Kingswood Village Playgroup

Kingswood Village Playgroup Wickwar Road, Kingswood, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, GL12 8RF

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 09/11/2012 30/03/2010

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 The educational programmes do not offer sufficient challenge for children across all areas of their learning.  Staff do not take sufficient account of children's starting points and so are not able to measure children's progress in relation to these.  Staff do not plan activities to meet the individual needs of children and inconsistent practice means that children receive varied experiences and opportunities.  The staff team's approach to behaviour management is inconsistent. Staff do not always challenge poor behaviour appropriately.  Staff do not routinely seek the views of parents to find out about children's interests and progress at home. They do not consistently give parents information about children's progress in the playgroup. This does not support continuity between the home and playgroup environments.

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It has the following strengths

 Committee members are supportive and show a strong wish to improve practice. Parents support the playgroup well through the volunteer duty rota.  Some staff support children appropriately in their learning and well-being.

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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 held discussions with the co-chairpersons' of the playgroup.  The inspector completed a joint observation of a play activity with the manager.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.  The inspector observed a range of activities.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of documentation, including children's development records and evidence of staff suitability.

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Information about the setting

Kingswood Village Playgroup opened in 1969 and is run by a committee of parents. It operates from two rooms in the village hall in Kingswood, Gloucestershire. The playgroup serves the local area. It opens on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday during school term times only. Sessions on Mondays and Fridays are from 9.15am until 11.45am. On Tuesdays and Thursdays session are from 9.15am until 1.14pm. There are currently 16 children on roll in the early years age group. The playgroup is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged three and four. There are partnership arrangements with other early years settings in the local area. The playgroup employs six members of staff. All hold appropriate early years qualifications. The staff are supported by parents on rota duty.

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must:

 develop the staff team's understanding of equal opportunities by implementing a policy that sets out how the individual needs of all children will be met and how this will be monitored and evaluated  implement an effective behaviour management policy and identify a named member of staff with responsibility for behaviour management to provide consistent support and strategies to the team and consistent limits so that children can feel safe and secure in their play and other activities  develop educational programmes by observing children and exchanging information with parents to determine individual needs, interests, and stages of development. Provide challenging activities across all seven areas of learning through planned, purposeful play and make time for children to be with their key person individually and in their key group.

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who attend

Staff do not establish children's starting points and are therefore not able to measure their progress in relation to these. They record on-going observations of children's progress, however, they do not use these to develop challenging and stimulating activities to support individual needs.

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who attend

Activities available generally support areas of learning but staff do not provide adequate challenge to inspire children. For example, the paint table activity supports a firework topic but there are no additional materials to stimulate children's imagination resulting in a lack of interest. The outdoor area is a valuable resource but the planned activities do not cover all seven areas of learning and offer very little challenge to the children. Staff do not engage children's natural curiosity about their environment.

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who attend

Some activities provide some children with a chance to develop their vocabulary and share their ideas through conversations with their key person. The book corner offers an inviting space to explore the range of books. Staff sometimes encourage children to join in and ask questions about the story. They talk about the illustrations to encourage children's participation, for example, asking, 'why are the bees there?' There are early writing resources available, such as pencils, felt tips, stencils and chalk to encourage children to make marks. Children demonstrate good awareness of space when using the bikes outdoors and develop their physical skills when throwing and catching balls and hoops.

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who attend

When given the opportunity, the older children are able to count how many children are present and how many cups and plates they need. However, these chances to count are limited. Staff sometimes support children to find 'big and small hands' and to measure these against their own hands. They sometimes discuss sizes of the fruit children are eating. These discussions help to develop children's understanding of measurement. However, staff use mathematical worksheets that are inappropriate for some children and they do not support all children to achieve.

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who attend

Staff support some creativity through the use of a dressing up box and a large home corner. However, the craft area does not inspire creativity and when children access this area staff do not offer them independence to create. For example, staff choose the resources, unscrew the glue lids and monitor the activity too rigidly, rather than encouraging children to do things for themselves. Staff do not fully support children for their next stage of learning as they do not encourage their independence or manage behaviour consistently.

