The Learning Station Playschool

The Learning Station Playschool Rose Green and Patcham Youth Centre, Hawkins Close, Rose Green, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, PO21 3LW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/09/2012 09/02/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 3 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 All staff show a high level of knowledge and understanding of child development and the characteristics of effective learning.  Team work is excellent with a supportive and proactive attitude from all staff to managing children's individual needs and encouraging their understanding.  Staff have a strong awareness of the requirements and wider issues relating to children's well being and safety.  Children enjoy a welcoming, well-resourced and supportive environment, which has a consistent focus on individual children and family needs.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Some parents and carers are not fully participating in children's ongoing learning or linking with children's development at home.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are scheduled:  at least once in every inspection cycle. The current cycle ends on 31 July 2016  more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged as inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage; or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised for inspection where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed all the areas used by children and staff, including the outdoor play area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities and routines and discussed these with staff and children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked documentation relevant to safeguarding and welfare, also children's assessments of learning.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector discussed the impact of planning and the key person's role on children's development.  The inspector spoke with parents and other carers during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector gave feedback to the provider/manager and agreed recommendations.

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Information about the setting

The Learning Station Playschool is privately owned and was registered in 1998. It operates from Rose Green and Pagham Youth Centre, in Rose Green, Bognor Regis, West Sussex. It is adjacent to Rose Green Infant School. The playschool has links with the Early Years Foundation Stage provision in the Infant School. The setting serves the local and surrounding areas and has sole use of the ground floor building when sessions are running. Children have access to an open plan area with toilet facilities and quiet play provision. There is a secure kitchen area and an enclosed, hard surface outdoor play area.

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Information about the setting

The playschool is registered on the Early Years Register and operates during term time only. Sessions are from Monday to Friday, 9am until12 midday, with an extended lunch hour until 1pm. On Tuesday and Thursday there are additional afternoon sessions until 3pm; children can stay for the full day. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 45 children aged from two years to under five years on roll. The playschool provides funded educational places for three and four-year-old children. Staff support children who learn English as an additional language. There are six staff working with the children, including the owner-manager who has a BA in Early Childhood Studies. Three other staff hold level 3 qualifications in childcare and early years education.

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 strengthen the systems to support and encourage parents and/or carers in guiding their child's development at home

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who attend

The provider and staff are competently and consistently meeting the learning and development needs of individual children. They have a clear understanding and awareness of their key children's level of learning. They are also rapidly gaining information about new children attending, based on the information from parents about children's existing skills. There is a good focus on settling new children and encouraging relationships. All staff show a high level of understanding in how to involve children in activities. This includes very appropriate questioning and stimulating children's thinking and understanding. For example, when children say they are building a house with the large wooden blocks, staff encourage them to think about size and shape. Children compare and describe size; they use the word 'short' when the staff say one piece of wood is small compared to another. Children balance long wooden shapes on their shoulder and this

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who attend

leads to conversations about safety and how builders manage to move items. Staff show competent skills in promoting children's interest through dialogue and sharing ideas. This offers challenge and encourages other children to become involved.

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who attend

Children have a very wide variety of activities and ample freedom to choose and move between activities. They make independent choices, for example playing outside and choosing when to have their snack time. Children fully appreciate the opportunity for active learning outdoors. They eagerly use brushes of various shapes and sizes to paint the fence and walls with water; they show concentration and repetition of movement. Children aim confidently when throwing balls into the hoops and explore the feeling of the 'gloop', making patterns in the tray with different objects. Children feel the texture of the dry sand and watch how it moves through funnels; they fully enjoy water play and experience splashing.

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who attend

Children learn to communicate through play and through dedicated group time. Older children show thorough confidence in interacting with staff and each other. Younger children are encouraged to learn each other's names and staff support and assist them in following the regular routines. Children come together and listen for short times; their involvement in songs and action rhymes increases their sense of belonging. They are keen to listen to stories, they remember and talk about previous stories they enjoyed.

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who attend

Children's capability levels are fully assessed when they first attend, and their ongoing development is accurately monitored through frequent observation. Records show that staff compare their key children's progress against the aspects and areas of learning. They continually plan activities to encourage progress. For example, younger children who are learning English as an additional language have high levels of support. Staff include strategies to add their home language to the labelled items in the room. They are encouraging and developing the relationships of children who speak the same home language.

