Pippin Pre-School

Pippin Pre School Buttercup Road, Stotfold, HITCHIN, Hertfordshire, SG5 4PF

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 12/08/2013 01/05/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Children are enthusiastic and eager to participate in pre-school and out of school club activities. This is because the staff provide rich and imaginative experiences based on comprehensive observations and assessments of children and a detailed knowledge of what children know and can do.  Staff give the highest priority to ensure that all children are safeguarded. They are fully aware of their individual responsibilities to protect children from harm.  Children have formed extremely secure emotional attachments to the staff. This provides them with a firm base from which to explore their environment and develop their independence in the wider world.  High quality monitoring of all aspects of the pre-school ensures that children benefit from continuous improvement which meets their ever changing needs.

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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 staff and children interacting in activities in the main play areas and outside.  The inspector held a meeting with the deputy manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at various documents, including policies and procedures, children's records, evidence of the employment procedures and monitoring of staff practice.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Pippin Pre-school registered at its current location 2011. The pre-school is registered with Ofsted on the Early Years Register and on both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The pre-school is run by a management committee and operates from a purpose-built setting in the village of Stotfold, Hertfordshire. The pre-school serves the local community and surrounding areas and has strong links with the local primary schools. The pre-school is accessible to all children and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The pre-school employs 25 members of childcare staff; of these, 20 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 or above.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school opens Monday to Friday during school term times. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. The sessions include a breakfast, lunch and after school club, as well as two pre-school sessions operating 9am until 12 noon, and 12.45pm until 3.15pm. There is also a holiday club operating from 7.45am to 6pm for three weeks in the summer, and on school inset days.

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Information about the setting

Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 130 children attending who are in the early years age group. The setting also offers care to children in the older years age group. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four- year-old children.

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

 enhance self-evaluation by extending how the views of parents, staff and children are incorporated, to assist in identifying areas for further improvement.

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who attend

Children are very motivated to learn in this extremely high quality pre-school and out of school club. Staff display an excellent knowledge and implementation of the learning and development requirements and they have a clear understanding of how children learn. The exciting, stimulating indoor and outdoor environment, full of high quality resources, supports children's rapid progress towards the early learning goals. Children are busy and involved in the exciting atmosphere. They show high levels of confidence and independence as they choose from a wide variety of interesting activities and resources. They are keen, active learners who are fully supported in exploring and expanding their play.

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who attend

Children display high levels of concentration and interest as they design and describe the pictures and drawings they have created. They choose their own materials and tools to use from the easily accessible vast selection. For example, children enthusiastically delve into the drawers and shelves, selecting their chosen coloured pens and pencils to use with the material, paper or cardboard. They are sensitively supported by highly skilled staff who actively encourage children to talk about what they have done and how they did it. This gives children a sense of pride in their achievements. All children are making excellent progress in all areas of learning. Communication is highly prioritised by staff, resulting in exceptional levels of learning and language development. Staff are always on hand to answer children's array of questions, using simple but full answers which children can understand and relate to. For example, a conversation about how many adults and

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who attend

children are wearing glasses, and what colours and shapes they are, led to a detailed discussion about having a 'lazy' eye. This teaches children to understand and value each other's similarities and differences.

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who attend

Children's personal, social and emotional development is outstanding. Children learn to be independent as staff teach them to make their own decisions and solve problems. For example, staff regularly use a persona doll in activities which encourage children to speak and communicate emotions and feelings in a positive way. Children show their understanding of the teaching by playing with the persona doll, displaying their ability to share and work together. They describe to each other what they think the doll may be feeling and, using their own levels of understanding, they comfort and discuss ways they can cheer up the 'sad' doll. Children are always praised by staff for their attempts and efforts. For example, staff praise children for buttoning up the doll's clothes, giving children a sense of pride in their achievement.

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who attend

Older children are very well-prepared for school as they join the 'superstars' group. Their skills and understanding are refined in readiness for school. For example, staff ensure that children regularly participate in activities that will help them achieve the skills they need to move onto their next stage in their learning; these include learning phonics, pencil control and emerging writing.

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who attend

Children's assessments are clear, precise and sharply focused. Key persons invite and include contributions from all those involved in each child's learning. Assessments are based on the key person's detailed knowledge of the children and their families and a very effective system for tracking and evaluating children's learning and progress is implemented. As a result, children are provided with vibrant and exciting tailored experiences and challenges. This leads to children making excellent progress in relation to their starting points. The very effective assessment methods ensure that any children who are, or could possibly fall, below their expected levels of development are identified and supported quickly. The very detailed monitoring makes sure that children receive targeted support and appropriate intervention to rapidly close any gaps in their learning.

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who attend

The assessing of children's starting points and monitoring of their ongoing progress is a shared process. Parents are fully involved in sharing information when children first start and in extending their learning at home. Information is regularly shared with parents about what the children have been doing and parents are fully included in making plans for children's next steps in their learning.

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who attend

Children have the choice and freedom to choose to play indoors and in the well-equipped outdoor play area. They enjoy physical activities and have first-hand experiences of the changing seasons and weather. Children are developing their large muscle control and coordination as they climb, slide, run and balance. There are excellent opportunities for children to choose resources for the indoor and the outdoor area, extending their play and making independent choices for themselves. This results in children consistently demonstrating the characteristics of very effective learners.