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who attend

The playgroup develops relationships with parents through their volunteer rota and parent committee. Parent feedback is enthusiastic about the outdoor space and the outings the children have access to, for example, local farms and blackberry picking. However, staff do not support some parents' engagement in their children's learning and key persons do not always provide sufficient information about children's achievements. Some parents state that they have never had feedback about their children or seen any progress records. This weakness has a negative impact on promoting consistency between the home and the playgroup. Despite this, parents say that their children are happy at the playgroup.

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

The playgroup has a key person system in place to support children. Some children have secure bonds with their key person, for example, sharing stories in the home corner and seeking out their key person to share an activity. However, not all children spend sufficient time with their key person to develop secure relationships and not all key persons know their children well.

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

Children have access to the outdoor area during the session and some children are able to move confidently between the two areas. However, there are limited opportunities for the children to develop independence to manage their own personal needs. For example, when going outdoors staff put on most children's coats for them rather than encouraging them to do this themselves. In addition, they count how many children there are rather than encouraging the children to develop their own skills in counting.

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

Staff express an understanding of how to keep children safe but do not always support this in practice. They do not always deal with children's behaviour consistently and they sometimes ignore inappropriate behaviour. Children receive conflicting messages and staff do not routinely help them to develop the skills to manage their own behaviour. This weakness impacts negatively on the level of involvement all children have with the activities on offer. For example, some children move out of the home corner to avoid being hit by toys thrown by other children. The playgroup does not have an identified member of staff for behaviour management, which is a breach of a legal requirement. As a result, the staff team does not have consistent strategies to support individual children.

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

The playgroup has two indoor rooms and a large outdoor space, including a field and park. However, staff do not make the most of this environment and children sometimes only use one of the indoor rooms and a small area of the outdoors. Staff do not consistently plan resources outdoors to offer the children learning opportunities across all areas and some of the activities lack the correct materials. For example, a small group of children work together with the large building equipment with the aim of building a tent. However, staff set out equipment pieces that do not fit so the children are unable to achieve the desired effect. As a result, children become disengaged and move away, unable to follow through their ideas or to use their problem solving skills.

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

Care practices are variable and do not support all children's emotional well-being. For example, at snack time children sit at two tables but staff only support one group appropriately. Some staff encourage discussion around favourite foods, help children to count how many plates and cups are needed and encourage the use of manners and suitable hygiene practices. Other staff fail to focus on children resulting in poor hygiene practices, such as taking food out of the bin or handling other children's food. Staff sometimes notice these points but do not discuss them with children. The lack of explanation about hygiene means that not all children learn about healthy lifestyles.

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provision

The playgroup has satisfactory safeguarding procedures in place. Staff can explain the signs and symptoms that may lead them to be concerned about children. The playgroup's safeguarding policy includes what to do if allegations are made against a staff member. The playgroup carries out appropriate background checks on all staff members and all staff have basic safeguarding training. The committee are responsible for recruitment and have suitable procedures in place to safely recruit new staff members. An induction procedure and annual appraisals are in place for all staff, although these do not always result in satisfactory practice.

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provision

The manager is aware of the training needs of the staff team, however, there is a lack of support available in practice. For example, during the snack session staff do not receive instruction to ensure that they support all the children. There is some confusion over who is responsible for behaviour management and this has a direct impact on the children's behaviour and their ability to develop skills for the future. The manager has a basic knowledge of equal opportunities but is unable to talk through how the playgroup monitors individuals, or measures progress. The lack of monitoring means that the educational programmes do not give sufficient depth and challenge to all children and planning is not in place.

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provision

The playgroup has suitable links with both local primary schools and a children's centre. They receive support from a school reception teacher on implementing the revised Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They also have links with other early years settings children attend, although this does not extend to sharing a clear assessment of children's progress or what they know and can do. Partnerships are therefore not currently effective.

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provision

The playgroup is working with the local authority early years team to develop their practice and the manager receives strong support from the co-chairpersons' of the committee. However, self-evaluation is weak and the playgroup does not encourage input from the whole staff team.

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provision

The playgroup develops relationships with parents through their volunteer rota but staff do not engage with all parents. The information parents receive is inconsistent and ineffective in supporting children's progress and home 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 101729 Local authority Gloucestershire Inspection number 813206 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 28 Number of children on roll 16 Name of provider Kingswood Village Playgroup Date of previous inspection 30/03/2010 Telephone number 01453 843 862

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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: 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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