St Joseph's Preschool & Playgroup (Harrogate)

St Joseph's Playgroup 281 Skipton Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG1 3HD

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19/06/2013 20/10/2009

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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

 Children are confident and secure in daily routines because staff have build up suitable and close relationships with children and their parents.  The provision use effective strategies to engage and work with other settings and schools. As a result, they support learning at the home and other settings, and contribute to positive moves for children between settings.  A variety of activities and play experiences are provided so children make satisfactory progress in their learning and development.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff do not make full use of what children already know and what they need to learn next when planning learning opportunities. This results in some children not being effectively challenged.  Staff do not always deploy themselves effectively, so some children's learning through adult-led and child-initiated activities is not maximised or planned for effectively.  Self evaluation is not rigorous enough to identify areas for improvement, so staff are inconsistent in their approach to teaching and 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 in the hall and the outside area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a selection of policies, procedures and information provided by the provision.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed a selection of children's observation and assessment development files.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to the some management committee members, manager, staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.  The inspector took account of the views of parent and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

St Joseph's Playgroup was registered in 1986 and is on the Early Years Register. It is managed by a voluntary committee and operates from two rooms within St Joseph's Church hall in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 33 children on roll in the early years age range. The playgroup opens during term time only from 9am to 12 noon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and from 9am to 1pm on Tuesday and Thursday. It supports children with English as an additional language. There are four members of staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3.

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must:

 develop educational programmes by ensuring there is a better mix of adult-led and child-initiated activities that are planned and purposeful, covering all areas of learning and development, and enhanced by effective staff deployment

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must:

 develop the planning for children's next steps of learning so that their development is consistently identified and they have a sufficient range of challenging opportunities and experiences that reflect their interests and learning needs to enable them to make good progress.

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

 develop self-evaluation and monitoring processes so that there are clear priorities for improvement and staff are consistent in their approach to teaching and learning.

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who attend

Children are happy and secure in the setting, and consequently they make satisfactory progress in their learning and development from their starting points. The planning of activities and play experiences covers the educational programme and the seven areas of learning. However, this is not based upon what staff know children can already do and how they are going to develop children's next steps of learning. As a result, children make satisfactory, rather than good, progress. Children clearly enjoy their time in the group. For example, they love to play with friends, pretending to be pirates in the ship which they have made. They like the outdoors and enjoy digging in the garden looking for worms and spiders, which promotes their physical development and understanding of the world. However, staff do not always maximise the learning by identifying children's interests and using this information to extend their learning. Children are able to select additional

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who attend

resources by using the 'I would like to play with this please' board, which has photographs of other equipment that is not readily accessible.

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who attend

Staff encourage children to talk to each other as they play, which effectively enhances their communication and language development and listening skills. For example, some staff use open-ended questioning when talking to children, and they are given time and space to think and respond. Children are generally well supported, but due to their being fewer adult-led activities, some children are less confident is engaging in their own play. Children are keen to practise forming letters by using wooden letter stencils and accurately writing around them. Some children are able to recognise the letters of their name and can match beginning sounds to objects. These enjoyable experiences productively promote their early writing and reading skills and their creativity. This also supports children in gaining skills in readiness for school. Children recognise their photograph which they use to identify that they have arrived at the setting by displaying it

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who attend

on the arrival board. They also decide when they would like to access their snack by moving their photograph to the snack board. This is promotes children's personal, social and emotional development by giving them independence and choice.

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who attend

Some children are able to recognise numerals and letters, and use these skills to write a letter for their key person. They are able to enjoy books and can sit and listen attentively to a story. During a role play activity, a child pretends to make a cake. She prepares the ingredients from the recipe book and follows the recipe page by page to make the cake. This develops children's reading, creative and physical skills. It also enables children to show confidence in completing the task themselves. Children are confident in using technology as they independently access the computer. They are able to control the mouse and select which activity they would like to do. They are able to follow the instructions on the screen without support.

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who attend

Observations and assessments are linked the Development matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage guidance. There are some next steps of learning identified, but it is not clear how these are going to be followed through or planned for. This means that some activities are not planned specifically for children's individual learning needs, to offer them good levels of challenge and enable them to make best progress. Parents are kept informed of their children's learning verbally at as they drop off and collect their children, and are able to contribute to their children's 'learning journey'.

