Anston Stones Early Years

Anston Pre-School Welfare Hall, Ryton Road, North Anston, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S25 4DL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19/06/2013 14/05/2009

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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 play independently and readily access a good range of age-appropriate equipment which enables them to make satisfactory progress in their learning.  Staff have formed positive relationships with children who, as a result, show good levels of confidence and self-esteem.  Children play in a safe and healthy environment because staff are conscientious about safety and hygiene routines.

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It is not yet good because

 The governing body are not fully aware of their roles and responsibility with regard to keeping Ofsted informed of changes to committee members.  Observations, assessments and planning are not always suitably consistent, in depth or breadth, to build on children's learning to ensure that they make good progress in their learning and development.  Opportunities for children to visit and explore their local community and to speak to people from a range of cultural backgrounds have not yet been fully embraced.  Opportunities are not always maximised to fully encourage parents to contribute to their children's ongoing learning, or to share achievements from home.  Monitoring and evaluation of practice lacks rigour and, as a result, there is no robust improvement plan in place that fully supports children's achievements over time.

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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 activities in the main playroom and the outside learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took part in a joint observation of daily routines in the outside play area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings and observed practice with the deputy manager of the pre-school.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of staff working within the pre-school, the provider's self- evaluation form and a range of other documentation.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Anston Pre-School was registered in 1970 and is on the Early Years Register. It operates from the Parish Hall in Anston, a large village in the borough of Rotherham, and is managed by a committee. The pre-school serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from one large community room and a smaller room to the rear of the premises, and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school employs nine members of childcare staff. Of these, one holds Qualified Teacher Status, one holds an appropriate early years qualification at level 5, four hold level 3, and three have level 2 qualifications.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school opens Monday to Friday during term time only, excluding Bank Holidays. Sessions are from 9.15am until 11.45am. Additional sessions are offered on Monday and Wednesday, including a lunch club from 11.45am to 12.30pm and an afternoon session from 12.30pm to 3pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 38 children on roll who are in the early years age group. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. It is a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance.

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must:

 develop further knowledge and understanding of changes that must be notified to Ofsted, with particular regard to changes to committee members

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must:

 enhance the monitoring of planning and assessment to ensure that it is more rigorous in identifying all circumstances where intervention, additional support and challenge may be required to promote and progress individual children's learning and development.

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

 enhance opportunities for children to learn about the wider world by, for example, visiting different parts of the local community and inviting people from a range of cultural backgrounds to talk about aspects of their lives or the things they do in their work

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

 develop further opportunities to enable parents and carers to regularly contribute to their child's learning and development record and to share achievements from home

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

 develop self-evaluation through careful monitoring and analysis to ensure that it is more rigorous in informing the pre-school's priorities and setting sufficiently challenging targets for improvement, that will fully support children's achievements over time.

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who attend

Children are happy and settled, and are familiar and secure in the routines of the pre- school. They know the small staff team well and consequently, children build warm and positive relationships with their key persons and other staff. Children make satisfactory progress in their learning and development because staff have a sound understanding of how they learn and play. However, recent changes in the methods used to observe and assess children's progress have not yet been fully embedded. For example, staff conduct regular observations and assessment on children, although there is some inconsistency across the pre-school with regard to how informative and accurate these are. Where staff are supporting individual children in achieving their next steps in learning, the specific areas for development are not always clearly identified or carried through to the weekly planning of activities. This hinders how effective support can be planned and delivered.

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who attend

For other children, these assessments reflect their abilities and stages appropriately. Staff appropriately complete the progress check at age two for children within that age range.

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who attend

Parents are regularly informed about their children's progress through daily discussion and are encouraged to view their children's learning and development records. However, other opportunities to encourage parents to play a full and active role in their child's learning, such as adding comments to their ongoing learning and development records or sharing their achievements or special events from home, are variable. Consequently, children's learning potential is reduced. Satisfactory partnerships are in place with the local schools and other early years settings, and sensitive support provided by staff ensures that children are appropriately prepared for their transition into school.

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who attend

Children enjoy their time at the pre-school and quickly become involved in the activities available to them. They use their imagination and engage in role play when pretending to be dragons or making a den using a piece of fabric, and proceeding to hide from their friends. Children are given the opportunity to enjoy making marks and to express their creativity through a number of activities and resources. For example, a group of children experiment with textures and colours as they paint, stick and glue, as well as making mud pies in the outdoor area. Children happily engage with one another, taking turns and sharing. They are gaining confidence in using numbers and mathematical language in their play. For example, children confidently count how many small jugs of water it takes to fill a large container and identify which are the largest and smallest bottles. In addition. staff appropriately support the children's use of mathematical language using words, such as

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who attend

Staff promote children's communication and language skills appropriately in all areas of the pre-school. For instance, when exploring a tray of soil, staff encourage children to talk about what they are doing with the gloves, pots and spades. They eagerly explain that they are filling an ice cream maker and making chocolate ice cream and strawberry milk. Staff effectively extend younger children's vocabulary skills by introducing words, such as 'melt' and 'freeze'. A good range of age-appropriate books are well used to ensure all children develop an interest in reading and story time. Children enjoy cuddling close to staff, who make good use of open questions to extend children's thinking and communication skills. For example, they encourage children to predict what might happen next and to name the different animals in the pictures, such as a crocodile, parrot, dragonfly and hummingbird. This supports their future learning and prepares them

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who attend

appropriately for the next step in their learning, such as moving on to school.