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

Children display their confidence and enjoyment as they thrive in this vibrant pre-school and out of school club. They have formed very close bonds and attachments with other children, staff and especially their key person. This is due to the highly skilled staff who have a detailed understanding of the individual needs of each of the children in their care. Key persons provide a nurturing approach which reassures children and parents when they first start. This enables children to settle quickly and gain confidence as they eagerly explore and investigate. The implementation of very effective procedures and skilled staff ensure that children are extremely well-prepared for the next steps in their learning. Prior to starting at the pre-school, parents and children visit and meet their allocated key person. This meeting is used effectively to find out all about the children and to begin to build positive relationships with the children and their families.

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

Younger children are very well-supported as they make rapid progress and learn to work in small groups in preparation for the next level in their education, eventually leading on to be 'superstars'. Children look forward to reaching the age and ability of the older children; they look up to and mimic older children which show they have ambition and eagerness to make very good progress.

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

Excellent use is made of the 'superstars' group for children who are moving onto full-time school. Carefully planned activities are specifically designed to ensure that all children are ready for school. Children's skills and abilities are polished in readiness for the expectations of full-time education; for example, children show excellent self-help skills, such as toileting, dressing and feeding themselves. They display excellent behaviour and good attitudes to learning; their levels of independence and confidence are high. Staff support children's move onto their next setting. They accompany children on their visits to their 'big school' and invite teachers to visit children in the pre-school. This enables children to have the knowledge and understanding to support their feelings of security as they move on to their new settings.

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

Children show a very good awareness of their personal safety. For example, they are taught how to use all equipment safely. Their behaviour is excellent; children take turns and negotiate with each other, for example, which roles they want to play in the home corner caring for the sad doll. They adopt these good social skills because of the consistent methods practised by each member of staff, giving children clear and reliable messages about behaving safely and responsibly. For example,

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

Children show an excellent understanding about good hygiene procedures. They feel the paint and explore the soil in the garden, children discuss washing their hands and they show the inspector how they enthusiastically wash their hands and dry them with the air dryer. They chatter about the effect of germs making them unwell and show they know that hands need to be clean before they eat anything. Children enjoy a variety of nutritious and healthy snacks which they decide when to have during the rolling snack period. All individual dietary needs are known by all staff and robust procedures are in place to ensure that children are provided with snacks and ingredients that meet their individual requirements and keep them safe from any allergic reactions.

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

Children learn about the need for healthy food and fresh air and the effects of exercise on their bodies as they participate in free flow access to outdoor activities. They grow their own fruit and vegetables, and learn about recycling waste food in the wormery. For children who want to rest or nap, there are cosy areas where they can comfortably curl up and be quiet or share a book with a friend or have a cuddle with a member of staff.

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

Children display their excellent developing independence and social skills as they help each other with tasks and games. For example, children share out cards for a matching card game and discuss how to play; they pour their own drinks and serve their own food at mealtimes. These are social occasions where children and staff chat about what they have been doing and sharing news about their home and family and interests.

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

Excellent professional partnerships between all adults and professionals in the children's lives, greatly promotes children's well-being. This results in children being confident and capable of embracing new challenges in their life.

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provision

Extremely robust procedures, risk assessments and vigilance protect children. The safeguarding of children is given high priority. Every member of staff has received training on how to safeguard children and they have a detailed knowledge of their responsibilities and the procedures to follow should they have a concern about a child. All staff are clear about their fundamental role to protect children and they take swift action to minimise any potential hazards ensuring children are safe in the pre-school and in the out of school club. This results in children enjoying the freedom to explore, to choose and have fun in a safe environment.

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provision

Highly robust procedures are in place for employing staff and checking their suitability to work with children. All staff have their previous employment history and references checked thoroughly. Staff are regularly observed by the manager to ensure their practice is of high quality at all times. This enables the manager to identify the strengths and weaknesses of staff practice. Regular reviews of staff practice, professional development, training and targets for improved performance ensure that managers very effectively monitor staffs continued suitability. This includes assigning duties, such as key person roles, and organising staffing rotas to meet the changing needs of the children.

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provision

Highly effective partnerships between the pre-school, parents, other settings and external agencies ensure that children's needs are quickly identified and especially well-met. Strong partnerships ensure that highly accurate information about the individual children is shared. This enables all parties to successfully support all children to achieve.

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provision

The very efficient monitoring of the pre-school's outstanding implementation of the learning and development requirements is constant and consistent. Careful assessment of the depth and breadth of the educational programmes ensure that staff deliver learning exceptionally well. Activities are carefully planned to extend and challenge children; this is achieved through staff's good understanding of children's individual interests and aptitudes. The self-evaluation of the pre-school's practice is continuing to extend. Staff reviews and regular information sharing have enabled managers to identify and action further areas for improvement. Their strong drive for continuing excellence includes plans for expanding the way they complement the teaching that children receive in the pre- school or school into their newly started holiday club.

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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 EY437997 Local authority Central Bedfordshire Inspection number 931846

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 130 Name of provider Pippin Playgroup Committee Date of previous inspection 01/05/2013 Telephone number 01462 834897

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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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