High Coniscliffe Pre-school

High Coniscliffe Pre-school High Coniscliffe Church Hall, High Coniscliffe, DL2 2LR

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 06/06/2013 02/06/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 Good teaching and careful planning ensure that tasks are well matched to children's learning needs. Observations of children's interests are used effectively to plan activities in the inside and outside areas that promote their understanding and increase their knowledge.  Staff are caring and thoughtful individuals who nurture the children well. This enables children to grow in confidence and become enthusiastic young learners who behave well.  The partnership with parents is well promoted as staff are skilled in sharing and using relevant information regarding child development. The information parents provide about their children contributes significantly to the staff's success in accurately planning for and meeting each child's needs.

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It is not yet good because

 Not all policies are available for inspection and procedures have not been updated to include a mobile phone and camera policy, in order to safeguard children's welfare.  Partnerships with all settings children move onto are not fully established.  Children's health is compromised due to the arrangements for drying their hands.

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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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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities throughout the pre-school in both indoor and outdoor spaces.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the deputy, staff and children at appropriate times throughout the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documentation including children's records, learning and development information, staff records and a selection of policies and procedures.  The inspector took into account the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

High Coniscliffe Pre-school registered in 2008 on the Early Years Register. It is a limited non-profit making company. The pre-school operates from within High Coniscliffe Church Hall, in the centre of the village. There is access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The pre-school operates during term-time only from 9.15am to 12.15pm, Monday to Friday. It serves the needs of children from the local community and the wider rural area.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 20 children on roll who are in the early years age range. The pre- school supports children who speak English as an additional language. There are three members of staff employed to work with the children, supported by a regular volunteer. The manager holds Qualified Teacher Status and two members of staff are qualified to level 3. They receive support from the local authority.

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must:

 ensure that policies and procedures to safeguard children are available for inspection and are kept up to date by including information on the use of mobile phones and cameras within the setting.

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

 improve the arrangements to support children's health by making sure that hygienic methods are in place when drying their hands

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

 improve partnership working with all settings children move onto to ensure that they receive the help and support they need to make a successful transition to the next stage of their learning.

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who attend

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They plan well for children's future learning by using their observations of the children and information they gain from parents when children first start. Staff make effective ongoing observations of the children's various learning styles and developmental needs. Using this information, they plan a wide range of play opportunities, which children find consistently challenging and enjoyable. Staff monitor children's progress in their learning carefully and use the Development matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage guidance to assess if children are working within the expected developmental age range. A progress check at age two is in place and is created by staff in consultation with parents. This enables staff to identify any individual falling behind their peers or below their expected achievement levels.

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who attend

The pre-school is a hive of activity with every child totally engaged with the wide variety of activities and resources available; from creating their own stories, painting or transporting water, to monitoring the growth of the tadpoles. Teaching is good throughout the pre-school. All adults work closely together as a team to support the children and encourage all to do well. When adults are supporting learning during children's play, they immerse themselves in the activity with the children, allowing the children to lead, but always alert to opportunities to develop children's understanding. A group of boys playing in the water successfully learned about mixing colours, capacity and the properties of water. This was as a result of carefully thought-out adult comments, such as 'I wonder why the clear water has turned black?' in response to an observation by a child. The staff expect a lot from each child and so children learn by doing things for themselves. For

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who attend

example, children learnt about the meaning of the word 'full' when they filled the jugs with water and estimated how many cups it would take to fill it.

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who attend

Progress in communication and language is particularly strong. This is because of the skilled questioning and the encouragement to listen carefully and converse with each other and the adults. Constant interaction between adults and children, and between children themselves, means they acquire communication skills quickly and confidently engage in lively conversation, clearly expressing their ideas. Staff make every effort to support children who are learning English as an additional language. They encourage children and parents to share information and familiar words which they can use as children play. This helps all children and parents to feel involved and valued while effectively promoting children's communication skills. This gives them some of the necessary skills in readiness for school. Children are interested and have fun in making makes and writing activities. With support from staff they are encouraged to create their

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who attend

own stories. Here children's imagination run wild, for example, they create tales of magic potions and giants as big as houses. Some children are able to recognise the sounds at the start of words and the letters that represent them and some confidently write their name and other familiar words. Children show their love of books as they select them for their own pleasure encouraged by the comfortable and inviting book area. Children's mathematical understanding is explored and developed well as they are presented with real-life problems to do with mathematics. They count, recognise numbers and do simple mathematical calculations such as, 'if there are four children and three aprons how many more aprons do we need?'

