Ashington Playgroup

Ashington Playgroup Ashington Community Centre, Foster Lane, Ashington, Pulborough, West Sussex, RH20 3PG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10/10/2012 10/12/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 Children are able to access a varied range of activities that develop their understanding of their local environment. They learn about the setting's and also the natural habitat of the surrounding area  A broad range of resources that develop their skills in both understanding technology and that promote their mark making skills engage children's interest  The setting have established some good links with outside agencies, in particular other early years settings children attend. Key persons share information on children's development to compare and support their learning.

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It is not yet good because

 The educational programmes do not provide a sufficient depth to offer a range of activities and experiences to support children in developing an interest in reading and making good progress in their early reading skills.  There are too few opportunities for children to develop their skills in phonics and the similarities of sounds and beginnings of words.  Although the setting are keeping up to date with current practice and are starting to evaluate their systems, there aren't effective systems for self evaluation across all areas of the setting for which parents, staff and children can contribute to.  Although partnerships with parents are positive and general information is shared, parents do not receive tailored information about how they can continue to support their children's learning 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 activities and practitioner's interaction with the children throughout the inspection  The inspector held meetings with the key person

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled documents and checked suitability of practitioner's working with children  The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of all the parents using the setting on the day of the inspection

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Information about the setting

Ashington Playgroup registered in the current premises in 2004 within a community building situated in the village of Ashington, West Sussex. The playgroup operates from one main play room within the community centre, situated on a mezzanine level and accessed by wooden steps or mobility lift. There is a separate kitchen and toilets on the ground floor for children and staff. Children can also access the larger hall at times and various outside areas including hard standing and grassed areas for outside play.

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Information about the setting

The playgroup provides sessional care five days a week during term time only, operating between 9am and 12 noon and serves the local area. The playgroup also offers a lunch club on a Thursday until 1pm. The playgroup is registered on the Early Years Register and currently has 10 children on roll between two and four years. The play group provides funded educational places for three- and four-year- olds. There are six members of staff in total, four of whom hold early years qualifications to at least level 2.

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must:

 Improve the educational programme for literacy by helping children obtain a love of books by: providing a range of resources such as CDs with rhymes, stories, sounds and spoken words; develop a more attractive book area which is inviting to children; and provide story sacks, puppets and other soft toys as props.

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

 support children skills in phonics by drawing attention to the similarities in sounds at the beginning of words and emphasise the initial sounds

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

 develop the arrangements to communicate regularly with parents, keeping them well informed about their children's progress and involving them in their child's learning at home

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

 develop self-evaluation to ensure it takes into account the views of staff, children and their parents and use this information to create an ongoing improvement plan, which supports children's achievements over time.

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who attend

The atmosphere within the playgroup is warm and welcoming. Most children are confident as they enter, separate from parents with ease and set about choosing where to play. There are some friendships within the group, with new ones developing as older children have left to go to school causing the dynamics of the group to change. All staff join in with children's play with some using good open-ended questions which encourage conversation amongst children. For example, as two children use binoculars to look out of the window staff encourage them to tell each other what they can see and then look for each other's objects. Children are articulate and lots of discussion takes place between staff and children. However, staff are less effective at supporting children's phonics skills and supporting their awareness of initial sounds. Children are able to make independent choices and know the routines of the session well. They are developing well in their

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who attend

independence and self help skills through routines and play, for example, when using the dressing up clothes.

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who attend

A variety of activities and resources encourage children with their early writing skills. Children use clipboards as they write for a purpose in the construction play and are able to access a range of resources at the mark making area. Children get to explore different textures such as shaving foam. Children enjoy the feel of the foam as they swirl it around the table making different patterns. Staff encourage children to predict what colour the foam will change to as different amounts of food colouring are added. Through routines, staff promote using numbers for a purpose. Children count how many children there are and match this number to the right amount of cups and bowls. Staff use children's interests in using the electronic resources to support children's understanding of position as they compare above and below, on and under. This also supports children's awareness of mathematical language.

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who attend

Children are able to learn about the world around them and appreciate what is important within their lives. They visit different parts of the local community including some areas where children may know such as the church and local school. Through regular walks away from the playgroup children investigate the natural habitat of the spiders and insects living in the hedgerows. They develop an understanding of nature as they compare the ripeness of some blackberries to others. They have access to a good range of resources that promote investigation. Children are keen to use the wind up torches and lamps in the den or binoculars and magnifying glasses to help them study objects. Computerised and electronic resources also support children's understanding of technology.