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who attend

Parents contribute to children's development from the start. They are strongly encouraged to be involved in children's learning and all parents complete an initial assessment form. There are frequent exchanges of information with most parents to enable key staff to understand and plan for children's learning. However, some parents and carers are less involved in making links with children's learning at home or at other care provisions. Children settle well; they have opportunities to attend for play days before the start of a new term. Parents often stay to share their children's experience and to ease their settling. Parents are supportive and fully recognise the targeted strategies that key staff include to support children's development.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

The playschool has excellent levels of team work and all staff are good role models. They have a proactive attitude to meeting children's individual needs; they continually offer support and understanding. Staff are very well-deployed and show a strong dedication to developing relationships with new children. There are well-established routines to enable new children to form attachments with staff. For example, children are given time to gravitate to individual staff members and this helps to form the key person system. Where there are already secure relationships with families, staff maintain a key person link with any siblings. Children learn about the boundaries throughout the daily routines and they are given responsibilities and encouraged to be independent. For example, children learn to recognise when the garden is not available for play. They can see the open and closed sign on the door, which shows red or green traffic lights. Staff explain to children

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

individually, to ensure they understand. Children are also given responsibilities during their play. They learn to carry scissors safely when moving between activities; they are trusted to carry the camera outside and to use the wrist strap. Staff praise children for 'good walking' indoors and this helps them to understand the dangers of running.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

All staff show a strong awareness of health and safety requirements and the wider issues relating to children's well being. There are very rigorous routines for hand washing and children remember this well before they sit at the snack table. Staff talk about washing the fruit and all children are encouraged to eat fruit before having a biscuit. They are eager to practise their skills of pouring milk and water and as children develop competence, they learn to use small knives for chopping fruit.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children show delight when playing outside and moving between the activities on offer. They cooperate and negotiate with each other, when painting with water and learn not to splash in the water play. Older children are independent and capable in managing their own personal needs. Younger children learn this gradually and staff follow hygienic routines to encourage their progress. The welcoming, well-resourced and supportive environment fully encourages children's personal, social and emotional development.

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provision

The playschool has strong leadership and high levels of staff continuity. Staff are well- qualified and show a secure and effective understanding of how children develop. There are well-planned systems for evaluating the playschool practice and the educational programmes for children. For example, staff attend regular training to increase any specific areas of learning and the owner- manager has continued to gain further qualifications. She has understood the revised Statutory Framework, she is currently including systems to ensure the prime, and specific areas of learning are monitored for individual children. Staff show clear detail in their observations and planning for children's next steps in learning and these are linked to show the progress.

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provision

There are effective and thorough systems to meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. The provider/manager has responsibility for completing all staff clearance and full documentation is available to support these processes. All staff have a competent understanding of protecting children and they know the procedures to be followed. They are well aware of sharing information and have ample opportunity to liaise with the owner-manager through regular meetings and daily practice.

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provision

A dedicated evaluation of the provision has been completed and this includes the views of parents and staff. Staff have also reflected on their knowledge of children's preferences to influence the evaluation. For example, the playschool has changed the balance of adult- led and child-led play to meet children's individual needs. The owner-manager is very keen to focus on the individual characteristics of how children learn as she knows these can be very different. Previous weaknesses have been effectively addressed to raise the quality of the provision since the last inspection. For example, the assessment records for children have developed and strengthened to reflect children's progress and show how their next steps are highlighted.

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provision

The dedication of the staff team is very evident throughout children's play and daily routines. Staff are supported and involved at all levels, the owner-manager has delegated across many areas of responsibility and this has increased staff confidence and enjoyment. There are well-established channels for measuring staff performance and increasing knowledge and understanding.

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provision

The playschool has established a close working relationship with the adjacent school. Children have frequent opportunities to visit and become familiar with the surroundings and the reception staff before they transfer. Parents are delighted with this aspect of the provision and they know that children settle successfully. There are also strong links with external agencies that support and promote individual children's progress when required, to close any gaps in children's learning.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Satisfactory Satisfactory provision is performing less well than expectations in one or more of the key areas. It requires improvement in order to be good. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be inspected again within 12 months of the date of this inspection.

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Grade Judgement Description

Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 113771 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 813454

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 45 Name of provider Emma Ide Date of previous inspection 09/02/2009 Telephone number 01243 264439

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Type of provision

set out in the guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration. Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises that are usually their own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. 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,

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Type of provision

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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