Twinkle Tots Pre School

Twinkle Tots Playgroup Small Meeting Place, Glovers Lane,Heelands, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK13 7LW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 15/05/2013 13/12/2010

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early years provision

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

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This provision is satisfactory

 Children benefit from a range of learning experiences that cover all areas of learning, including daily outdoor play, which helps them make good progress in their physical development.  Children are safe and secure in the playgroup and they are happy and contented overall.  Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported and staff monitor their progress closely to help them progress.

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It is not yet good because

 There are variations in the quality of teaching. Consequently, some children are not making good or better progress in their communication and language and literacy development.  Staff do not plan sufficient challenges for children who attend the playgroup full time to keep them interested and fully engaged throughout the day.  Self-evaluation of the playgroup is not fully developed to allow managers to carefully examine all areas of performance. Therefore, there are weaknesses in monitoring the quality of provision and engaging with parents about their children's learning.

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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 children's activities indoors and outside and spoke to children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector tracked children in the playgroup, looked at assessment records and activity plans.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed qualifications and recruitment and suitability procedures with the manager.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector spoke to parents.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed, documentation, discussed evaluation and improvement plans with the manager and the registered individual

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Information about the setting

Twinkle Tots Playgroup registered in 2001. It is registered on the Early Years Register. A group of volunteers manages the playgroup. The playgroup is located in the Heelands area of Milton Keynes, in Buckinghamshire. The playgroup has the use of rooms within a community hall and there is access to an enclosed outdoor play space. Currently, there are 50 children on roll. Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The provider receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged three and four years. The playgroup opens on weekdays during school term times with sessions operating from 8.45 am to 11.45 am and then from 12 noon until 3pm. There are eight members of staff all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications, including some to level 6.

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must:

 develop the educational programmes for communication and language and literacy by helping all children to initiate conversations, to share experiences, engage with others confidently and to practise their early writing skills

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must:

 plan more challenging learning experiences to keep children who attend full time interested and purposefully engaged in learning.

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

 develop self-evaluation systems to carefully monitor the quality of provision and children's achievements over time

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

 provide more organised opportunities for parents to review and contribute to their children's observational assessments.

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who attend

Staff plan suitable activities, that promote all areas of learning appropriately each day. They interact positively with the children, and most children engage well with staff and others. However, staff have not sufficiently developed activity plans for children who attend full time to sustain good quality learning experiences for all children. For example, staff do not develop these plans further or change them with new and interesting learning opportunities during the afternoons. Therefore, while these children enjoy the activities during the morning, they show less interest and lose some focus during the afternoons. During these times, staff miss opportunities to, challenge children, consolidate and develop their concentration for longer periods in readiness for school.

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who attend

Staff do not always engage sufficiently with every child to support them to make good or better progress with their early communication and writing skills. For example, some children in the pre-school age group speak confidently to give information and some are beginning to write for different purposes, such as to address envelopes to their parents. These children show good early speaking and writing skills. In the same group, some children are far less confident to initiate conversations and others are less practised with early writing skills. Although staff identified these as areas to work on, they are slow to find and implement the right strategies to fully support some children in these areas. As result, not all children, show high levels of confidence in these aspects of learning. Overall, children enjoy the freedom of play and all children show that they are making good progress in their physical development. Some children show that they are beginning to set

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who attend

their own challenges as they build their obstacle course. They share their ideas and work well together. They learn about self-care as they dress warmly to play outdoors, and the majority of the pre-school aged children need little or no help to deal with toileting matters.

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who attend

Children use tools such as scissors and rolling pins competently, to create changes in play dough and paper. As children experiment at the water tray, they engage with mathematics as they measure and estimate. Activities that are based on themes help children to develop their understanding of the world, such as the life cycle of butterflies. Children use their work in expressive arts and design to bring their learning to life and displays of their work brightens the learning environment.

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who attend

The layout of the playgroup makes it easy for children to enjoy books and to move between activities. Although, activities do not always provide sufficient challenges for children staff are quick to acknowledge children's achievements. This helps children to recognise when they have done well.

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

Every child is allocated an assigned adult as key person from the start. Key persons engage well with parents to find out essential information about individual children. This helps children to settle well. In addition, staff encourage parents to take the time to settle their children. Children observe positive interaction between staff and their parents during this time and this helps them to begin to develop trusting relationships with the playgroup staff. This also helps children to feel secure and assures parents of staff's kindness towards the children. Parents provide good information about children's individual needs, health conditions and cultural observances, which helps staff to promote children's well- being effectively.

