Gamlingay Rainbow Pre-School

Gamlingay Rainbow Pre-School The Old Chapel, Green End, Gamlingay, SANDY, Bedfordshire, SG19 3LF

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17/07/2013 27/06/2011

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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 benefit from close, secure relationships with staff. As a result, they are happy, and play and learn with confidence.  Children play safely because staff have clear boundaries and provide good explanations to help them assess risks in their play.  Entertaining storytelling and ready access to a broad range of books helps to develop children's love of literature and effectively promotes their communication and language.  The free flow play environment enables children to develop their independence and follow their own interests. This prepares them well for their future learning experiences, including school.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Parents' opportunities to contribute their views to the self-evaluation process are not fully utilised.  There is room to improve the already good range of resources immediately available to the children, and remind them of those that are stored away to further enhance their 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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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 spoke with parents during the inspection to gain an understanding of their views on the quality of the provision.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the children as they played indoors and out throughout the session.

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Inspection activities

 Meetings were held with two members of the committee and the manager to check management systems, such as staff recruitment and training.

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Inspection activities

 A range of documentation was examined, including policies and procedures, children's learning records and risk assessments.

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Information about the setting

Gamlingay Rainbow Pre-School is run by a voluntary management committee and is a registered charity. The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It opened in 1994 and operates from the Old Chapel in Gamlingay, Bedfordshire. All children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The pre-school is open each weekday during school term time. Morning sessions are from 9am to 11.30am, with an optional lunch club operating from 11.30am to 12.30pm. Afternoon sessions are provided on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 12.30pm to 3.00pm.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school accepts two-, three- and four-year-old children eligible for early years funding. There are currently 28 children on roll within the early years age range. The pre- school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. There are three members of staff employed to work directly with the children. Of these, two hold childcare qualifications at level 3 and one holds a qualification at level 2. The pre-school is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance. The setting offers a stay and play session for younger children on Friday mornings.

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

 widen parents' opportunities to contribute their views to inform the self-evaluation of the setting and enhance the quality of the provision

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

 enable children to more readily access resources stored in cupboards and, remind them of other resources not immediately available to maximise their already good choices, for example through photographs and labelling.

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who attend

Staff have a confident understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They know the children well and work closely with parents to understand children's individual developmental needs. They use that knowledge effectively to provide a broad range of enjoyable activities that support children's interests well and enable them to have challenging learning experiences. Staff compile learning journals for every child where observations, photographs and examples of artwork show a clear picture of their achievements. Children's progress is evaluated frequently to ensure activities and routines promote each child's learning appropriately.

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who attend

Assessments are shared effectively with parents so they can add their own comments about children's abilities and interests at home. Staff suggest stories and songs to parents in the newsletters so they can use these at home to ensure consistent learning experiences. Staff have a sound understanding of the additional support required for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They work closely with parents and other professionals to monitor children's progress and ensure their full participation in the activities and routines. All this helps to ensure that all children, given their starting points, are making good progress in their learning and development.

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who attend

Staff make learning fun and celebrate children's successes, for example at circle time, they hand out certificates for 'super tidying up'. They enthusiastically encourage children to participate in large circle games, such as 'sleeping bunnies'. As a result, children learn to listen to simple instruction and gain good physical control over their bodies as they lay quietly, or hop around energetically. Staff are particularly adept at large group story time; they enthral all the children with exciting stories and encourage them to join in and use their quiet and loud voices. Books are plentiful and readily available, so children can choose when to sit quietly and share stories with others, or turn the pages by themselves. Staff respond positively to children's interests and have conversations about things they have seen, such as a butterfly on the sunflowers. All this promotes children's communication and language very well.

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who attend

Children use the available resources to play imaginatively. For example, the slide becomes a 'pirate ship' taking children to the 'seaside'. They dig energetically in sand and have a lots of containers which they can fill, pour and empty. Staff extend their mathematical development effectively by using appropriate language, such as 'bigger' and smaller', 'less and more'. Children draw pictures on the computer, and see what happens when it is printed out. They develop their knowledge of early technology through their play as they use toy telephones, tills, cameras and wind up mechanisms. Varied writing materials and paper give children good opportunities to extend their skills in making marks. Children ready for school demonstrate they already write their names clearly on their work, and enjoy seeing their early writing attempts displayed. They put on their own shoes for outdoor play, and understand when it is time to use their 'listening ears'. All this means

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who attend

they are amply prepared for their future learning, including school.