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who attend

Children have a well-equipped role play area where they can imaginatively create their own scenarios with dressing up clothes, toy cooking equipment, cars and small figures. Children's understanding of the world is appropriately fostered through the use of books and activities that explore different cultural events. However, other opportunities for children to develop their understanding of people and communities are limited. For example, by visiting different parts of the local community and inviting people from a range of cultural backgrounds to talk about aspects of their lives or the things they do in their work. Children are encouraged to care for their environment. For instance, they happily help to water the plants, and when they find a small worm staff remind them not to squeeze it and to put it back in the flower bed once they have all had a look so that is does not get hurt. Children enjoy daily outdoor play and are able to explore a wide range

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who attend

of interesting resources. For example, they use large construction materials, such as cardboard boxes, large wooden blocks and tyres, to build obstacle courses. Children enjoy practising their balancing skills as they negotiate their way across a piece of wood or through the tunnel. Their physical development is promoted as they show good control and coordination as they safely negotiate this space.

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

Children are welcomed into a warm, nurturing environment which supports their well- being appropriately. Low-level storage units contain a good selection of toys and resources, which are attractively displayed and easily accessible. As a result, children of all ages enjoy exploring their surroundings and making independent choices. All children show a good sense of belonging within the pre-school. They are greeted warmly on arrival by friendly, attentive staff. An established key person system ensures that all children form secure emotional attachments. Appropriate settling-in procedures and close liaison with parents ensure that every child's care is tailored to meet their individual needs. As a result, consistency of care is maintained and newly settled children receive reassurance and comfort, developing their confidence and future skills for learning.

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

Staff are suitable role models for children. They use satisfactory behaviour management strategies, and children's self-esteem is enhanced as they receive plenty of praise for good behaviour, effort and achievement. Staff are working to support some younger children in coping with strong emotions and reactions to their peers as they learn to share, take turns and be kind to each other.

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

Children benefit from a healthy range of snacks that are well balanced and nutritious. They independently choose what they want to drink and help themselves to the snack provided, such as cucumber, tomatoes and carrot sticks. Children know the routine well, and after helping themselves they sit with their peers and discuss what they are eating. This means that children are settled and know how to behave during daily routines. Staff model suitable hand washing procedures to reinforce children's understanding of sensible hygiene routines and to avoid cross-infection.

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

Children learn how to keeps themselves safe as they regularly practise the emergency evacuation procedure, and learn not to run indoors. They enjoy good amounts of fresh air and exercise because they have daily opportunities to play outdoors. Staff support them in active games, such as throwing hoops and balls, suitably promoting their physical development. Children explore climbing equipment and eagerly manoeuvre wheelbarrows around the play areas to develop their physical control and coordination. As a result, most children are appropriately prepared for the move to school.

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provision

Children are appropriately safeguarded and protected as, overall, staff have a sound knowledge of the welfare and safeguarding requirements and procedures. For example, all staff are aware of the procedures to be followed should they have any concerns about a child in their care. There are adequate processes in place to make sure staff members are suitable to care for children, and the manager carries out a sound induction with all new staff before they start work. However, the nominated person and committee do not have a robust knowledge of the appropriate procedures for the recruitment of new committee members to ensure their suitability; in particular, the legal requirement to inform Ofsted of a change to the individuals who are part of its governing body. While this means a requirement has not been met, the impact on children's safety and welfare is reduced as those involved do not have any contact with the children.

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provision

Children's safety is maintained as they are supervised by staff at all times. Children are allowed to explore their surroundings and are appropriately physically challenged. The inspection took place following notification of an incident with a child, that resulted in a minor injury to one of the children. The inspection found that the staff were fully aware of their responsibilities. They took all necessary steps for risk assessing and monitoring children's behaviour, liaising with parents and early years advisers to implement a care plan, and providing one-to-one support for children with behavioural issues. Sound accident and incident records demonstrate that staff took the necessary steps for appropriate treatment and informing parents. All requirements with regard to maintaining required ratios, appropriate supervision and staff deployment are met. Any incidents concerning children's safety and well-being are reviewed, and this helps the pre-school to

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provision

improve. Sound staff appraisals and regular meetings are beginning to support staff in accessing further training and identifying key skills and strengths, which are then be used to enhance children's progress. Staff conduct regular risk assessments covering all areas used by children to ensure their safety. A range of appropriate policies and procedures are in place, reviewed regularly and shared with parents. This appropriately fosters children's safety in the pre-school.

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provision

Staff have sufficient knowledge of supporting children in their learning and development, meeting regularly to discuss ideas and their progress. The pre-school is also receiving help from the local authority to support its development. As a result, monitoring of the quality of the provision is sufficient to ensure children make satisfactory progress. However, there is a lack of consistency in the observation, assessment and planning of activities that means some activities lack challenge. Satisfactory systems are in place to support the ongoing evaluation of the pre-school. For example, a development plan is in place from the local authority, and staff and parents are regularly asked for their views through daily discussion and a suggestion box. However, self-evaluation, through careful monitoring and analysis, is not yet rigorous enough. Therefore, managers do not secure the in-depth focus the pre-school needs to identify for themselves further ways to improve the overall

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provision

quality of the provision. As a result, they cannot demonstrate how they will sufficiently target and sustain improvement that will fully support children's achievements over time.

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provision

The pre-school works with parents appropriately to ensure children's needs are known and met. All essential personal information is collected, and staff show they understand any additional needs, such as allergies or special dietary arrangements. All parents have opportunities to speak with their key person at either end of the day. This ensures there is a satisfactory understanding of children's welfare and learning. The pre-school collaborates appropriately with other agencies and early years professionals to share information about children's' learning, development and welfare. This enables staff to appropriately complement and extend activities for children. Staff work closely with local schools to ensure older children make their transitions safely into their learning environment.

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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 303254 Local authority Rotherham Inspection number 923398

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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 38 Name of provider Anston Pre School Committee Date of previous inspection 14/05/2009 Telephone number 01909 564495

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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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