Caterpillars Pre-School

Caterpillars Preschool Calmore Infant School, Calmore Drive, Totton, Southampton, Hampshire, SO40 2ZZ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/07/2013 09/10/2009

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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

 Assessment systems are effective in identifying children's next steps in learning. Staff track children's progress effectively and plan activities and experiences to meet children's individual needs and learning styles. As a result children make good progress in their learning.  Children's communication and language, and literacy skills are developing well because staff use a variety of techniques effectively to support the children's learning.  Staff manage the children's behaviour well and children learn about right and wrong from an early age.  Staff and management involve parents and children in the ongoing evaluation of the pre-school.

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It is not yet good because

 The staff team do not implement the safeguarding and child protection procedures or policies well to promote the children's welfare.  Management do not always follow procedures to ensure all the relevant statutory agencies are informed about serious injuries without delay.  Staff do not always obtain enough information from parents about their children's specific needs to enable them to fully support the children.  Risk assessments are generic and do not cover children's individual needs.  Children have few opportunities to develop number recognition skills as they become familiar with mathematics.

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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 outside.  The inspector had discussions with a parent, the staff and the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector analysed samples of the children's learning journeys, planning documentation, and a selection of the group policies and procedures.

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Information about the setting

Caterpillars Pre-school registered in 1999. It operates from a suite of rooms within Calmore Infants School in the Calmore district of Totton, Southampton. It is a community pre-school managed by a voluntary committee. The accommodation consists of a very large playroom with adjoining toilets and changing facilities, a fitted kitchen, an adult toilet and an office as well as a welcome area. All children have access to a secure outdoor area. In addition, children are able to use the school field and playground.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school is on the Early Years Register, and both the compulsory and the voluntary parts of the Childcare Register The pre-school is open each weekday from 8.30am to 3.15pm during school term times with a lunch club available. In addition the pre-school opens for two weeks only, during the summer holidays. There are currently 118 children in the early years age group on roll. The nursery provides free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The pre-school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and children whose first language is not English.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 14 members of staff including the manager. The manager has a level 4 qualification. In addition, 12 assistants have a level 3 qualification and one has a level 2 qualification. Four of these staff are currently working towards higher qualifications.

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must:

 improve risk assessment procedures to ensure they are completed in relation to any specific issues to promote the children's safety and welfare.

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must:

 implement all aspects of the safeguarding policy and procedures to promote all children's safety and welfare

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must:

 improve safeguarding knowledge to ensure all agencies with statutory responsibilities are notified of any concerns about children's welfare or serious injuries without delay

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

 provide more opportunities for children to experiment with a number of objects, the written numeral and the written number word; develop this through matching activities with a range of numbers, numerals and a selection of objects.

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

 develop further the partnerships with parents to ensure all information about children's specific needs is obtained.

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who attend

Caterpillars Pre-school registered in 1999. It operates from a suite of rooms within Calmore Infants School in the Calmore district of Totton, Southampton. It is a community pre-school managed by a voluntary committee. The accommodation consists of a very large playroom with adjoining toilets and changing facilities, a fitted kitchen, an adult toilet and an office as well as a welcome area. All children have access to a secure outdoor area. In addition, children are able to use the school field and playground.

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who attend

The pre-school is on the Early Years Register, and both the compulsory and the voluntary parts of the Childcare Register The pre-school is open each weekday from 8.30am to 3.15pm during school term times with a lunch club available. In addition the pre-school opens for two weeks only, during the summer holidays. There are currently 118 children in the early years age group on roll. The nursery provides free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The pre-school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and children whose first language is not English.

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who attend

The nursery employs 14 members of staff including the manager. The manager has a level 4 qualification. In addition, 12 assistants have a level 3 qualification and one has a level 2 qualification. Four of these staff are currently working towards higher qualifications.

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

All children are happy and settled during their time at the pre-school. Children form positive relationships with the adults and other children. They chat openly with staff, sharing their ideas and thoughts. This demonstrates that children feel safe and secure. Children sit with staff as they listen to stories and staff are aware of the children's individual care routines. Staff spend time gathering a range of information about the children's welfare needs, such as daily routines and dietary requirements. However, staff do not always obtain detailed information about children's specific needs to enable them to support the children fully.

