Busy Bees Play Group

Busy Bees Play Group Peace Memorial Hall, Woodfield Lane, Ashtead, Surrey, KT21 2BE

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19/06/2013 23/05/2011

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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

 Children are happy and settled because the key person system is well-established and children form strong bonds with staff.  Staff keep children safe. They have good knowledge of procedures to follow should they be concerned about a child in their care.  Staff support children with special educational and/or disabilities well. For example, they provide a specialist support worker to enhance children communication and language skills.  Management have good awareness of the strengths and areas for improvement of the provison. They have set ambitious goals to improve future outcomes for children.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Although children enjoy being creative, opportunities to do so are not extensive.

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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 carried out a joint observation with the manager of an adult-led group activity.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to parents, staff and children and took their views into consideration.  The inspector sampled a range of documentation.  The inspector tracked the progress of several children.  The inspector had a discussion with the management team.

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Information about the setting

Busy Bees Play Group was registered under a joint ownership, which included the current owner, in 1995 and has been under a sole ownership since 2000. It operates from one room in the Peace Memorial Hall in Ashtead, Surrey. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The play group situated in a residential area close to public transport links, schools and parks. The play group is open each weekday from 9am to 12.15pm, during term time only. The play group is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 46 children aged from two to under five years on roll, some in part-time places. The play group supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who learn English as an additional language. There are six members of staff who work with the children, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications. Three staff members hold level 3 and three staff members hold level 2 qualifications. The playgroup

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Information about the setting

receives funding for early years places for children aged three and four years of age.

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

 maximise the potential of creative activities to enhance children's experiences of sculpture, paint and music.

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who attend

Staff support children's learning well and help children to make good progress in this effective playgroup. This is because each key person makes plans to meet the individual needs of children in their group. Plans offer a broad range of varied and interesting activities that cover all areas of learning well, overall. Children have a good element of choice in their play. This is because children can select freely from organised indoor and outdoor activities or create their own play from resources.

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who attend

Staff provide well for children with special educational needs. For instance, the play group has a dedicated worker from a communication and language scheme, 'Every Child a Talker', who visits the group regularly to advise on activities, programme planning and resources to support children with communication and language difficulties. This has resulted in, for example, 'speech baskets' that contain items, such as whistles, feathers, windmills and bubbles that children use to develop facial movements used in speech. Staff cater for the individual needs of children well at story time by allowing younger children to choose whether they would like to listen to the group story and let them choose their own activities. During story telling, staff use props effectively to tell story of Jack and the Beanstalk. For instance, a staff member counts out magic beans with the children. This helps children to engage well with the story and promotes their counting skills. Staff help

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who attend

children's listening skills by asking children to close their eyes and to listen to the sounds around them. Children blow bubbles and learn about the effects of air on liquid soapy solutions. Staff help children to develop self-awareness by talking with children about different emotions and by displaying happy, sad, excited faces. They reinforce their learning by asking children to show similar expressions and teach children new vocabulary.

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who attend

Staff use a 'magic box' that contains a range of interesting items to stimulate discussions. Children learn to take turns and to listen to each other. Staff extend children's thinking and help them to develop new vocabulary. Staff follow children's lead as they choose to make imprints of buttons in playdough. Children demonstrate their good number skills by counting the number of button prints independently. While the range of creative activities provided for children is varied, it is not maximised to its potential in order for children to experience a wide range of sculpture, painting and music. Children enjoy practising early writing skills by using a range of tools and materials both inside and in the garden. Children learn to recognise their names by matching their meal place mats to their names on their chairs. Children operate electronic toys independently and begin to understand how to use technology. Overall, these activities help children to develop skills for later use

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who attend

Staff use a good variety of strategies to support children who learn English as an additional language. For example, they use dual language books and learn key words in a child's home language. Staff liaise closely with community health professionals involved in the care and learning of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They devise individual education plans for children, which are reviewed regularly and shared with parents.

