Poplars Preschool

Poplars Pre-School Water Leys Primary School, Guilford Drive, WIGSTON, Leicestershire, LE18 1HG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 09/07/2013 29/03/2011

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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 are settled and show a strong sense of belonging in the pre-school. This is because they have formed trusting relationships with staff. They confidently and enthusiastically explore their environment and participate in activities with enjoyment.  Children are supported sensitively during transitional times in their learning. The key person and staff communicate effectively with parents, other practitioners and teachers to identify and plan appropriate activities to help children settle and move on their next stage in their learning.  Partnerships with specialised professionals are well established and ensure that children who have Special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported consistently through a shared understanding of their needs.  Children develop good self-help skills and levels of independence due to the effective organisation of resources and because staff encourage them to undertake tasks for

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The programme of professional development is not yet sharply focussed and targeted to ensure that all staff are consistently improving their already good skills and knowledge.  There is scope to improve the effectiveness of self-evaluation in order to inform the action plan more clearly so that it is well-targeted, in order to fully support the continuous improvement of the provision.

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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 held a meeting and carried out a joint observation with the manager at agreed times during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector talked with staff and children at appropriate times during the inspection and observed activities in two playrooms and outside.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at evidence of suitability and the qualifications of staff working with children and children's assessment records, planning documentation and a selection of policies and documentation.

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Information about the setting

Poplars Pre-School opened in 2006 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register It is run by a voluntary management committee and operates from a self-contained building within the grounds of Water Leys Primary School in Wigston, South Leicestershire. The pre-school also has use of the school hall and kitchen, which are situated in the main school building. There is a fully enclosed outdoor play area. The pre-school serves the local community. The pre-school employs 13 members of child care staff. Of these, 10 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level three and above. The pre-school opens Monday to Friday for 48 weeks of the year. Sessions are from 7:30am until 5:30pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 97 children attending who are within this age group. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 develop further the programme of professional development for staff by ensuring it is consistent, astute and targeted to their individual needs, to enhance their already good practice

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

 enhance the evaluation process through careful analysis of practice so that the action plan has more focus and clear targets to help children reach the highest levels of achievement.

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who attend

Staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of how to support children's development across all areas of learning. Careful consideration is made to the presentation and accessibility of resources and equipment creating an interesting and stimulating learning environment both indoors and out. Staff know the children well and successfully plan and provide them with activities and resources to support their individual interests and needs. Children freely explore their surroundings with confidence and make independent choices of what they would like to play with. In addition, staff balance this with a range of adult-led activities, which further supports them in successfully targeting individual children's next steps. Consequently, children have fun, make good progress and develop the range of skills needed for their next steps in learning. In addition, positive relationships with settings in the local area are well-established, therefore, supporting

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who attend

older children's smooth move on to school and the next stage in their learning.

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who attend

Staff speak regularly with parents and their role is highly valued in order to support children's learning and development. All parents contribute to the initial assessment of children's starting points to provide a baseline from which to monitor their progress. They receive frequent feedback about what children have been doing and staff ensure that they have easy access to children's individual files so they are fully involved in learning. This means that they are given a clear insight into their child's progress and they state that they are reassured that their 'children are well-prepared for school'. Staff have prepared effective systems to enable relevant assessments to be made for two-year old children and these are shared and agreed with parents. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals, along with the pre-schools special educational needs coordinator, in order to monitor and review the progress that children make. This ensures that children with

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who attend

special educational needs and/or disabilities receive a consistently high level of care and support in their learning.

