Gan Alon Pre School

Gan Alon Pre-School The Manor House, 80 East End Road, Finchley, London, N3 2SY

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10/06/2013 14/11/2011

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early years provision

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

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This provision is outstanding

 Children make rapid progress in their learning; they are happy, settled and enjoy their experiences.  Adults have an extremely good understanding of young children and accurately respond to their growing needs in all areas of development and learning.  The learning environment both outdoors and indoors is highly stimulating and accessible to all children.  The management is inspirational; the manager leads a strong staff team that works extremely closely for the benefit of the children.  The manager and staff enable parents to participate fully in 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 at play in a variety of situations both indoors and outdoors.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector followed the progress of two children and had discussions with their key persons.  The inspector met and talked with the manager.  The inspector met and talked with parents.  The inspector looked at a selection of documentation.

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Information about the setting

Gan Alon Pre-School registered in1996 and is run by a parent committee. It operates from a purpose built facility in a synagogue, in the London Borough of Barnet. Children have access to a secure outside play area. The pre-school operates from 9.15am until 12.15pm, Monday to Friday, term time only. In addition, two other services are available; a lunch hour from 12.15pm until 1.15pm and an extended day from 1.15pm until 2.30pm, on Monday to Thursday. On Friday, all children leave at 12.15pm after the Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony. The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register and offers 34 places to children aged from three years to five years. There are currently 34 children on roll. The pre-school receives funding for the provision of free early education for three and four- year-olds. Children come from the local area and attend for a variety of sessions. The pre- school employs seven members of staff, six of whom hold relevant early years

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Information about the setting

qualifications. Four members of staff are qualified at level 3 in early years while the manager has completed her Early Years Foundation Degree and is qualified at level 5.

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

 expand challenging experiences for the oldest children in order to sustain their rapid progress.

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who attend

This pre-school offers exceptionally good educational programmes for all the children who attend. All the children are happy and absorbed in their activities. They explore stimulating resources and benefit from exciting and highly worthwhile outings, which enhance their learning. All the children make rapid progress in their learning. Adults have a secure understanding of what young children enjoy doing and the varied ways in which they learn best. This results in children being constantly enthralled in the activities provided by the adults.

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who attend

Children practise their counting while playing outdoors. For example, they play skittles with a football and count the skittle that they have knocked down. The children and the adult who supports this game keep a tally of the knocked down skittles. This shows that adults are fully aware that some children learn best while actively playing outdoors. They skilfully combine children's practise of football with developing their counting skills. Adults use visual representation to support children's mathematical skills very effectively. Children explore a highly stimulating range of materials both indoors and outdoors. They play with sand and water, observing how water flows into tubes and containers. Boys use a funnel and a pipe to pour water into the sand tray and enjoy seeing how the sand changes as it absorbs the water. Other children explore paints on large sheets of paper set out on the ground and see how to mix new colours. Such activities encourage children's

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who attend

creativity and their exploration of the world around them very well.

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who attend

Adults regularly read stories to children and encourage their early literacy skills very successfully. They invite children to think about and discuss the content of the book, then to predict what will happen next in the story. As a result, children are captivated to listen, develop their understanding and are challenged in their thinking. They learn new words rapidly and practise their mathematical skills effectively as they play in small groups and experience interesting activities. For example, children who are interested in small creatures with the arrival of spring use magnifying glasses to study the snail found in the garden. They make a shelter for the snail, using a range of model making tools and resources. They use tape measures to see how big the snail house should be. As a result, children are highly successful in finding practical ways to apply their newly learned measuring skills.

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who attend

Children quickly learn to identify sounds in words and to link letters to sounds. They practise counting enthusiastically; they recognise numbers accurately and make simple calculations in their games. This helps them develop discerning listening skills and to practise number concepts, which very successfully equips them towards achieving their early learning goals.

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who attend

Adults make highly perceptive observations of children's interests and of what children need to learn next. All the children have individual educational plans to which parents are regularly invited to contribute. This process ensures that all children receive excellent educational programmes that reflect their individual capabilities and interests. Adults are assigned as key persons to each child and use nationally recommended documents to compare children's attainments against given benchmarks. This enables them to identify children who may have any additional needs and provide effective early interventions for them. As a result, all the children make exceptionally good progress from their starting points. The staff team are currently considering how to further expand challenging experiences for the oldest children.