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who attend

The outdoor environment provides a wealth of chances for children to engage in activities and experiences which promote their physical skills and love of learning. They weave in and out of the climbing frame, ride wheeled toys, dig in the sand and build with construction toys. Children's awareness of sustainability is promoted well. They participate in growing vegetables, such as carrots and rocket. They are also gaining a distinct understanding of life cycles by observing the changes in the tadpoles, excitedly use the magnifying glasses to peer into the water tray to check for any minute change. Through the completion of the good quality information regarding children's starting points, parents contribute what they know about their child with the key person. Regular and ongoing assessments of children's progress, supported by photographs of activities that are on display, are shared with parents and carers so that they know how well their children are

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who attend

doing. Parents engage with their children's learning by being able to look through and contribute to their child's learning journal, take home children's artwork and having daily discussions with staff about what activities they have enjoyed.

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

Children are happy and settled because the move into the pre-school is managed well. The key person system is implemented effectively, to ensure that each child has a named person to take responsibility for their daily well-being, plan for their learning and development and build positive relationships with parents. As a result, children build secure relationships with staff, coming into pre-school happily and eager to learn. Children's starting points and other relevant information is gathered from parents at the beginning of the placement. This helps staff to make an initial assessment of children's capabilities, likes and dislikes and contributes towards their tailoring of provision to meet individual needs. The pre-school is well laid out to develop children's independent skills as they are able to easily and safely select all resources for themselves and make choices about where and with what they wish to play.

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

Children's behaviour is managed well through clear and concise behaviour management strategies. As a result, children's behaviour is very good. Nearly all understand the importance of listening, sharing and taking turns. Many spontaneously apologise when there are occasional disagreements or someone is accidently hurt. Children's show high levels of independence. They serve themselves at snack time, tidy away toys; attend to their own needs, such as visiting the toilet or putting on their apron. This means that they are developing the skills needed for the next stage in their learning, such as attending school.

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

Children's health and well-being are supported well. Staff provide children with very healthy snacks of fruit and talk to them about the importance of eating a healthy diet. Fresh drinking water and milk is available at all times and children help themselves when they are thirsty. Children understand the importance of following simple hygiene routines, such as washing their hands before eating or after visiting the toilet. However, they only have one towel to dry their hands, therefore this does not protect them from cross- infection. Children learn to keep themselves safe in a range of situations. This was demonstrated in the way children moved safely around the pre-school, inside and outside, with care. Children who wanted to show how they 'break dance' are helped by staff to understand how to do this safely by making sure they had plenty of space, so that they would not bump into their friends. Children's physical development is well promoted as

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

they thoroughly enjoy the freedom to play both indoor and outdoor. They enjoy going on walks to explore the local environment around them. Staff use these outings to teach children about road safety and how to keep themselves safe. They regularly practise fire drills so that all staff and children know what to do in an emergency.

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provision

Staff demonstrate a suitable knowledge of safeguarding children and are generally confident of their roles and responsibilities. However, the written safeguarding policy was not available for inspection. Furthermore, staff have not kept up-to-date with the need to ensure that a written policy, which facilitates the effective and appropriate use of cameras and mobile phones is in place. Managers have not considered this with regard to safeguarding children, which potentially compromises their welfare. Robust risk assessments are carried out, to ensure that hazards to children are identified and all necessary steps are taken to limit risks. This means that children can play safely indoors and outside. Appropriate recruitment and induction procedures ensure children are cared for by suitable adults. There are also suitable procedures to manage staff performance for the current staff team, to maintain sufficient standards for children's care and learning.

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provision

Quality of teaching by staff is managed by regular informal discussion and occasional formal meetings as part of the appraisal process.

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provision

The pre-school has good relationships with parents and carers. The staff actively share information with parents about their children's routines and the activities they participate in. They do this by taking time to exchange information at the beginning and end of the session, sending out newsletters, and sharing children's learning journey records. Parents comment very positively about how well their children settle at the setting, and clearly value the staffs' commitment to supporting their children's learning and development. The pre-school enjoys good partnerships with the village school. In preparation for those children moving to the local school, staff invite teachers to visit in order to meet the children and exchange relevant information. This positively helps those children's move into school. However, this arrangement is not consistent with all settings children move on to, for example schools that are further afield. This means that not all children are fully

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provision

supported in their move to the next stage of their learning.

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provision

Self-evaluation takes into account the views of staff, children and their parents. As a result, the staff team are generally aware of the areas that can be developed further. Improvements since the previous inspection mean that all children now make at least good progress. The work done to develop access to the outdoor environment to give children opportunities to investigate the natural world has been effective and children now enjoy a wide range of activities and make steady progress in this area. These developments demonstrate the pre-school capacity to make further improvements.

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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 EY386260 Local authority Darlington Inspection number 858973

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 20 Number of children on roll 20 Name of provider The Non-Profit Preschool Alliance Limited Date of previous inspection 02/06/2009 Telephone number 07817 413138

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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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