St James The Less Pre-School

St James the Less Pre-School The Old School Room, Burnley Road, ROSSENDALE, Lancashire, BB4 8HH

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19/06/2013 16/06/2009

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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

 The learning programme for language and communication is very effective and supports children's listening, speaking and language skills. As a result, children are confident talkers.  Children make good progress in their learning because robust observations and secure assessments are completed. This means a clear picture of children's development is obtained in order to plan successfully for their identified needs.  Children's independence is given high priority and as a result, children make decisions about what they want to do and are very confident and active learners. Their self-help skills are effectively promoted to help prepare them for the next stage in their learning.  Highly effective relationships with parents help children to make progress. The staff work closely with parents to ensure a joint approach to children's learning to promote the importance of the home learning environment.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 There is scope to provide more opportunities for older children to experiment with numbers and become familiar with numerals, in order to strengthen their interest in number recognition.  On occasions, staff do not always ask open-ended questions to support and further extend children's thinking.

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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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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the pre-school room and the outside learning environment and viewed toys, equipment and resources.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager of the provision and members of staff and spoke to a number of parents.  The inspector looked at children's records and a range of policies.

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Information about the setting

St James the Less Pre-School is a committee run pre-school and was registered in 2004. It is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The pre-school is managed by the operational manager on a daily basis. The pre-school operates from the large church hall adjacent to St James the Less Church which is situated close to Rawtenstall town centre in Rossendale, Lancashire. The pre-school is accessible to all children and operates from the old school room, using the main hall and outdoor play area.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school employs six members of childcare staff. Of these, the manager holds an early years qualification at level 6 and three staff at level 3. There are two other staff employed who hold a level 2 qualification. The nursery opens Monday to Friday term, time only with the session from 9.15am until 12.15pm. Children attend on various days.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 28 children attending who are within the early years age group. The pre-school provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children. The pre- school receives support from the early years quality development team at the local authority.

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

 review and enhance the stimulating learning environment to enable older children to extend their understanding of mathematics and experiment with matching numbers, numerals and objects; by further reflecting numbers and numerals as labels

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

 support staff to extend their knowledge of how to maintain a consistent approach to promoting children's thinking; by more regular use of open-ended questioning.

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who attend

The staff and manager are secure in delivering an educational programme, which matches children's identified next steps for their learning. Staff plan a flexible play room covering all areas of development through continuous provision, such as, sand, construction, imaginative play, writing and technology. This means children are engaging in a broad range of activities and opportunities to promote their learning. Through a highly effective process for observation, assessment and planning for children's learning, activities are closely matched to maximise learning opportunities for all. For those children whose starting points are below what is expected, assessment clearly demonstrates the achievement gap is closing and they are making good progress towards the early learning goals, considering and age and stage of development. Children are working comfortably with the typical range of development expected for their age. The completion of the

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who attend

progress check at age two, ensures children's development is tracked and early intervention sought. A key strength of this setting is the assessment of children and the seeking of any necessary external support to progress children, for example, speech and language, to ensure all children are making good progress across all areas of learning.

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who attend

Teaching is very effective, with a good balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities focusing on the characteristics of effective learning. Staff plan activities linked to children's interest with the current theme being birds. Children delight in cutting, sticking and making their owl pictures as they develop their creative skills and learn to handle tools safely. They talk about the birds and look for them when outside as they learn about the natural world. There is sharp focus on helping children develop their communication and language skills resulting in children learning to listen and develop their language and vocabulary. Children show their natural curiosity as they ask questions of the visitor to the pre-school. Children sit together and engage in meaningful conversation about their play and at snack time, as they develop their personal and social skills. They delight in listening to favourite stories and anticipate the storyline, laughing and giggling at their best-loved

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who attend

part. Children are highly competent and willing to experiment with early writing. Some children write their name and recognise the letters as they confidently demonstrate their understanding and competence.

