Shama Women's Centre

Shama Women's Centre Shama Womens Centre, 39-45 Sparkenhoe Street, LEICESTER, LE2 0TD

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17/06/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 Children do not make effective progress as the educational programme is not monitored and staff do not understand the importance of delivering the areas of learning, leading to ineffective planning and assessment.  Children's learning and progress is hindered as little attention is given to learning styles, or the balance between adult- or child-led activities.  Children whose home language is not English are not fully supported to develop a good standard in English.  Children's well-being is compromised. There are times when no one on site has a valid paediatric first aid qualification.  The key person system is not effective, and parents have little opportunity to share or contribute to their child's learning and development, impacting on children's individual needs.  Appraisals and self-evaluation are not used effectively to identify gaps in staff's knowledge and understanding of the learning and development requirements or

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This provision is inadequate

priorities for improvement within the setting. As a result, children's needs are not met.

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It has the following strengths

 Relationships between children, parents and staff are warm and friendly.

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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 all the main playroom and large hall.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's learning journey records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of staff working in the setting, and a range of other records, policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the manager, the Finance manager, deputies, staff and children at appropriate times throughout the day.  The inspector looked at all areas in which children are cared for.

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Information about the setting

Shama Women's Centre was registered in 2012 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in community centre premises in the city of Leicester and is managed by a committee. The centre serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from two play rooms and there is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play. The centre employs six members of childcare staff. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3.

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Information about the setting

The centre opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions run from 9.30am until 12noon and 1pm until 4pm, Monday to Friday all year round. There are also two evening sessions a week on a Wednesday and Thursday, from 5pm until 7pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 19 children attending who are in the early years age group. The centre provides funded early education for, three- and four-year-old children. All children who attend speak English as an additional language.

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must:

 improve the knowledge and understanding of all staff, and ensure that the educational programme supports all children to make progress and covers the prime and specific areas of learning in sufficient depth and breadth

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must:

 ensure assessments of children's progress accurately identify their progress, take account of the different ways they learn and are used to inform an appropriate balance of child-led and adult-led activities to help children prepare for school

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must:

 include parents in providing information about children's developmental abilities when they start, and ensure this it is used effectively to plan a challenging educational programme for each child for their next steps in learning

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must:

 ensure that at least one person who has a current paediatric first aid certificate is on the premises at all times when children are present and on outings

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must:

 ensure children have sufficient opportunities to learn and reach a good standard in English language during the Early Years Foundation Stage

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must:

 ensure that each child has a key person that tailors every child's learning and care to meet their individual needs. The key person must seek to engage and support parents and/or carers in guiding their child's development at home

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must:

 implement rigorous and effective systems for self-evaluation to inform priorities and set precise targets for improvement that will significantly improve the provision for children

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must:

 review the appraisal system to ensure that this clearly identifies gaps in staff's knowledge and understanding of supporting children's learning and development, to ensure that children's needs are fully met.

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must:

 make better use of guidance, such as Development matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage, to consistently observe and monitor children's progress to ensure they reach expected levels of development.

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who attend

Staff are not secure in their knowledge of the seven areas of learning or how to carefully plan activities to provide challenging and enjoyable experiences. They do not build on what children already know while helping them to learn more. For example, during a painting activity, staff focus on pulling children's sleeves up and offering further pieces of paper rather than encouraging and talking to children about their own creations or how the colour of the paint changes as they place one on top of another. Although staff are kind and caring, they do not always plan appropriately for children's next steps or fully understand how to plan to support children's interest or suitably occupy them within the setting. As a result, the range of activities offered do not fully reflect the individual needs of children or offer sufficient depth and breadth across the seven areas of learning, leading to poor progress towards the early learning goals. Staff are aware of children's

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who attend

individual needs where English is an additional language. When they are able, they talk to children in their home language to enable them to respond, promoting inclusivity. However, children are not fully supported by staff in developing language skills and do not have sufficient opportunities to learn and reach a good standard in English. This has an impact on their readiness for school.

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who attend

Staff make some assessments of children's development; however, these do not link to each child's next steps or identify how these will be met. In addition, some children attend on a less regular basis than others, and staff do not use what they know about them to plan effectively for their individual needs or take time to observe any progress they do make. As a result, staff fail to make the most of opportunities to help children make better progress, and activities are not offered to support and enable these children to make effective progress. Overall, teaching is ineffective and children are not suitably prepared for school. Although staff interact with children and sit with them during planned or child- initiated play, they do not consistently engage them or question them to challenge their ideas. Information is not obtained on children's starting points before they begin at the setting. As a result, staff are not able to plan or tailor the environment to truly reflect the

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who attend

needs of every child. The use of low-level storage allows children to make some choices in their play and so help them to develop some independence.