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who attend

Children benefit from a well-organised outdoor environment. They climb across frames, ride on wheeled-toys and move in a variety of ways across large and small equipment. While outdoors, children engage with books, practise their early writing skills using different tools and materials, and explore the properties of sand and water in trays. They learn where food comes from because they plant vegetables.

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who attend

Staff use information from regular observations, samples of children's work and photographic evidence of skills to inform planning effectively. They carry out progress checks for children aged between two and three years and provide written summaries to parents. Staff review individual education plans for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities with parents regularly so that children's needs are met well.

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who attend

Staff keep parents informed of their child's progress through daily interaction and regular reports. Staff ensure that discussions are confidential by using quiet areas of the group to talk with parents. Parents have full access to their child's development records and these are made available to parents at any time. Parents contribute to their child's learning by sharing with staff observations of their child's learning at home. This helps to inform planning.

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

Children are happy and motivated to learn. This is because they have strong, secure relationships with staff who take time to find out about their interests and skills. The key person system is well established. Consequently, children's individual needs are effectively met. Staff provide visual timetables to help children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language to get familiar with nursery routine. This helps children to settle well.

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

Children benefit from use of well-resourced indoor and secure outdoor environments. Staff encourage children's independence because resources are accessible to them. Children tidy away floor toys when not in use to avoid accidents and follow group rules to walk indoors. This shows that they behave in safe ways. Children have good self-care skills and wash their hands at appropriate times. Staff change nappies in hygienic and comfortable conditions.

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

Children learn to eat healthily because staff provide varied nutritious fruit snacks, which children help themselves to independently. They select their fruit from a recently introduced a rolling snack bar that allows children to choose when they want to eat. Staff cater for special dietary needs. Children get fresh air and daily exercise because they use a range of equipment in the secure outdoor area.

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

Children behave well because staff give them clear expectations of expected behaviour. They discuss these with the children and display these in pictures for reinforcement. Staff talk gently to the children and offer explanations for any unacceptable behaviour. They encourage children to think about their actions and to find suitable alternatives. Staff help children to prepare for the move to school by inviting teachers from local schools into the group to get to know children.

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

Staff teach children to understand and value difference by discussing and celebrating special events in religious and cultural calendars. For instance, children make craft items to celebrate Chinese New Year.

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provision

Staff work well to keep children protected from harm. Management carry out thorough checks on staff to assess their suitability for job roles and this helps to safeguard children. This helps to ensure the safeguarding and welfare requirements are met in full. Staff have good knowledge of how to keep children safe and procedures to follow should they be concerned about a child in their care. They carry out daily risk assessments covering all aspects of the provision so that children are safe. Staff have good knowledge of required policies and procedures and implement this well in their practice, including equal opportunities for children.

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provision

Staff are supervised effectively and management offer support and guidance for any areas of underperformance. They have their training needs identified because management carry out yearly appraisals. For instance, staff attended bereavement counselling course because they were several children who had experienced loss. This helped staff to understand how to support children through the process.

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provision

The manager has good awareness of how well the provision is meeting children's needs because she monitors planning and assessment effectively. The manager works in the group room and observes staff practice, reviews plans and goes through all children's assessment records to ensure consistency of quality. This also helps to identify and gaps in learning so that appropriate remedies are sought. Management evaluate each individual education plan for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to ensure that children's needs are consistently met.

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provision

Staff value and work effectively with a range of partners involved with children's care and learning and work effectively. For example, they invite community health professionals to the group to observe children, offer advice and support with individual educational plans and attend reviews. Staff work well with teachers at local schools who support children's move to school. Partnership work with parents is good and they have effective opportunities to be involved in their child's learning. Staff keep parents up-to-date with their child's progress.

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provision

Management have good awareness of the attributes and limitations of the provision. They have identified clear priorities for development, such as making the book corner more private and cosy for the children. Previous recommendations have been met, for example, staff carry out regular observations of children to determine their next steps for learning. The playgroup demonstrates effective practice and show good ability to maintain this in the future.

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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 122548 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 920922 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 46 Name of provider Sheena Camplin Date of previous inspection 23/05/2011 Telephone number 01372 274756

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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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