Hardwick and Arden Pre-School

Hardwick and Arden Pre-School Hardwick Community Centre, Ferriston, Banbury, Oxon, OX16 1XE

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 03/12/2012 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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, including those with additional needs, make good progress from their starting points and achieve well.  There are warm and caring relationships between children and all staff. Children's behaviour is good and they are well settled and secure, which enables them to organise much of their own time.  Children benefit from the welcoming, stimulating environment with high quality wooden furniture and low level, accessible storage.  Staff use strong, consistent observation and assessment and are increasingly using the language of the publication 'Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage' in children's next steps for learning.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff are still working towards the most effective use of routines and small group work, for example, at register and story times.  There are few words and symbols displayed at the children's level to support their growing literacy skills.

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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 compulsory part of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the play room and the outside learning environment. The inspector completed a joint observation with the play leader.  The inspector held meetings with the manager and her deputy.  The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with children, the provider's self-evaluation forms and some daily documentation.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Hardwick and Arden Pre-School opened in 1983 and registered at its current location in 2012. The pre-school is a voluntary group managed by a committee. It operates from a community centre in a residential area of Banbury, Oxfordshire. Children have access to an outdoor play area. The pre-school opens on weekdays during term times from 9am until 3pm. It is registered on the Early Years Register and on the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. There are 46 children on roll aged from three to under five years. The pre-school is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. Staff currently support children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and children speaking English as an additional language. There are nine members of staff working with the children, seven of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications. There are two members of staff working towards a

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Information about the setting

further qualification. The manager and deputy manager hold Early Years Foundation Degrees.

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

 revise the routine and use of small groups for children to maximise their concentration and their learning, for example, through story times.

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

 extend the programme for literacy, including support for children to recognise words and symbols that take account of their different interests.

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who attend

Children progress well in all areas of learning, taking into account their starting points and patterns of attendance. Most settle quickly in the calm atmosphere of the group so they are eager to come in, find their name cards and choose an activity. Children enjoy the wide range of stimulating, quality resources set out in areas around the hall. They often concentrate for long periods and transfer to their next chosen activity without fuss. However, the routine includes a circle time planned near the start of the session which disturbs children's play and breaks their concentration. During play times, staff move around the room, being attentive to children's needs and joining in their play. As a result, children receive good support from staff who give them space to explore resources, while understanding when they will benefit from closer attention. Staff enable children to talk about their activities and to share their ideas. They offer open comments and questions,

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who attend

for example, following up the building of 'recycling equipment' using hollow wooden blocks by asking, 'I wonder what's going to happen to it now?'

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who attend

Between sessions, the staff teams effectively share recorded information about children's responses using notes. As a result, each child's key person has a secure knowledge about their stages of learning and interests, which they use to review their learning needs. The pre-school is planning to care for children aged two years starting September 2013. The management have a good understanidng of the requirement to check their progress and aims to complete assessments in line with the children's centre next door. Currently, staff successfully use observations of children to plan appropriate activities that help them move on to the next stage in their learning. They know when children are ready and confident to investigate different aspects of activities. For example, when children play with magnets, staff plan to offer different shaped magnets to try on different surfaces. Each day staff observe and evaluate individual children's activities to effectively plan for

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who attend

their future learning across the seven required areas of learning. Staff make good use of planned and spontaneous small group activities to foster children's learning. For example, children engage well in focused games to develop their listening and language skills, including acting out words when going 'under' and 'over' a blanket. While painting, children receive good encouragement to practice early writing skills and to talk about the colours they mix. They select from the adult-written labels to name their work, although there are few other words at their level around the hall to foster their early literacy skills. Both boys and girls particularly enjoy looking at picture books and they choose favourites for the group time. However, as the story group is large, they are not able to fully join in conversations about the pictures.

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who attend

Children make good progress in their personal, emotional and social development. They gain good self-esteem, showing that they feel they belong to the pre-school, for example, as they self register on arrival. They receive strong support from positive relationships with adults and other children and strong friendships are in evidence. Children progress well physically. They confidently use large physical equipment in and out of doors and become proficient with tools, such as scissors. Staff skilfully incorporate mathematical learning into routines and play. For example, they support children to add one, to give the day's date and to name the shapes they draw. Staff effectively foster children's understanding the world so that, for example, they are keen to learn about technology using battery toys, a camera and the computer. They thoroughly enjoy collecting the leaves that fall in the autumn. Children delight in using the variety of outdoor resources to

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who attend

extend their creative skills. They choose different beaters to tap out rhythms on hanging household equipment. Children cooperate to use their imagination well. For example, they act out different roles n the play house and create different scenes in the doll's house with a wide variety of figures. Children gain good independence skills, for example, in dressing and care of their belongings. Their confidence in organising their own time stands them in good stead for making a smooth transition to school.