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who attend

Children are developing into confident communicators in line with their abilities. Priority is given to ensuring that all children are provided with the necessary support to help them make good progress in their learning. Staff use a range of strategies to include and support all children, such as, visual time tables, picture cards, sign language and one-to- one groups. Children are confident to use and regularly refer to the picture cards and sign to express their needs and to understand what is happening next. For example, at snack time children sign when they would like more or have finished. Staff talk to parents about language spoken at home and ask for key words, which help them to meet the children's needs. Staff use these regularly during play and everyday routines. As a consequence, children hear a range of languages and recognise the skill needing to speak more than one. In addition, staff use labels in the languages spoken by the children to support their

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who attend

Children enjoy easy access to a broad range of carefully presented books and reading materials, which supports their understanding of print. They spend time either alone, in groups or with familiar adults, looking through, listening, and talking about what they see. Staff use the tone and intonation of their voices as they tell stories and ask open questions to encourage children to consider 'what might happen next'. Materials to support children's early writing skills are widely available both indoors and out and are presented in different ways to capture the interest of all children. For example, in the role play area, outside and on art and craft tables indoors. Children begin to give meaning to marks as they recognise their individual name cards and coat pegs. They self-register on arrival and find their space at snack time.

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who attend

Children use their creative skills and explore media during art and craft activities, where they can help themselves to paper, glue, scissors and pencils. They enjoy making and listening to music. For example, a member of staff and children explore the individual sounds of different musical instruments and begin to rhythmically move to the beats of the drum and tambourine. Staff provide a broad range of opportunities for children to seek out patterns, count, sort and match, through a range of games, construction toys and everyday routines. For example, children consider the patterns of their footprints in the sand and count and compare the number of legs on tadpoles in the tank. Children enjoy water play and use jugs and funnels to fill buckets of various sizes. Staff talk to the children and model words such as 'full' and 'empty' as they fill the pots. This gives the children good opportunities to explore shape, space and measure. Children have

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who attend

opportunities to learn about technology as they have easy access to computers and programmable toys.

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who attend

Children enjoy being active and enjoy ample opportunities to develop their physical skills. For example, indoors they take part in planned 'PE' sessions and can free flow to the outdoor play space. Children are observed to run and hop, climb steps, push buggies and kick footballs with increasing skill and confidence. They manoeuvre their bodies and successfully negotiate their way around the range of equipment in the space available. As a result, children have good physical skills and benefit from and enjoy using the range of equipment accessible to them. Children have good opportunities to learn about nature and the world around them. For example, a group of children enthusiastically take part in bug hunt and note down what they have found on their clip boards. Staff successfully build on children's knowledge from previous experiences and children show their knowledge as they remember where to look and compare their findings from previous activities.

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

A calm and caring atmosphere creates a positive learning environment. Children are cared for a by a dedicated key person within a consistent and committed team of staff. This successfully supports children with settling-in, developing strong attachments and having a secure base from which to learn and develop. In addition, parents express their appreciation of the warm welcome and ongoing support that they receive. Staff take time to get to know children and individually agreed settling-in procedures are offered, tailored to the needs of each child. As a result, children are happy, settled and confident. Children are grouped appropriately and allocated their own base room supporting their feelings of security and sense of belonging. Movement to other groups within the setting and to other early years settings, such as school, are well-supported. This is because staff ensure that information on children's care and learning needs are shared, enabling children to feel

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

secure with change. These effective arrangements contribute to children's self-confidence and develops the skills and emotional security they need to equip them for future learning.

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

Children are well-behaved and staff consistently support them through praise and encouragement. Therefore, contributing positively to children's confidence and self- esteem. Children play cooperatively with their peers, sharing and taking turns with equipment and resources. For example, a group of children in the mud kitchen 'prepare' and 'serve' dinner, taking it in turns to add and stir the ingredients. In addition, children enjoy regular opportunities to participate in group 'social time' where they are encouraged to listen and value each other's contributions. Children begin to show a growing responsibility within the setting as they take it in turns 'ringing the tidy up bell' and work well together to tidy the toys away at set times in the day. Staff play close regard to the safety of children and ensure that activities, resources and equipment are suitable to their individual needs. As a consequence, children feel safe within the environment and with

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

staff. Children understand about keeping themselves safe and the potential impact of their actions on others. This is because staff remind them how to use equipment safely and appropriately as they play. For example, a member of staff talks about how to hold and cut with scissors safely during a creative activity and reminds a child not to throw sand as it 'may go into someone else's eyes'.

