Brimpsfield and Birdlip Playgroup

Brimpsfield & Birdlip Playgroup The Village Hall, Birdlip, Gloucestershire, GL4 8JH

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 27/09/2012 05/11/2009

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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 children make good progress in their learning and development relative to their starting points. The staff work well together to create an interesting and varied learning environment for promoting children's all round development.  Skilled staff well support children through individualised learning programmes explored through play that includes many opportunities for decision making.  The promotion of children's personal and emotional development, often continuing from attendance at the toddler's session, is reflected in the warm, caring relationships that clearly exist for children so they feel safe and are happy.  The provision strongly meets all requirements for children's safeguarding and welfare. Staff are attentive to children to consistently meet their care needs.  The strong links made with parents, including through the management committee, successfully involve them in two-way sharing about children's progress.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not make the most of opportunities to encourage children to learn about letters and sounds, for example, by encouraging children to extend their phonic knowledge while playing with objects or in early writing activities.

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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 children's play and staff interaction, indoors and outside. The inspector and manager discussed joint observations of an indoor activity.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector talked with the staff and held discussions with the nominated person and the play leader.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined documentation, including a representative sample of children's records, policies, risk assessment and staff suitability records.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Brimpsfield and Birdlip Playgroup registered in 1993 and is managed by a parent committee. The playgroup operates from the village hall at Birdlip in Gloucestershire that is adjacent to the village primary school. Children either live in Birdlip or travel from surrounding villages. They are cared for in the main hall. Children use the school playground and playing field and the playgroup has its own bark surfaced area with a climbing unit within the field. The playgroup opens on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9am to 12 noon. The Monday and Tuesday sessions are children aged two years nine months to five years and on Thursdays accompanied two-year-olds may also attend. The playgroup is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 22 children on roll in the early years age range. The playgroup is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged three and four years. There are three

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Information about the setting

members of staff working with the children assisted by a rota parent. Two of the staff are qualified to level 3 in childcare or equivalent. The playgroup is supported by a part-time administrator.

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

 extend the activities and support for children to develop the ability to distinguish between sounds and learn to link sounds and letters.

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who attend

All children make good progress in each area of learning, taking into account their capabilities, patterns of attendance and starting points. They benefit from the calm, welcoming atmosphere so they are eager to come, find their names badges and begin to play. Children enjoy the range of stimulating, quality resources set out around the hall. They settle to play for long periods and transfer smoothly to their next chosen activity with the minimum of fuss. Staff move around the hall, working well together to be available to join children's play. As a result, children receive good support from staff who allow them space to explore, while being attentive to when they will benefit from closer attention. Staff enable children to share their ideas and talk about their activities. For example, when a child expressed the intention to create an 'Indian man', staff encouraged him to research in a book to find out what he might look like. This led to exploring other

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who attend

books for information, including one about dinosaurs.

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who attend

In this small group, staff know children and their backgrounds well. They work particularly effectively with parents to help children to settle. They strongly engage all parents in their children's development and learning in the playgroup and at home, for example using communication books to share progress. The staff team meets daily to discuss children's responses so key persons and other staff have a secure knowledge about each child's stages of learning, interests and learning needs. As a result, staff successfully observe children's responses to help them to move on. They effectively use children's chosen play situations to teach along the lines of their next steps. For example, they know when children are ready to gain confidence to investigate different ideas. When playing with magnetic blocks, for example, staff encourage them to test which blocks 'stick' together. Children find other surfaces around the hall to which the blocks adhere, such as metal

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who attend

table legs. Each day, staff evaluate individual children's activities to successfully plan for their future learning. They effectively plan children's experiences to cover the seven required areas of learning, in and out of doors.

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who attend

Children make good progress in their personal, emotional and social development. They gain good self-esteem and form positive relationships with adults and other children. Staff skilfully enable them to extend their language skills, talking quietly and clearly and often giving them time to think about their answers to questions. Boys and girls choose to sit in the 'office', attracted by the well laid out, quality resources to 'answer' the telephone and 'write' messages. Children easily recognise their names on the 'apple tree' and their drawer. They sometimes learn about sounds and letters when listening outdoors and in games; however, staff do not frequently introduce sounds of letters as these arise from their play, such as initial sounds of play items. Even the youngest children ask to paint and have a choice of table or easel painting to make their marks and explore the colour of the week. Staff skilfully incorporate mathematical learning into children's play using a wide

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who attend

variety of equipment. They support children to move from inset puzzles to complicated jigsaws. They invite children to learn the shapes of blocks and many recognise more complex shapes, such as triangles. Children learn to count to high numbers as the adult points and they look directly at the different children in the circle.