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who attend

Parents are fully engaged in their children's learning and staff regularly inform them of their children's progress. The pre-school has a library from where children borrow books at the end of each week to read with their parents at home. This initiative is very successful in engaging parents in children's learning and supporting children's early reading skills further. Parents and staff communicate daily both verbally and through diaries, maintaining effective communication.

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

All the children feel happy and secure in this pre-school. They thrive as they play in small groups, being nurtured in their learning and development by their key persons.

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

Children show high levels of self-control and behave impeccably as they operate tools and equipment. For example, during the music session, children know to wait their turn and show extremely advanced skills in handling and using the musical instruments to accompany their songs.

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

Outdoors children confidently practise ball skills, negotiate space and learn about the natural environment. They learn to manage risks and challenges very successfully when they climb their climbing frame, carry equipment and share tools. Children have free access to their garden throughout the day, which offers them fresh air and exercise.

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

Adults give the highest priority to children's safety. Children know how to move and handle tools indoors, careful to protect their peers in their play. They know how to keep healthy and minimise the risk of infection by washing their hands independently before eating and after using the toilets.

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

Snack times are designed to be special. Adults prepare a wide variety of fruits, which are tasty, healthy and beautifully presented. Children have their snacks in small groups where they receive individual attention from the member of staff who attends to this session. Eating times are highly valued in this pre-school as occasions for socialising and for appreciating the foods offered.

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

The resources are extremely well organised and highly stimulating. Children are excited to explore shredded paper in a wide tub on the floor, throwing it over their heads in a free expression of joy. Adults assist children in challenging activities, such as making models and building structures.

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

Adults pay great attention to helping children through difficult periods of transferring from the pre-school into schools. Special 'transition' folders are collated throughout the year for each child, to show the next teacher what each child likes and is capable of doing. This contributes very successfully to high levels of continuity in children's learning.

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

The children who attend this pre-school are extremely well prepared for the next stage in their lives.

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provision

The management of this pre-school is inspirational and demonstrates an excellent understanding of its responsibility in meeting the legal requirements. The manager leads a strong team that works extremely well together and is constantly present in the life of the pre-school.

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provision

The manager and staff use highly effective systems to monitor the provision, including children's individual progress in all areas of learning and development. High quality and innovative resources allow all children to maintain a high level of interest and curiosity.

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provision

Staff make extremely effective use of both indoor and outdoor spaces, constantly re- arranging equipment and bringing in fresh ideas and activities. Children are constantly excited to learn while the equipment and activities offered provide for their all round development.

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provision

Staff regard children's safety as being of the utmost importance. Members of the staff team have extensive knowledge and understanding of safeguarding issues. The manager ensures that staff update and refresh their knowledge by attending relevant training regularly. Children make excellent progress in learning how to behave in safe ways, such as when sharing the scissors with other children. A comprehensive risk assessment, together with thorough daily checks, means that equipment and resources are in excellent condition and safe for children to use. The pre-school employs effective systems to minimise risks during outings by studying the journeys to be undertaken in advance.

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provision

The manager is confident in monitoring the work performance of her staff. She regularly meets with individual members of staff to ensure they continue to be motivated and innovative in their work. She organises sustained professional development for all staff, the outcomes of which are put into practice. For example, staff have recently trained to help children develop an awareness of sounds in words and to link sounds to letters. This has led to a range of activities that promote children's early literacy skills very successfully.

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provision

Staff and parents work exceedingly well together to ensure that children enjoy their learning and lead a healthy lifestyle. Staff regularly send parents individual plans for their children, encouraging parents to make suggestions as to what they wish their children to learn next. The nursery has initiated a useful home/pre-school link, through the weekly library and a diary, to further engage parents in their children's learning. The manager and staff offer parents regular opportunities to discuss children's progress. The pre-school takes very good account of parents' views to inform the self-evaluation process and incorporates these very effectively in driving future development.

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provision

The pre-school has developed successful partnerships with outside professional agencies, such as the speech and language therapists, which benefit children's development. The manager has been successful in developing a new partnership with the local school, through which older primary age children visit the pre-school and contribute to the younger children's progress.

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provision

The pre-school takes part in the life of the local community and in community projects, some of which link with aid projects in other countries. This enables children to empathise and think of others less fortunate than they are.

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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 147540 Local authority Barnet Inspection number 814123 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 3 - 5 Total number of places 0 Number of children on roll 34 Name of provider Gan Alon Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 14/11/2011 Telephone number 0203820116

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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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