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who attend

Staff sit with children and talk about their play and discuss how they will manage their tasks. They introduce concepts, which encourage children's recognition of shapes, colours and numbers as they play. They help children think about their task and skilfully suggest ways they can improve, to reshape tasks and help progress children's learning. However, there is occasionally an inconsistent approach by staff to the use of open-ended questioning to support and extend children's thinking so they can make the best possible progress. Mathematics is promoted in all areas of play and children readily count as they play. Staff support children's understanding of volume and capacity as they help children to pour and fill containers in the water. Therefore, children learn to measure and develop their hand and eye coordination necessary for early writing. That said, the use of numbers as labels for children to explore and experiment with, is less well planned for, to enable

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who attend

children to extend their understanding of numbers and numerals. Children delight in running, climbing and looking for bugs when outdoors as they develop their physical skills and continue to explore the natural world. They learn about technology as they use the tablet computer, searching for programs and demonstrating their skill in scrolling across the screen, changing programs and developing skills for their future learning.

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who attend

Staff develop excellent relationships with parents and carers by sharing good quality information regarding their children's needs and promoting the importance of the home learning environment. For example, via children's learning stories and their assessments. This enables an accurate identification of children's starting points for staff to build on and ensure a consistent approach to children's development is promoted. This relationship is enhanced by discussions with parents and invitation into the nursery fostering a culture of working together to assess and contribute to each child's learning and development record. Therefore, children are fully prepared for their next steps in their learning and for their progression onto school.

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

The effective key person relationships with children means they settle quickly and are secure and very happy at the pre-school. They readily enter the pre-school and begin to find their friends as they decide what they wish to take part in. Staff sensitively support children as they play because deployment is good. They explain what is expected and help children to work and play together. Consequently, children learn to respect and tolerate each other as their play. Additionally, they learn to share and turn take. Children know what is expected and listen to staff instructions. They understand the ringing bell means for them to sit for registration where they delight in talking about home and their own 'wow' moments. Therefore, children build a strong sense of self and feel valued for their contribution in the group. Children display good levels of behaviour and are well mannered and considerate to each other. Therefore, they are developing those necessary skills ready

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

Children's care needs are enhanced as staff ensure they wash hands before snack. Staff encourage high levels of independence as the children serve themselves, pour their own drink and serve their fruit. They are asked to clear the table after finishing their snack as they learn to take responsibility and tidy up after themselves. Children demonstrate their understanding of being safe and healthy as they play outdoors. They discuss the need to wear sun hats and put on sun cream to stop from getting burned. They run freely, balance on logs and ride wheeled toys as they learn to manage risk, and develop strong muscles and bones necessary for their physical development. Additionally, children develop their hand and eye coordination and practise their movements, whilst enjoying the benefits of fresh air. The children access good quality resources making decision and choices about what they want to do in a well-planned, interesting and exciting indoor and outdoor play

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

Key staff complete a transition sheet, tracking children's overall learning and development to share with the school. Parents are consulted and contribute to the progress check, and with their agreement, this information is passed onto school to aid a smooth transition for all children. Meaningful information is passed on in order to meet and support children's individual welfare and learning needs and prepare them for the next stage in their learning.

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provision

The management and staff all understand their responsibilities in regard to the welfare and safeguarding requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding and know who to inform of any concerns and what their role is to protect children from harm. All supporting policies and procedures are in place and reviewed annually. This means documentation relating to safeguarding and children's learning are robust, risks are assessed and children's overall care and learning needs are effectively met. The strong management team continually monitor the observation and assessment of children's learning to ensure children are making good progress towards the early learning goals. The pre-school is well organised and staff have high expectations for all children to make good progress in their learning and development. The pre-school is meeting all legal requirements in regard to their

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provision

The evaluation of the setting is robust and clear targeted plans for improvement are in place. The staff are working with the early years support team to complete a quality assurance programme to further identify improvements that can be made to the pre- school. Recent improvements to planning and the assessment have resulted in a clearer picture of the child's overall development being obtained to further improve their care and learning. Robust recruitment, induction and performance monitoring of staff, for example, supervision and appraisals, ensure their skills are updated to promote the good education and development of all children. Regular team meetings are a strong focus of the pre- school to involve and include staff in the evaluation of the practice.

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provision

Strong relationships with parents and other settings, such as, the health and social services, means information which promotes the health and well-being of children is shared and a consistent approach undertaken to support their overall learning. As a result, children are making the best possible progress. Parent's comment on their child's assessment and are included in all decision regarding their child learning resulting in an open two-way flow of communication.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are Met

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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 EY292081 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 923668

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 20 Number of children on roll 28 Name of provider St James the Less Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 16/06/2009 Telephone number 07901 886 506

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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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