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who attend

Children are less inspired to access the book area, which is uninviting and offers little stimulation. With books stacked in storage containers children take little notice of these and this does not effectively promote reading for pleasure. The available books do not have much variety, such as child made books or those that promote different languages. In addition story sacks and props are not readily available to enable stories to come to life. Children are more able to independently access the musical instruments and organise themselves a small marching band as they coordinate the instruments well. Other creative activities encourage children's artistic nature with tabletop painting or sticking activities. They use their imagination with play dough and use their physical skills as they roll or cut it with dough knives. Children also have opportunities to develop their large physical movement skills through different outdoor activities in various areas nearby. The hard

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who attend

surface allows ride on toys, hoops and balls whilst the recently introduced nearby park supports skills in coordination and balance.

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who attend

Practice is generally sound although staff's understanding of the new revised areas of learning and how to support children's learning varies. Each key person assesses children's learning and demonstrates a suitable understanding of how they are supporting individual children in their development. The playgroup is in transition between two different systems to assess children's learning. Similarly new systems for completing the two-year- olds progress check and planning for individual children are also in their infancy. Therefore, although key persons are motivated to develop the new systems for all children in the setting, these are not consistently applied. The playgroup has positive relationships with parents who speak highly of the setting. However, although parents receive lots of generic information, more tailored information about how they can support their children's learning at home is not routinely shared.

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

Children are settled and content within the provision. They have built up trusting relationships with key staff and confident to develop new relationships with those less familiar. The staffing ratios are high for the number of children attending, therefore children are able to form secure attachments. Children's behaviour throughout the day is positive with few reminders needed of how to behave nicely. Staff report on their use of distraction as they identify any possible triggers for less favourable behaviour. Through shared play and group times, children are able to build relationships with each other.

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

Children feel safe and secure within the provision. They listen to safety instructions from staff throughout the session, such as how to sit appropriately on chairs and to avoid tripping hazards. Staff continue to support children's safety awareness on walks away from the setting. They consider the dangers of cars but also other hazards they find along the way. Having time in the fresh air is part of the everyday routine. Outside play varies the experiences children receive, with time on the hard surface area with equipment, trips to the park or walks in the local area. The playgroup promotes children's awareness of being healthy through discussions about healthy food at snack time. Children group together socially where they develop their independence skills by pouring their own drinks and on occasions preparing their own snack.

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

The environment is welcoming to children and their families. Resources support most areas of learning although some areas, such as the book area are less inspiring and offer less choice to excite and interest children. Children can make their own selection of other resources from open drawer units around the setting giving them choices. The good display of photographs of the children is at child height and this promotes conversation and recalling of past events. The staff prepare children for the transition to school throughout the year but with a stronger focus in the spring term. Children are developing their confidence and independence skills that they require to secure their future learning. The playgroup extends the opening times one day a week, so older children can stay for lunch. This helps to prepare them further for starting school as they become more independent through this routine.

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provision

There is a developing understanding of the revised areas of learning amongst the provider and staff team and how they can support children's learning. The group's supervisor supports the provider in assessing the curriculum and most areas are supported through a range of experiences and resources. The supervisor takes the lead in planning and assessment. She is implementing new systems, which are an accurate understanding of children's skills although these are not embedded for all children.

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provision

The safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage are understood by leaders and are suitably applied. Those in the designated role for safeguarding understand their responsibility towards the children and other staff members know the procedures that need to be followed. Individual arrangements are made with families to ensure a safe handover of children is completed. The staff team are very established and have worked together for many years and appropriate checks to ensure their suitability are fully in place. Additionally, new systems to monitor their ongoing performance through appraisals have recently been introduced.

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provision

The introduction of the revised Early Years Foundation Stage has motivated and enthused leaders and supervisors in the group. They have been assessing areas for development as they evaluate processes and systems that need changing to work within current guidelines. Policies have been updated and information about the changes have been shared with parents. However, not all staff, children and parents are encouraged to contribute towards the setting's self-evaluation or share ideas for future improvement. The setting have, however established some positive links with other early years settings to work collaboratively to support individual children. The setting welcome other key persons from other settings and with parental permission share their observations and areas where they are supporting children's development. This enables other practitioner's to see children in different surroundings and work towards common goals.

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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 EY280579 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 814685 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 24 Number of children on roll 10 Name of provider Shirley Piper Date of previous inspection 10/12/2009 Telephone number 07774571315

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Setting details

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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