Bright Beginnings Pre-School Ltd

Briscoe Little Acorns Pre-School Ltd Briscoe Little Acorn Pre School, Felmores End, Pitsea, BASILDON, Essex, SS13 1PN

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 14/03/2013 29/09/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 An exciting and stimulating range of learning opportunities enable children the freedom to develop their own interests and learning styles, so that they make excellent progress across all areas of learning.  Children are superbly safeguarded in the pre-school as practitioners demonstrate thorough knowledge of how to protect children. Their policies and procedures are extremely secure and all practitioners attend relevant training.  Children are extremely happy and settled in the pre-school. Parents help to guide how their children's pre-school life begins, by attending stay and play sessions. Key persons effectively support the children and their families during this transition.  Extremely strong partnerships exist between the pre-school, parents, carers and other professionals. Appropriate early intervention ensures that all children receive the support they need to help them to progress and develop.

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This provision is outstanding

 Managers effectively monitor the educational programme to ensure that every child benefits from appropriate assessment of their learning. Effective monitoring ensures that all children are provided with a range of planned and freely chosen play experiences, which are tailored to their individual learning patterns.

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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

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged 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 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  scheduled 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

 The inspector observed activities in the two playrooms and garden.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with the managers, practitioners and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a range of records including, children's details, accident and medication records, risk assessments, information about children's learning and development and a selection of other relevant documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to at the time of the inspection and comments included in documentation.

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Information about the setting

The Briscoe Little Acorns Pre-school Ltd. was registered in 2010 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in purpose built premises in the Pitsea area of Basildon, and is managed by a limited company. The pre-school serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from two rooms and there is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school employs 24 members of child care staff. Of these, all 24 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 and above, including one of the managers who holds Early Years Professional Status.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school opens Monday to Friday term time only. Sessions are from 8.45am to 11.45am and 12.30pm to 3.30pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 129 children attending who are in the early years age group. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 develop further the already excellent provision for children to access outdoor play by providing shelter, which will enable them to more effectively play outdoors in very hot and very wet weather.

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who attend

Practitioners demonstrate exceptional knowledge of how children learn. They plan an extremely stimulating and exciting range of activities, which enable all children to participate and to make exceptional progress in relation to their starting points. In turn, this ensures that children are ready for their eventual move to school. Children are provided with excellent opportunities to explore freely in order to develop their own interests. Practitioners skilfully expand upon children's ideas and interests, facilitating their learning in a proficient and expert manner. Key persons effectively observe the children in their care. They use their observations to build on children's progress by identifying their next steps in learning. Each practitioner then adds to the weekly planning with activities or resources they want out on a specific day. This enables them to tailor the planning to meet the learning needs of each of the children in their group. The highly effective

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who attend

assessment of children's learning enables practitioners to see clearly where there are any gaps in children's development or where children are making exceptional progress. The key person's comprehensive knowledge of the children in their care enables them to secure timely interventions, and to provide the support every child needs to enable them to achieve.

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who attend

Children are keen learners, who enjoy their pre-school experiences. They actively participate in planned activities, as well as guiding their own play and learning. For example, they have fun exploring trays full of 'gloop'. They touch and feel the material, talking to the adults sitting with them about how it feels. Adults use appropriate language, such as, cold, smooth and runny to enhance the children's learning and extend their vocabulary. Children are active gardeners; preparing their 'allotment', planting seeds, tending to weeds and watering their produce. Once harvested, they use the vegetables they have grown in cooking activities, such as, vegetable soup. A range of visitors come in to the pre-school to extend children's knowledge. For example, parents who originate from different countries come in to the pre-school to cook recipes from their native country with the children. A dog, which is trained to help people with disabilities visits on occasions,

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who attend

providing an excellent opportunity for children to learn about the skills and training the dog has been involved in. The pre-school was chosen as an ambassador to the Olympics in 2012. This provided them with a wide and exciting range of experiences to promote children's physical skills. During this time children took it in turns to take a small bag of physical play resources home to share with their family. The bag contained information about the various areas of learning that each piece of equipment promoted. The pre- school became part of a community of pre-schools and other settings which took part in a mock, torch relay. Each participating setting was given a country to celebrate on a particular day. They had a pretend Olympic torch, which was passed from setting to setting. The equipment came with cameras to record their special day and the passing of the torch and equipment to record children's experiences. This activity prompted a keen

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who attend

interest in sports and keeping fit within the families using these settings.

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who attend

Parents are provided with excellent opportunities to become actively involved in their children's learning. They are invited to share their children's development on a regular basis, when they view their development records. Parents are encouraged to help to identify children's next steps in learning, based on their home experiences. Parents help children to choose books from the pre-school's library to take home and share, promoting their communication and language skills. Some books are in dual languages, enabling children for whom English is not their first language, to develop their use of their home language in play.