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

Children are happy and settled in this friendly pre-school. Staff know the children well and work closely with parents to help children form secure emotional relationships with them. Some children receive a thorough introduction to the setting through the toddler group, and all make regular visits before they start their sessions. This makes their transitions from home into the pre-school positive and successful. Staff support children to develop good behaviour, for example, they encourage the use of timers to help children negotiate sharing of resources independently. During circle time staff discuss the importance of kindness and reinforce children's understanding of how their behaviour affects others. As a result, children behave well, given their age and stage of development.

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

The pre-school is mostly well-organised with a broad range of accessible resources that promote children's learning and development well. Staff enable children to move freely between the indoor and outdoor areas, and strongly support children's independence. However, not all resources are easily accessible, as some are stored in cupboards that lack labelling or reminders of their contents. Although children can ask for additional resources, this means opportunities to make spontaneous choices to extend their enjoyment are not fully promoted. Children gain a good sense of belonging as examples of their arts and crafts are prominently displayed.

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

The staff promote children's nutritional health effectively and encourage parents to provide healthy lunchboxes. Children help to plant and tend a range of fruit and vegetables and participate in cooking activities to extend their understanding of healthy foods. Water is constantly available and staff pro-actively encourage children to drink frequently, especially in hot weather. The garden has some shady areas where activities are set up to encourage children to shelter in the heat of the day. Children use the garden freely and have many good opportunities to use wheeled toys, develop their physical coordination on the climbing frame and play active games. All this effectively promotes their physical development and good health. Children learn to keep themselves safe through practical routines, such as practising the fire drill and tidying away resources. Staff extend children's understanding of risk because they clearly explain possible hazards

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

to the children. For example, they talk to them about the consequences of forgetting their sun hats, or leaving their bikes in the path of other children.

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provision

Members of staff have a good understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements. They give a high priority to keeping children safe and carry out robust risk assessments on a daily basis. The pre-school is kept secure and staff effectively supervise children's arrival and departure. As a result, children play in a safe environment. Staff have a thorough awareness of child protection issues and know what action to take if they have concerns about a child. Written safeguarding policies and procedures are readily available for parents and committee to refer to if needed. Staff deploy themselves well to ensure children are supervised and supported throughout the sessions. Members of the committee have appropriate suitability checks taken up so they can assist in the unlikely event one member of staff is unable to attend the session. This helps to ensure the adult to child ratios are always suitably met so children play safely.

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provision

There is a clear understanding of children's learning and development. Staff are well- focused on planning and provide an educational programme that effectively covers all the areas of learning. Children's progress is regularly assessed and monitored to ensure each child's learning needs are met well. There is a suitable emphasis on those children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. This helps to ensure all children make good progress towards the early learning goals. The pre-school has recently undergone a period of change, leading to a complete change of staff and committee over a short period. Since then they have worked hard to establish a sound working relationship and decide on the goals for improvement. There has been a firm focus on the mandatory training, such as child protection and first aid. All this has been completed within short timescales, thereby ensuring children are safe and well-cared for. Ambitious self-

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provision

evaluation now has broader aims, such as the creation of a new outdoor classroom. However, the views of parents have not yet been consistently sought to ensure the provision is thoroughly focused on children's continuing learning needs. Staff meet regularly together and there is time for monitoring their practice and planning for future training to ensure the quality of the provision is maintained.

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provision

The partnership with parents is positive and contributes well to children's ability to make good progress. Parents praise the staff and say they are friendly and approachable. They agree that staff work hard to get to know the children, and treat them as individuals. Parents feel well-informed and are involved in their children's learning through the daily diaries and learning journals. The staff are developing partnerships with other early years providers, for example, they are part of a new initiative to share relief staff with other local settings. This helps to create a safe and consistent environment for all children. Children preparing to go to school are supported well because staff plan visits and invite teachers into the setting.

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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 221794 Local authority Cambridgeshire Inspection number 915354

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 25 Number of children on roll 28 Name of provider Gamlingay Rainbow Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 27/06/2011 Telephone number 01767 652157

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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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