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

The playgroup welcomes children and families from varying backgrounds. Staff are confident about equality, and they are clear that they would not treat any child or their family more or less favourably. They set the expectation for a warm welcome with greeting posters in different scripts. Staff use resources such as a visual timetable to help all parents and children understand the daily routine. Children use resources that reflect cultural diversity and disabilities as a core part of the daily play provision. Staff demonstrate a positive attitude to equality generally. However, there are some gaps in promoting the needs of children who attend full time to help them achieve well in their learning and development.

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

The playgroup is very well equipped there are ample good quality play resources for children to use both indoors and outside. Although some children become mischievous when they lose focus and interest in activities, overall they behave well and show consideration for others. Staff supervise them closely and let them know when their behaviour is unwanted and how it affects others. They help children to understand their expectations for good behaviour. Children respond positively to the staff's guidance and show them respect and good manners. These are positive attitudes, which will serve them well when they go to school.

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

Children are developing their understanding of healthy lifestyles through their daily practices. In addition to physical exercise each day they wash hands regularly throughout the day. They drink water or milk and eat snacks including fresh fruits each day. The playgroup provides parents with some information about how to improve the quality of food that they provide for children. Through discussion and practising skills children are increasing their understanding of personal safety. For example, they are learning that their independence in self-care helps to keep them safe. They are learning how to use tools such as scissors safely.

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provision

Overall the leadership team makes suitable arrangements for learning and development and safeguarding and welfare requirements. However, systems to secure all aspects of learning and development are not fully developed. Although staff have a secure knowledge of the areas of learning, the quality of teaching is variable. The planning and delivery of activities are not sufficiently focused to sustain good or better learning outcomes for all children. Hence children make satisfactory progress in learning and development overall. The leadership team takes some effective action to drive improvement. Since the last inspection, a new manager has been appointed and staff make use of learning and developmental guidance to inform the arrangements they make for learning and development. However, with the exception of children with special educational needs and or disabilities, systems for tracking children's progress are not

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provision

clearly established. The leadership team has paid more attention to the safeguarding and welfare matters. In these areas they monitor area practices more closely. There is a sound recruitment procedure in place including the full vetting and induction of every staff member. Staff training has improved, for example, staff are familiar with the playgroup's policies and procedures, in particular the arrangements for safeguarding and health and safety. They are clear about what to do if concerns arise about children's well-being and they are confident in the management of allergies, accident and children's medication. The provider has addressed previous actions. The premises are safe, secure and well maintained for children's activities. Documentation to safeguard children's health and welfare is managed efficiently and readily available for inspection, including children's hours of attendance.

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provision

Although evaluation of the playgroup's performance is not fully developed, the leadership has started to shift its focus more to drive improvement in learning and development. For example, they have made big improvements to the outdoor area, which is now well equipped. They have acquired additional resources to support the learning needs of children with special educational needs and/ or disabilities. There are plans in place to improve the resources, such as the dressing up clothes, so that they are more appealing to wider group of children. The management is now liaising with the local authority's early years development consultants and with their support have started to implement the required process for the assessment checks for children at age two. The leadership and management team is now making better use of the local authority support for advice and training.

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provision

Parents value the daily feedback they receive from staff. They state that staff are very approachable and they are kind and responsive the children. They are confident to speak to staff about welfare matters and some parents praise staff highly for the progress some children make. However, some parents are of the view that staff do not engage with them fully, with regard to learning and development matters, and they would welcome more organised opportunities to review and contribute to their children's progress records. The leadership and management team are making effective links with other professionals, for example, they welcome local early years teachers into the playgroup and are working closely with them to support children's smooth transition into school. Staff are careful to follow parents' guidance for their children. Where children are identified with special educational needs and/or disabilities, staff work closely with parents and other

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provision

professionals. There are clear procedures for monitoring, tracking and setting targets for these children. Other professionals who are involved with learning and welfare arrangements for these children visit the playgroup as well as parents. Staff achieve effective partnerships and provide the targeted support and learning that these children to need to keep them moving forward and close gaps in their learning and development over time.

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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 141880 Local authority Milton Keynes Inspection number 914487 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 32 Number of children on roll 50 Name of provider Twinkle Tots Playgroup Committee Date of previous inspection 13/12/2010 Telephone number 07749051693

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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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