For instance they tidy up toys, serve their own snacks and drinks, and water the plants. They learn about being kind to others, for instance, being particularly generous with the amount of greens they feed a visiting rabbit. There is a consistent buzz of meaningful conversation between children and adults, but children also know when it is important to sit and listen. They speak confidently and clearly as they socialise, describe what they are doing, elaborate on their play and ideas, for instance during role play. Children make marks and readily recognise their names, for instance when they find their name

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and outcomes for children

Children are resourceful and confidently solve problems. Realistic props depicting buns and sausages bring popular number rhymes to life and help children of differing abilities to count accurately and to understand one more/one less. Children love building and experimenting and staff ensure there are many exciting opportunities at each session. For instance, a small group of children imaginatively use wooden blocks to create their version of Buckingham Palace. Outside another group of children busily dig and bury a length of pipe in the sand, using a bucket on a pulley to raise and lower materials. Children are imaginative and creative. They decide to dress up as queens and princesses in order to better display the very individual, decorated crowns they have made.

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and outcomes for children

Children's welfare is promoted very well. Children have an excellent understanding of how to be healthy. They know when and why they should wash their hands 'because they are dirty and there are germs'. During physical activities, children and adults talk about and check their heart rates. Children competently balance, climb and move in different ways, including when using wheeled toys. They regularly take part in varied, often challenging physical activities, including using apparatus in the garden, attending Forest School and taking part in regular nature walks. During a most enjoyable physical education session, children play skittles, enjoy egg and spoon races, adeptly balance and walk on bucket stilts, throw and This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 catch bean bags and use large hoops in different ways. Children make healthy choices about what to drink and eat. They enjoy cooking and tending the fruit and

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and outcomes for children

vegetables they are growing, which they later harvest and eat.

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and outcomes for children

Children have very good understanding of how to keep safe. In particular, they feel safe at the group. Each child thrives and is confident to express their wishes and feelings because staff always value children's achievements, praise their efforts and gently reassure them. Children move safely around the premises and show good spatial awareness during active play. They help staff to keep play areas safe by assisting with putting away toys. More challenging physical activities, for example during Forest School, and other activities including visits from the community police officer and fire fighters extend children's knowledge about safety issues. 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 1 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 1 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 1 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 1

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 1 The extent to which children feel safe 1 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 1 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 1

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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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