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

Children play happily in the space, indoors and outdoors. This is because staff have built up close relationships and attachments with the children. Settling-in procedures are thorough and parents report that they are welcome to settle the children into the setting and are made to feel comfortable in doing so. Parents are given information packs before their children start and receive regular newsletters about what is happening in the setting. Parents spoken to at the inspection feel the staff are approachable and feel like they provide a safe environment for their children. Parents feel informed of their children's learning and development and they have been given the opportunity to contribute to the children's learning journeys. They feel that their children make smooth transitions to other settings and schools as staff have worked effectively with them to ease this move. During the inspection, some children visited their new school and later returned with the setting

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

manager and primary teacher. This provides the children with confidence in meeting their teacher in a secure, familiar environment and also shows that the setting have built up sound relationships with other settings.

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

An effective key person system helps ensure children's emotional well-being as they are able to build an attachment with caring staff. This promotes children's personal and social development and enables them to feel confident to learn. The environment is well set out and covers all areas of learning and development. However, staff do not always deploy themselves effectively so that each area of the room has a member of staff who is enhancing the children's learning and development through child-initiated and adult-led activities.

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

Children's behave well. Staff offer lots of meaningful praise, which raises children's self- esteem and confidence. Children are gently reminded of rules and boundaries, and what is acceptable and what is not. Children learn how to share and take turns with their peers, and are beginning to form some close friendships with each other. Children enjoy a variety of outdoor physical activities. They have space and resources to crawl through tunnels, roll on the grass and play hide and seek behind the bushes. In this way, they also learn to take manageable risks in a supervised environment. For example, they are aware that staff need to know where they are at all times. Children are aware of the need to wear sun hats in the outdoor areas during hot weather and why they need to drink plenty of water. Children are able to choose when they would like snack, and these are healthy and sometimes prepared by the children. They have a thorough understanding of why they

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

need to wash their hands before snack and after using the toilet. Supported by staff, children are becoming competent at managing their personal needs relative to their ages. They are encouraged to use the toilet independently and can access drinking water if they are thirsty. Children are familiar with the routine as they know when to clear away, when they can access their snack and when it is outdoor play time. This shows that the staff support children well from the time that they settle in and have provide a consistent routine so the children know what is happening next. This helps to ensure that they feel safe and secure.

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provision

The committee and the manager meet regularly to discuss the management of the playgroup. The committee has parent representatives and they are always looking for new ways to engage parents. They understand their responsibility to meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements for the Early Years Foundation Stage, and all staff have been appropriately trained. All staff are confident in dealing with safeguarding issues. They know what procedure to follow and who takes the lead for safeguarding children in the setting. Children are kept safe, both indoors and outdoors, through supervision, monitoring of equipment and risk assessments. Doors are kept locked at all times, apart from the dropping off and collection of children. Children are signed in and out and their attendance is monitored. There is a robust safe recruitment procedure in place which checks and monitors the suitability of staff and committee members.

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provision

Records, policies and procedures are easily accessible for inspection, and most of these are comprehensive, covering the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Staff are updated on changes to policies and procedures, and this is covered as part of the induction process to ensure they are fully aware of the way the playgroup runs. Staff receive ongoing support from the manager and committee with regard to training, supervisions and appraisals. All of the staff are suitably qualified. Most of them are trained in first aid and they have all had training on the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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provision

All actions and recommendations from previous inspections have been addressed, although there is still a need for staff to focus on challenging children further so that they meet their full potential in learning and development. The manager has a clear presence in the group, and this means that the staff are supported and the children feel happy and secure with all staff members. Staff work well with other settings, including childminders, to ensure continuity for the children. For example, they work hard to support parents and children who may need extra support, and regularly invite teachers from the setting that the children are moving on to.

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provision

Self-evaluation is not yet fully effective in driving forward improvements to raise the overall quality of the setting. Parents, staff and children are able to contribute to the self- evaluation, which gives them opportunities to suggest and implement new ideas to improve the quality of the setting. Strengths and weaknesses are identified, but the priorities for improvement have yet to be implemented and their impact evident in the environment, resources or planning of learning opportunities.

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provision

Parents are warmly welcomed and those spoken to at the inspection were positive about the playgroup. They feel involved and informed through verbal feedback, newsletters and the display boards about what is happening in the setting.

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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 400342 Local authority North Yorkshire Inspection number 872183

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 24 Number of children on roll 33 Name of provider St Joseph's Playgroup (Harrogate) Committee Date of previous inspection 20/10/2009 Telephone number 07792 657808

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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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