Silverhill Playgroup

Silverhill Playgroup St. Lukes Church Hall, Alma Terrace, ST. LEONARDS-ON-SEA, East Sussex, TN37 6QT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 01/10/2012 18/11/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 2 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

 The warm caring atmosphere offered helps children to settle quickly, engage fully with what is available and supports their confidence and self-esteem.  Staff are highly skilled at providing differentiation during activities so that all children can take part in activities that offer appropriate levels of challenge and enjoyment.  The staff team work well together to identify and build on their strengths and tackle and weaknesses promptly.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Systems for ensuring that staff other than key persons know children's individual next steps are not fully embedded. This does not support children to make the best possible progress.

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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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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 Discussions were held with the staff, children and parents.  Observations took place of children's care and learning.  Documents underpinning practice were sampled.

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Information about the setting

Silverhill Playgroup opened in 1964. It operates from a church hall in St Leonards-on-Sea with access to a large hall and three smaller rooms. The group opens five days a week during school term times. Sessions are from 9am to 3pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. On Tuesdays and Fridays sessions are from 9am to 1pm. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. The provision is registered on the Early Years Register and on the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. The playgroup receives funding to provide free early years education for three and four year olds. There are currently 43 children on roll in the early years age range. Children come from a wide catchment area. The setting currently supports a number of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The setting employs nine staff, excluding the manager, seven of these staff hold appropriate early years qualifications. There are two

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Information about the setting

staff working towards a recognised qualification.

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

 strengthen the sharing of information between staff about children's individual next steps in learning in order to support children to make the best possible progress.

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who attend

Children learn through play in a stimulating environment, rich in opportunities to extend their knowledge and learning in all seven areas of learning. All children are fully engaged in purposeful play throughout the session and staff work hard to ensure that children's individual interests are met and extended. Staff are very well qualified and led by a highly trained and motivated manager. Key workers know their children well and plan specific activities to target and support children's next steps. They have high expectations of children and use positive praise to encourage, congratulate and celebrate children's progress and achievements. Teaching techniques are good, with staff asking open-ended questions and differentiating activities so that children's individual needs are met. There are opportunities for key persons to share information about their key children with other staff but the system is not sufficiently robust. While all staff know children well they do

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who attend

not always know the specific next steps in individual children's learning. This does not fully support children's individual learning. Staff are attentive to children's needs and encourage their personal, social and emotional needs very effectively. Staff encourage children to share their ideas and opinions. During discussions, the children confidently express their views about what the staff are there to do. Children said that staff are there to help them, teach them and to play with them. They explain how how staff support them if they are upset or injured.

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who attend

All children are respected and celebrated as individuals. Staff are aware of the different learning styles that children may have and how this can be linked to their gender. While ensuring that activities are open to all they do recognise that boys and girls play and learn in different ways and consider this in their planning. Both boys and girls are supported very well to engage in learning. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported very well. The setting is working hard to support children's speech and language skills as this has been recognised as a specific area of need in their community. They offer 'communication groups' where children are supported in small numbers specifically to practice their language skills and learn an increased level of Makaton sign language. Specialist help is sought from the local authority where needed and where this takes time to organise, the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator undertakes research to

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who attend

ascertain the best course of action so that no time is lost in supporting children's individual needs. Parents are included in the process as well as supported to help and extend children's language development at home.

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who attend

Children's physical skills and development are supported very well. Children have many opportunities to use tools and increase their fine motor skills and enjoy regular active and energetic play both indoors and out which enhances their gross motor skills. Staff are aware of the role that they play in carrying out the two-year assessment check which will be shared with parents and others as required.

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

The key person system is effective in providing parents with a named link to the setting who they can share information with. Children are allocated a key person based on attendance patterns and any relationship formed. The key person gets to know the child well, they are responsible for assessing where children are in their learning and planning how to support the child's next steps. The arrangement works well. Children know who their key worker is and can name them and point them out. This helps children to feel safe and secure in the setting. Parents say that they like the continuity that this provides for them and their child. Children show that they feel safe as they approach staff without hesitation for a range of help, questions and ideas.