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who attend

Staff effectively foster children's understanding the world, for example, through frequent opportunities to explore their village community. Children use school facilities and visit on special occasions, for example, to see birds of prey. They invited villagers to a party to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee and excitedly held an Olympic torch. They explore to find out about things around them, growing seeds and enjoy weekly cooking sessions. Children delight in using the variety of outdoor areas to extend their physical skills, including climbing and negotiating wheeled toys. They seek out and investigate bugs through magnifiers. Adults value children strongly expressing their ideas through art, music, singing, role-play and design and technology. Children purposefully chose computer programs and persevere to operate the mouse to match colours and numbers. Staff are well aware of children's current preferences and provide items, such as dressing-up

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who attend

clothes, for them to extend their play. For example, a girl dresses herself in chosen clothes as soon as she arrives, examining her appearance in the full-length mirror and choosing accessories. A group of children don helmets and negotiate roles in their play to 'extinguish a fire'.

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

Staff support children well with a caring, considerate approach that helps them to develop trusting relationships. As a result, children progress quickly so that they feel emotionally secure with familiar people. Parents receive an information sheet to complete about their children and many attend the sessions that include toddlers. As a result, most children make a seamless transition to stay on their own. The key persons effectively support children and their families and focus on enabling children to learn. They are sensitive to children's emotions and pre-schoolers gain confidence to talk about how they are feeling. Staff take a consistent approach in their expectations regarding how children behave. This means that children learn to share and be considerate towards others. The overall atmosphere is one of calm, concentrated play so children are happy and focused on their chosen activities. The hall provides spacious areas for children to extend, for example,

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

their role-play and to combine resources so they focus well on their activity. When children wish to use the same toys, adults use similar words to remind children, for example, not to snatch. They remain at the activity for a considerable time to support children to behave well. Children become well aware of the playgroup's timetable so they feel confident at times of change.

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

Adults organise themselves well so a member of staff is always available to attend to children's care needs, such as a trip to the toilet. Young children are strongly supported to understand personal hygiene routines and older ones learn to manage these for themselves. Children gain good independence through known routines, for example, collecting their own plates and drinks for their snack. They develop a strong understanding about healthy lifestyles. They make healthy choices of nutritious foods, such as toast and a variety of fruits. They eagerly go out into the fresh air each day to play. Staff make alternate use of the school playground and the playgroup's own area of the field, with challenging climbing equipment, including a rope ladder. Children become proficient at handling small equipment, such as balls and hoops.

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

Staff thread the development of children's understanding of safety through the daily routines. Children follow rules, for example, about not throwing or running indoors and about being alert as they walk across the car park to the playground. They learn how to use a range of tools safely, including scissors. Children feel safe and are confident to ask for help in the relaxed, purposeful environment. They dress in the home corner and help each other; they eat and drink competently, sitting down nicely and socialising with others at break time. They sit still to listen with riveted attention at story time. They receive strong support to do things for themselves so they gain good independence in organising their own activities. For example, they fetch and put on craft aprons, collect the equipment they wish to use and take their finished creations to the drying area. As a result, children enjoy their pre-school experiences and gain good skills and attitudes to

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

underpin their eventual move to full-time education.

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provision

The staff work well as a team and all play their part in fulfilling their responsibilities to effectively meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements at all times. They have a good understanding of how to keep children safe through child protection training. The play leader completes extended training and has secure knowledge of how to respond to any concern about a child. Staff review detailed, written risk assessment through daily checks, in particular those concerning security. This means staff keep children safe on the premises and on outings. The playgroup effectively maintains all required documentation, including the record of staff and management committee suitability. The high adult to child ratio enables staff to focus well on children for the majority of the time. This means that they effectively promote safe practices and a culture of safety and all required policies and procedures are consistently implemented.

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provision

The play leader works closely with her staff, the administrator who is the nominated person and the committee, especially the officers who offer good support. Using parents' views, for example, from a recent survey, they assess what they offer to children and their families and accurately plan areas for development. These include completion of the transition to using the new Early Years Foundation Stage and monitoring of groups of children following six-weekly review of each child's progress. Staff have well devised plans to carry out progress checks for children aged two years. Good attention to well understood employment and vetting procedures and regular appraisal effectively support staff development. Staff are particularly open to extending their practice through visiting settings and talking to other early years professionals, including local authority advisors.

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provision

Parents are critical in their desire to secure good provision for their children. They much enjoy staying to sessions and appreciate the strong, two-way communication about their children. They praise the individual gifts of each staff member and, especially, staffs' commitment and competence in picking up on children's abilities. Staff understand well, the importance of securing strong partnership with other settings children attend. They are proactive in sending communication books to share details about children and have backup plans to use where links are difficult to establish. Staff have good links with the adjacent school and children regularly visit prior to attending.

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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 101472 Local authority Gloucestershire Inspection number 813190

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 22 Name of provider Brimpsfield & Birdlip Playgroup Date of previous inspection 05/11/2009 Telephone number 07914091427

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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.

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Type of provision

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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