The Griffin School

Griffin School 154 Castle Road, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 3SA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18/04/2013 27/01/2010

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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

 Staff promote all children's communication and language skills well.  Staff build positive relationships with children, building their confidence and enabling them to become confident and independent learners.  Children have the opportunity to go on a wide range of activities in the community and further afield to enhance their learning.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Parents are not fully encouraged to be involved in their children's ongoing learning by sharing what they know about their children's progress  At times when the children are in the outdoor area, the resources available are limited and they do not always have the opportunity to choose what they would like to play with.

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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 staff and children in the various playrooms and outdoor area and spoke to staff at different times during the inspection.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed a range of documentation including policies and procedures, staff files, children's records and progress records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to parents and used written information from parents to gain their views.  The inspector spoke to the registered person for the after school provision.

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Information about the setting

The Griffin School registered in 2001 and is privately owned by two directors. It operates from converted premises on the edge of Salisbury, Wiltshire. The school is open each weekday from 8am until 6.30pm, for 51 weeks of the year. It offers nursery sessions in addition to before and after school care and a holiday club. The setting accepts funding for early years education for children aged two, three and four years. The setting is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 105 children on roll, of these 35 are in the early years. The nursery currently supports a number of children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who learn English as an additional language. The proprietors and 14 staff work with the children. One of the proprietors and another member of staff hold qualified teacher status. Seven other staff have appropriate early

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Information about the setting

years qualifications to National Vocational Qualification at levels 2 and 3.

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

 strengthen the involvement with parents in the children's ongoing learning, encouraging them to share their children's achievements at home.

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

 review the use of the outdoor area to provide more choices in children's play and learning.

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who attend

Children thoroughly enjoy their time in the nursery. Some are collected from their homes and brought to the nursery in the minibus. They are excited when they arrive and are keen to begin their learning. Children are grouped into age-appropriate rooms enabling staff to provide varied learning opportunities tailored to the children's individual needs and interests. Staff actively engage in children's play enhancing their learning through open- ended questioning and encouraging children to talk about what they know. Consequently, all children in the nursery are making good progress in their learning and development. Children notice the drama teacher arriving and are excited to participate in her sessions. The teacher encourages them to think about being a pirate and children talk about what they might need in the way of a costume. Children are keen to contribute calling out their ideas such as a sword and an eye mask. They go on an adventure and throughout the

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who attend

session are keen to use their imagination and contribute their ideas. Staff extend older children's learning by taking them to an indoor climbing and soft play area where they climb the yard arm and walk the plank, re-enacting being pirates. There are plans to visit a local dockyard to enable children to explore boats and ships.

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who attend

Younger children enjoy learning about familiar stories. They create a display of a beanstalk, grow their own beans and explore other stories linking to that theme. Children enjoy investigating cooked spaghetti and are keen to put it in different size containers. They use a wide variety of tools such as tongs and large spoons. Staff support their learning encouraging children to talk about size such as big and small. This supports children's early mathematics. There are displays in all areas of the nursery created by the children enabling them to take pride in their environment and gain a sense of belonging.

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who attend

Staff gather good quality information about children's individual needs, welfare requirements and their achievements at home before the child starts. This enables them to begin planning from the start for each child. Staff complete ongoing observations both spontaneous and planned. They take photographs of children involved in activities to demonstrate their progress in all areas of learning. As a result, staff know the children well and are able to effectively plan to support their learning. The systems to involve parents in their children's ongoing learning are not fully effective to ensure a shared approach. However, staff have completed the two-year progress checks and are in the process of sharing them with parents.

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

Children build strong relationships with the staff and other children. They benefit from an effective key person system enabling staff to support children's emotional development well. Consequently, children quickly become confident and independent learners. They are well prepared for the next stage in their learning or the move to school. Children excitedly look for their friends as they arrive. Young children ask the staff for resources. For example, children participate in a group activity and some children decide they would like to play with the dough instead. They ask a member of staff who provides dough and a wide variety of tools for them to investigate. Children make pretend cookies offering them to the staff who respond well, encouraging the children to talk about what type of cookie and what shape they are. Staff are good role models for the children and manage their behaviour consistently. Children are clear of the expectations and behave well as a result.

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

Children have excellent opportunities to develop their physical skills. They participate in a wide range of activities such as music and movement. They listen carefully to a CD and follow the instructions which include a warm up session. This supports children in beginning to understand how their bodies change as they exercise. In addition there is a wide range of resources in the three outdoor areas to stimulate children's physical development. On occasions, staff are quite specific in what they offer children to play with when in the outdoor area. For example, children go outside and are offered buggies and balls. Later they use the outside area again and on this occasion staff provide beanbags. This does not fully support children in being able to choose what they would like to play with and to develop their own learning.

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

There is a good range of equipment throughout the nursery and after-school club. Children are encouraged to make choices in their play and learning in the playrooms. The environment is welcoming and there are lots of displays and print around the room to enhance children's learning. There are growing beds where children can dig and plant fruit and vegetables. They are encouraged to tend them until they are able to pick and prepare them. Children benefit from being able to eat them learning about healthy options and where food comes from.

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provision

There is strong leadership and management and, as a result, staff report that they feel well supported. The management and staff demonstrate good knowledge of the safeguarding and welfare requirements and understand how to safeguard children. Staff attend child protection training enabling them to keep their skills up to date. The management and staff are confident with the procedures to follow in the event of a concern over a child's welfare. There are appropriate procedures in place to recruit staff. This enables management to make sure that staff are suitable for their role and responsibility. There are induction procedures in place and regular supervision and staff meetings. This, combined with an annual appraisal, provides good opportunities for staff and management to identify any areas that require support or identify training opportunities. There are thorough risk assessments in place for all areas of the nursery

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provision

and outings. This means children are kept safe and secure. There is a comprehensive range of policies and procedures in place to support staff in delivering good quality care and education. For example, a detailed complaints policy enables parents to know how to raise the concern.

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provision

There are good systems in place to monitor and evaluate the provision. Staff, parents and children are encouraged to be involved in the decision-making. Parents receive regular opportunities to share their views through questionnaires and children's ideas are taken into account. For example, children show interest in knights and the management organise a trip to a local castle where children can explore chainmail suits and armour and learn about how knights protected the castle.

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provision

There are good procedures in place to monitor the educational programme making sure the learning and development requirements are met. The nursery manager completes observations in the other rooms and views children's learning journeys to make sure that staff record children's progress and identify the next steps in their learning.

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provision

The management and staff develop positive relationships with parents and carers. There are good opportunities for parents to be involved in nursery life and the management organise different events such as a firework party. This enables parents to informally meet staff and the management through fun events. Staff communicate with parents in a variety of ways such as informal discussions and detailed newsletters. Parents' evenings provide them with opportunities to talk to their child's key person and view their records. Parents report that their children are making good progress. They feel that staff communicate well and they particularly like the wide range of outings their children go on. There are good systems in place to share information with other early years providers and early years professionals to support a cohesive approach to children's learning. For example, staff work closely with the local children's centre to support children and their

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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 161965 Local authority Wiltshire Inspection number 909293 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 56 Number of children on roll 105 Name of provider Christine Hind and Gillian Taylor Partnership Date of previous inspection 27/01/2010 Telephone number 01722 416282

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Setting details

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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