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

Children are supported effectively to form positive relationships with each other. They are taught to share and take turns, asked to make sure they include others who want to play and encouraged to recognise similarities in each other's lives. This supports harmonious play and some strong friendships are emerging. Some children show great maturity when explaining their own role in the setting. Older children see themselves as having a part to play in supporting new children to feel welcome and safe. Children are encouraged to be independent, to try new things and to take risks appropriate to their ages and abilities. One child predicts that they can add three more bricks without their high tower toppling, they tells others to step back in case it falls and on tip toe, they add the bricks until the tower wobbles and falls. Staff praise them for trying it out and for remembering to make sure it was safe for the other children if the tower fell. Enthusiastically they start building

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

to try it again and the member of staff encourages others to see if they can do it too. The shared approach to testing their theories supports the children to build relationships and learn to work cooperatively.

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

Children receive very good support to learn about the role that they can take in supporting their own health. They show the inspector how to wash her hands and talk about the need to wash all the germs off before eating so that they don't get a tummy ache. They know where their drinking water is and why they should not share bottles. Staff talk to the children routinely about what constitutes healthy eating and children talk about the contents of their lunch boxes, putting their food in order of what is healthiest. Staff support parents to provide healthy meals by sharing ideas for healthy lunch boxes. This is in pictorial form so that it is accessible to all and children have enjoyed looking at this and comparing it to their own lunch. Healthy snacks are offered at the morning and afternoon 'snack caf'. Children are involved in choosing and preparing snacks. The benefits of physical exercise are regularly discussed and children know that being active keeps them

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

fit and healthy. They understand that practicing a skill such as hopping or kicking a ball will help them to become better at it as well as helping them to make their bodies strong. Girls and boys flex their muscles to show how strong they are and show pride in how fast they can run and how high they can jump.

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

The premises are organised to provide children with different areas of activity and is well resourced. Toys and equipment are plentiful, well maintained and appropriate to support children's learning across all areas. Children are supported well to prepare for moving on from the setting. Small groups of older children work in a separate area for short periods taking part in more structured table top activities. Staff talk to the children about school and what it will be like. Children leave excited about their move and information is supplied to their next setting to help them know the child, their abilities and any areas where support is needed. This provides continuity between settings and helps children adapt to the changes more easily.

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provision

The manager and committee have a good understanding of the requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. All requirements are being met in full and the manager is continuing to add to her depth and breadth of knowledge as she undertakes training to gain Early Years Professional status. Management and staff regularly reflect on their practice and strive to continually evolve and improve. Parents are encouraged to share in the running of the provision by joining the committee or voicing their ideas and 85% contributed to the setting's annual questionnaire. Children are asked about how they feel about the setting and what they would like to change by 'Tickle' a rabbit puppet and these comments are noted and considered. If weaknesses are identified they are dealt with promptly. Plans for the development of the provision are targeted at changes that will have the biggest positive impact on the children. These include further

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provision

training to extend how they support children's language acquisition, already a strength of the setting and one which they are committed to extending further. Educational programmes are well considered and ensure that children make good progress across all seven areas of learning. The manager oversees the planning and assessment arrangements and moderates records to help ensure consistency.

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provision

Staff are well qualified and know how to motivate children to be interested in learning. They have good opportunities for continuing professional development and where staff hold key responsibilities they attend additional training to support them in their role. The manager observes staff practice on a regular and formal basis. She feeds back what she feels is done well and discusses any areas that could be improved. This works well. Staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities and work seamlessly together. Staff turn over is exceptionally low and only one member of staff has left in the last five years. The systems for recruitment have been updated in line with good practice ready for when they need to take on new staff. They are robust and ensure that only those who are suitable, are able to work with the children. A full and detailed vetting procedure is in place and only those who have been through the setting's own vetting procedures are permitted to

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provision

have unsupervised access to the children. Visitors are required to show ID and have a valid reason for entering the building. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding issues and know what to do if they have concerns about a child.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are good. The setting has an open door policy and phones or texts new parents to let them know how their child is settling. Termly meetings are held between parents and their child's key person. Where children attend another setting information is shared to support assessment and consistency. Parents comment that their children love to come to the group, that staff are friendly and helpful and that they are kept up to date about their children's progress. One parent had been very pleased with the setting accommodating her wish to use fabric nappies as this helped her child to receive consistency with her toileting arrangements. The setting work with a range of other agencies if children or families require support. They have arrangements to support their training needs through a local training provider and are committed to building on the strengths of their provision. The capacity to continually improve is strong.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are Met

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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 109504 Local authority East Sussex Inspection number 885186 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 43 Name of provider Silverhill Playgroup Date of previous inspection 18/11/2009 Telephone number 07939113303 during sessions

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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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