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

Staff clearly understand the importance of good hygiene practices, which they successfully pass onto the children. For example, young children are changed by their key person in accordance with their individual needs and supported in washing hands before eating. Older children are encouraged to develop their independence and manage their own personal care needs. For example, they use the toilet independently and know to wash their hands afterwards and before eating. Children learn about healthy eating as they take part in activities, and, in conjunction with parents are encouraged to make healthy choices at snack and mealtimes. Children have frequent opportunities to be physically active both indoors and out. All children can free flow to the well-resourced outdoor play area and with staff make full use of the additional facilities on the school site. In addition, older children participate in planned 'PE' sessions on a regular basis. This not only provides

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

them with opportunities to further promote their physical development, through music and movement sessions, but also to practise the self-care skills needed in their next stage of learning. For example, dressing and undressing independently.

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provision

The was brought forward by Ofsted following concerns being raised about safeguarding procedures. This inspection found that children are effectively safeguarded at the setting and staff have a secure understanding of what to do if they have a concern regarding a child's welfare. All staff have attended training in safeguarding to ensure that they are up to date with current legislation and are confident of their roles and responsibilities. The safeguarding policies and procedures have been recently reviewed and updated to ensure that they contain all of the necessary detail. Opportunities are taken to revisit, discuss and confirm understanding of these at regular team meetings and through ongoing discussion between managers and staff. In addition, policies and procedures are shared with parents to help them understand the setting's role and responsibilities. Clear and concise risk assessments are used to manage potential risks to children. These are regularly monitored

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provision

and reviewed and any changes and action taken noted. All staff remain vigilant to children's safety and undertake daily visual checks on the premises. Adult:child ratios are well-maintained and the effective deployment of staff ensures that children are well- supervised. Effective visitor procedures are in place; visitors are asked to sign in, their identity is checked and they are never left unsupervised. Robust vetting and recruitment procedures have been implemented, which ensures that all those working with children are safe and suitable. Alongside this, induction procedures ensure that staff know and understand their roles and responsibilities in order to support and maintain children's well-being. Regular staff meetings for all staff ensure that they are kept informed of changes and have opportunities to share any concerns, ideas or good practice. Staff have forged close working relationships, which creates a positive and

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provision

welcoming atmosphere. They work effectively together to monitor and evaluate the educational programme and managers are 'hands on' within the setting; this enables them to observe staff in their delivery of the curriculum and to identify any gaps in practice. Planning and assessments are checked to make sure they are consistent and precise. However, the recent change of management means that provision to complete more formal supervision meetings have not yet been consistently implemented. This means that arrangements for addressing any gaps are not yet fully established in order to ensure that staff continue to be well-supported to deliver the requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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provision

Parents are happy with the progress their children have made whilst at the setting. They comment enthusiastically on the 'approachable and knowledgeable' staff and how their children engage in a broad range of activities, and enjoy their time at the setting. Arrangements to ensure that parents play a fully and active role in their child's care and learning have been implemented. All parents are invited to share in their child's achievements, for example, through daily discussion and diaries and parents evenings. A good range of information on display ensures that parents are fully informed about the Early Years Foundation Stage and the organisation of the setting. In addition, staff make themselves fully available and welcome opportunities to 'discuss anything that parents are unsure of and to answer any questions or queries. Strong links are in place with external agencies to ensure those children, who have identified needs, gain the support that is

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provision

needed. Robust systems are in place to liaise with other providers the children do or will attend, to ensure information is shared in order to promote their continuous and consistent learning and progress.

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provision

The managers and staff are enthusiastic, motivated and committed to providing a high quality service to children and their families. They have successfully embraced a change of manager and work very well together as a team. Arrangements to evaluate the provision are in place and parents and staff are invited to contribute to this process through verbal and non-verbal methods. Such as, questionnaires and general discussion. An action plan has been prepared but is not yet sufficiently detailed in order to clearly identify and work on specific areas of improvement. Consequently, there is scope to develop this process further.

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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 EY340388 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 923275

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 46 Number of children on roll 97 Name of provider Poplars Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 29/03/2011 Telephone number 07769685416

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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

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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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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