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

Staff promote effective settling-in procedures. As a result, most children make a seamless transition from home and are soon confident enough to stay on their own. Effective deployment of staff, alongside the key person system, ensures that all children form secure emotional attachments. Staff know the children and their backgrounds well and work particularly effectively with parents to help children settle, including those who initially find this difficult. Staff support children and their families well with a caring, considerate approach that helps them to develop trusting relationships. As a result, all children progress quickly and feel safe at the pre-school, including those speaking English as an additional language.

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

Staff follow clear care practices, which enable children to be happy and enjoy what they do. Children display a good awareness of taking responsibility for the safety of themselves and others. They move around calmly and safely in the spacious hall. Children receive effective support from staff to understand the consistent expectations for behaviour and to play well together. As a result, they progress to willingly come to the carpet for circle times and share resources to take turns, for example, on wheeled toys outdoors. Children choose from a wide range of good quality resources and play materials that well cover the seven areas of learning. Many of these are stored effectively to encourage children's confidence and self-motivation to make decisions about what they wish to play with.

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

Children gain a good understanding about healthy lifestyles. They willingly contribute to the cleanliness of the premises by changing their outdoor shoes. Adults organise themselves well so a member of staff is always on hand to support children's care needs, including using the toilet. Children are sensitively encouraged to follow personal hygiene routines and to learn to manage these independently. Children gain good independence through known routines, for example, efficiently serving themselves with drinks and foods for their snack at the 'caf'. They make healthy choices of nutritious foods, such as a variety of fruits. For a period during each session they eagerly choose to go out into the fresh air to play. They are active on challenging balancing equipment and become proficient at handling small equipment, such as maracas.

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provision

The committee, including the current chair person, and team of leaders, provide strong management for the pre-school. There are particularly good arrangements for safeguarding children. All but one staff member have been trained in safeguarding children, so their knowledge of procedures is good. The child protection lead practitioners have both undertaken a training course that enables them to identify, understand and respond appropriately to a concern. They attend 'team around the child meetings' whenever required.

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provision

The pre-school has a good understanding of meeting the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Each term, the manager closely monitors the key persons' assessment of children, so that their needs are well identified and met through timely intervention. Many of the children have recently started at the group and staff are initially working on their personal, social and emotional development. Plans to keep children safe on the premises are good. A member of the senior team records daily checks of the premises to identify any hazard which could cause an accident. Away from the premises, on outings to the nearby playground, staff review a general risk assessment before each outing to help keep children safe. Staff intend to broaden these outings, for example, to walk to the brook and to shop for cooking items. All but one member of staff have paediatric first aid qualifications.

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provision

The pre-school uses effective systems for recruitment, staff supervision, performance management, training and ongoing professional development. Good use is made of self- evaluation to set priorities and challenging targets for improvement. All staff are involved and parent representatives on the committee are asked for their opinions on various aspects of the provision, such as opening hours. Staff seek the children's views by listening to them and noting their preferences. Children take photographs of what they like and this leads onto building dens in the garden where they find creatures living under rocks. Staff meet regularly to review their practice to plan improvements. They visit other settings, for example, to see how packing away each day works for them. The manager liaises closely with the local authority and values the input of a teacher from the children's centre. Plans for the future include developing cooking activities, mounting permanent

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provision

displays and extending the outdoor area to improve the provision for children's learning.

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provision

Parents welcome the good provision for their children. They see plenty of useful information about what is going on. They benefit from the clear, individualised, two-way communication about their children and different aspects of the pre-school's organisation. They use the lending library and share notes about early reading books that children take home for parents to share. Parents are fully involved in special themes, such as finding photographs of family members for children to share at pre-school. Staff have a good understanding of the importance of securing strong partnerships with other settings children attend. For example, by contributing towards a shared profile. They are proactive in establishing communication links with other agencies, such as speech and language therapy, to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory 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 EY447236 Local authority Oxfordshire Inspection number 801232 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 46 Name of provider Hardwick and Arden Pre-School Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 01295 279 216

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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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