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who attend

Children have some opportunities to explore their developing mathematics skills; for example, they use large plastic bricks to build towers and sing songs and nursery rhymes with staff. However, staff do not build on what children know in everyday play opportunities, and as a result, they miss opportunities to explore children's abilities further. Children enjoy the large play space adjacent to the main playroom; they ride three-wheeled bicycles, drive cars, push buggies and use a small climbing frame. Older children show increasing skill in manoeuvring the bicycles and cars around the play space, stopping and starting appropriately.

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who attend

Children have some opportunities to make marks, both in planned activities and through the provision of crayons, for example, laid out on a table. A child was observed to sit at the table with a printed picture to colour, using the crayons to support them in this task. Staff comment that a child, when drawing, recognised they had drawn a banana. Therefore, children are beginning to give meaning to the marks they make. However, staff do not tailor the environment to challenge children further in their skills and abilities. As a result, children do not make progress as well as they should. Parents have forged good relationships with staff at the setting, and there is a positive exchange of information shared when parents drop off and collect their children. However, parents are not informed of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and are not involved in sharing information about their child's learning and development

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who attend

or how this can be supported at home. As a result, opportunities to explore what children know and can do at home are not shared or used to inform their learning at the setting.

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

Children's sense of belonging is supported through the secure attachments they have with all staff. They are greeted warmly, which enables most children to leave their parents and settle quickly and easily. Some children have a key person, which allows them to build secure attachments with known adults. However, there are a number of children, in particular, those who attend on a less regular basis, who have no key worker assigned to support their individual needs. Although this has little impact on children's care and well- being, it is a breach of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Suitable staff deployment ensures that children are always supervised and ratios are met appropriately.

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

Care routines are consistently followed and children learn why they need to wash their hands before lunch or after they have used the toilet. Staff are aware of the likes and dislikes of individual children and their specific dietary requirements. With this in mind, children are offered suitably healthy and nutritious snacks, such as fruit and small sandwiches. However, this is all prepared by staff and given to children in individual bowls. This impacts on children's independence skills. In addition, children are not well supported in learning about nutritional health because staff do not engage in conversation with them at snack time to teach them about healthy food. As a result, children are poorly prepared for their transition to school.

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

Children are mostly well behaved because there is a good level of supervision in place. This is because there are a low number of children in attendance. Staff thank them when they listen to requests, such as sharing the bicycles during physical play, which, overall, enables children to develop their confidence and self-esteem. However, staff do not always provide adequate resources or activities that respond to children's individual needs. Consequently, some children flit from one activity to another or stand and observe others because activities do not provide sufficient challenge or interest them. Children show they understand how to be safe as they climb on and off chairs with ease and ride bicycles with growing skill. Staff are quick to remind them that they need to be careful not to go into other children or adults, developing their awareness of safety.

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provision

Leadership and management at the setting are inadequate. Staff suitably understand their responsibility to safeguard children in the event of child protection concerns. Recruitment and vetting procedures to check the suitability of staff are defined in the setting's procedures. In addition, there are effective procedures in place to monitor visitors to the setting, and a keypad entry system ensures that staff are fully aware of all those entering and leaving the setting. Although an annual appraisal is completed for all staff, these are not used to sufficiently identify gaps in staff's knowledge and understanding of the learning and development requirements, to ensure that all children make the best progress possible. As a result, children's needs are not met. Policies and procedures are established and staff are required to follow these. Although accident and medication records are maintained appropriately, there are times in which a qualified paediatric first

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provision

aider is not on site. This is a breach of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and the Childcare Register.

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provision

There is ineffective monitoring of the educational provision by the provider to ensure that staff are planning and delivering an effective curriculum. Children do not make sufficient progress because planning, assessment and observations are not consistently maintained or reviewed. Ineffective use of observation means that staff are not able to identify children's individual skills and abilities. Although staff have some awareness of the seven areas of learning, they are not yet skilled in planning activities and resources to extend or challenge the developmental needs and talents of children.

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provision

Self-evaluation is weak. The setting has not established a procedure to identify the strengths of or areas for development. As a result, there are no action plans or targets identified to ensure that the setting is striving for improvement. There have been many changes to the organisation of the setting since it was re-registered; funding has been cut, which staff feel has had a significant effect on the setting's ability to seek training or other means of support. Parents have some opportunities to share information on their child, for example, when they register their child and during delivery and collection. They are happy with the care provided and have good relationships with childcare staff. However, there are very limited opportunities for parents to support children's learning outside of the setting. As a result, opportunities to consolidate or extend their skills are poor.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 ensure that at least one person who is caring for children has an appropriate first aid qualification (compulsory part of the Childcare Register).  ensure that at least one person who is caring for children has an appropriate first aid qualification (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).

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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 EY456314 Local authority Leicester City Inspection number 896161 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 20 Number of children on roll 19 Name of provider Shama Women's Centre Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 0116 251 4747

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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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