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

Children are extremely settled and content in the pre-school. The effective settling-in procedures, guided by parents and children, ensure that children settle at their own pace. Parents are invited to attend a number of 'stay and play' sessions prior to children attending on their own. These are sometimes arranged with two or more children who know each other outside of the pre-school to create some familiarity. Children form extremely secure attachments to their key person, peers and other adults as practitioners are highly skilled in helping children to feel safe and comfortable. The effective key person system enables children to develop a close and trusting relationship with a special person. They use this person as a secure base from which to explore and investigate their learning.

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

Children behave well and understand the pre-school's routines and procedures. Practitioners use attractive visual images to re-enforce the boundaries and routines. For example, a clear visual time-line shows children what is going to happen next during their pre-school session. Key persons promote effective communication with individual children by using laminated pictures of various aspects of the pre-school, such as, the toilets, snack time or story time. Children are learning how to manage risk well, for example, they proficiently wait their turn to use the outdoor climbing equipment. Children are developing superb levels of self-control and independence. For example, during snack time, they butter their own bread, cut up fruit and vegetables and pour their own drinks. Practitioners provide children with superb opportunities to play a fully active role in the preparation of and clearing away of snack. The environment in which children play and

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

learn is extremely stimulating. The effective presentation of resources and play equipment enables children to develop secure independence skills and to guide their own play and learning. They have continuous access to the well-equipped garden area, which enables them to play and learn in an outdoor environment. Children are provided with appropriate clothing to enable them to use the garden in all kinds of weather throughout the year. However, none of the areas within the garden are protected from the elements. The nursery has plans to cover a section of the garden, providing an undercover area to enhance children's outdoor experiences in very hot or very wet weather.

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

Children's confidence and self-esteem is very effectively promoted by caring practitioners, who understand that children need to be confident in order to blossom in other areas of development. Children enjoy talking about their home lives, siblings and pets. Practitioners skilfully extend their discussions by asking appropriate questions and facilitating discussions between groups of children. A child who is upset is calmed and distracted by a practitioner introducing bubbles. The child settles as a cascade of bubbles flow into the air. Children are expertly prepared for their next stages of learning. Practitioners liaise effectively with local primary schools and encourage good communication to aide a smooth transition between the pre-school and school.

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provision

The pre-school management team and all practitioners are inspirational. They work as a strong and capable team of early educators, who demonstrate exceptional knowledge of the children in their care. Highly effective monitoring of the teaching and learning ensures that all children are able to achieve to the best of their ability. The management team comprises of an overall manager and two further managers who work within the playrooms alongside the practitioners. This provides excellent opportunities for the managers to observe the quality of teaching and learning and to offer feedback or guidance to practitioners where necessary. The local authority early years advisors and other professionals visit the pre-school regularly and help to evaluate the provision, making suggestions for further improvements and auditing the effectiveness of the leadership and management. Targets for improvements in all areas of the provision are

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provision

set by management and practitioners. A clear record of how these have been addressed and achieved shows the pre-school's firm commitment to making continuous progress. Practitioners are highly motivated and enjoy participating in a range of training. They attend both external training and in-house events, cascading any new knowledge or expertise to their colleagues during regular team meetings. High-quality professional supervision provides management with an excellent opportunity to appraise practice on a regular basis. Practitioners are able to use this opportunity to guide their own professional development and to improve their already excellent understanding of good practice.

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provision

Children are superbly protected from harm as practitioners and management understand their responsibilities to safeguard children. They have rigorous safeguarding procedures in place, which are regularly reviewed and adapted to meet the changing needs of the pre- school. All practitioners attend safeguarding training and demonstrate secure knowledge of the procedures to follow to refer any concerns or incidents. Clear written documentation evidences the effective action taken to protect children. All adults working with children are appropriately vetted and effective ongoing monitoring of their health and well-being ensures their continuous suitability. Children play and learn in a safe and secure environment, which is risk assessed on a daily basis.

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provision

All nursery leaders and practitioners work extremely effectively with parents and other professionals. Their acute knowledge of the children in their pre-school enables them to identify children's individual needs and requirements. Appropriate interventions are put in place to effectively support all children. Practitioners work closely with other professionals, such as, speech therapists, educational psychologists and health visitors. This ensures that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well-supported and make good progress in their learning and all-round development. The pre-school has very close links with other early years settings, childminders and local primary schools. They share information about individual children's progress, so that their learning is complemented and all parties are fully informed of their achievements.

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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 action. 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 EY422878 Local authority Essex Inspection number 905897

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 52 Number of children on roll 129 Name of provider Briscoe Little Acorns Pre-School Ltd Date of previous inspection 29/09/2011 Telephone number 01268 450 025

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Type of provision

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: 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, which are usually the childminder’s 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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