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

The staff organise the daily routines to incorporate the children's individual care routines successfully. Overall, staff work closely with parents to provide individual care routines that reflect the children's home routines. For example, staff follow the parents' lead closely when the children are toilet training, to prevent the children from receiving mixed messages. All children have access to a range of resources and materials stored at a low- level so they are within children's easy reach. This promotes the children's independence and decision-making skills well. Staff ensure that all the resources and equipment are clean and well maintained.

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

All children behave well and develop a clear understanding of right and wrong from an early age. This is because staff implement the clear rules and boundaries consistently. Consequently, children know what staff expect from them and they respond well to their expectations. Children are actively encouraged to use good manners and staff praise them when they remember to say thank you. Staff are positive role models and respond well to the children, listening carefully to conversations and valuing the children's input. All children are beginning to learn the importance of keeping themselves safe. They use a range of tools and resources safely, such as wheeled toys, scissors and digging tools. All children and staff practise regular fire drills to ensure everyone knows how to evacuate the building quickly and safely in an emergency. Children are beginning to learn about healthy eating from an early age through discussion and daily routines. The pre-school has

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

a healthy eating policy in place, which they share with parents. This promotes the provision of healthy packed lunches for the children who stay for lunch at the pre-school. All children access the outside play area daily and have many opportunities to practise their physical skills. The sheltered play area means children enjoy outdoor experiences all year round. They ride wheeled toys with ease, run and climb as they begin to recognise their own physical abilities.

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

The pre-school partnerships with parents are sound overall. Parents are able to visit the pre-school at any time and have access to their children's records on request. Parents may talk to the key people or the manager at any time and are encouraged to share what they know about their children's learning and development. Parents have many opportunities to contribute to their children's learning, in the pre-school. The pre-school has links with other agencies and professionals to enable staff to seek additional support for children, as required. However, staff and management do not always consistently implement the procedures.

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provision

The inspection was brought forward following a provider notification to Ofsted of a serious injury to a child occurring at the pre-school. As a result, concerns were raised about the safeguarding policies and procedures, the children's welfare, the children's supervision and staff deployment, accident recording procedures and risk assessments. The inspection found that children are well supervised and staff deployment is effective. The accident records include all the required information. However, following the accident, management notified Ofsted but failed to notify other relevant statutory agencies, such as the Local Authority Children's Services and the Health and Safety Executive to protect the children in their care. This is a breach of the statutory requirement to promote the children's safety and welfare. The inspection also found that management failed to follow the pre-school safeguarding policies and procedures. Staff do not always complete risk

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provision

assessments to reflect children's specific needs to ensure they are safe and secure during their time at the pre-school. However, staff are no aware of the correct procedures to follow should another incident occur and demonstrate a positive attitude towards reviewing risk assessments to include children's specific needs.

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provision

Overall, staff have a clear understanding of safeguarding procedures and know how to implement them. Through discussion, staff demonstrated an awareness of signs and symptoms that would cause concern, such as unexplained bruising or a change in the children's behaviour. Staff inform the parents about safeguarding procedures through discussion and access to the written policies. Children play in a secure learning environment and staff complete a generic annual risk assessment and carry out daily checks to ensure the playrooms are safe. All visitors are required to show identification and sign in the visitor's book. Robust recruitment and vetting procedures help to ensure all adults in the pre-school are suitable to work with children. All new staff are appointed on probation and are required to complete a full induction programme. The induction covers all the required aspects, including safeguarding, health and safety, emergency evacuation

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provision

and individual roles and responsibilities.

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provision

The pre-school has made sound improvements since the last inspection. For example, children's assessment records now identify the children's next learning steps and the pre- school using a tracking and monitoring computer system to identify areas for development. The management, all staff and parents are involved in the evaluation process to drive improvement. As a result of previous evaluation, the pre-school have developed the outside play area to ensure children access outdoor experiences and activities covering all areas of learning. The staff have weekly meetings to evaluate the setting and to monitor the children's progress. The manager carries out annual appraisals and she spends time in the setting observing staff practice. This demonstrates a clear capacity to improve the outcomes for children.

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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 110465 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 925672

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 36 Number of children on roll 118 Name of provider Caterpillars Preschool Committee Date of previous inspection 09/10/2009 Telephone number 02380 864228

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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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