Beansheaf Community Pre-School

Beansheaf Community Pre-School Linear Park, Charrington Road, Calcot, Reading, Berkshire, RG31 7AW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/09/2013 22/04/2010

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 The provider has failed to supply Ofsted with information that has been requested in order to complete suitability checks on committee members. This is an offence.  The provider is also in breach of a number of legal requirements, including the failure to implement a mobile phone and camera policy; gain information about parental responsibility; implement an effective key person system; follow rigorous food handling procedures; provide and implement a suitable complaints procedure, or manage behaviour appropriately.  Safeguarding procedures are ineffective in ensuring ongoing staff suitability and staff do not have a secure understanding of child protection or reporting procedures. This means that children's safety is not sufficiently promoted.  Children do not make suitable progress in their learning as staff do not provide the support children need to settle or understand how to plan a supportive range of

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This provision is inadequate

experiences to meet their specific needs.  Self-evaluation and monitoring procedures in the pre-school are ineffective. The provider does not effectively review or evaluate the provision and has failed to urgently address a number of key issues requiring improvement.

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It has the following strengths

 Children have planned opportunities to play outdoors in the fresh air.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the main room of the pre-school and the garden area.  The inspector held a meeting with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to members of the staff team about the progress of their key children and their understanding of the nursery's policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's observation, tracking and assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of staff working with children in the pre-school and a range of other documentation.  The inspector took into account the views of parents and carers.

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Information about the setting

Beansheaf Community Pre-school was registered in 1995. It is organised by a voluntary parents committee. The pre-school is located in the Beansheaf Community Centre at Calcot, near Reading, in Berkshire. The group has access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The setting is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 50 children on roll in the early years age group. The setting receives support from the local authority and receives funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three and four years.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school is open each morning during school term times between 9.20 and 11.50, and on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons between 12 noon and 2.30pm. A lunch club is available on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The pre-school also offers a breakfast club. The pre-school supports children who are learning English as an additional language and who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. There are seven members of staff working with the children; of these, six have relevant early years qualifications at level 2 or 3. One member of staff has a teaching degree.

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enforcement action:

We will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice to ensure that the provider will:-

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enforcement action:

implement a system to ensure notification is made to Ofsted of any change to the individuals who are partners in, or a director, secretary or other officer or members of the governing body and that notification is made in advance or at the most within 14 days of the change occurring. - ensure all staff have regard for the Government's statutory guidance 'Working Together to Safeguard Children', in order that any concerns about children's safety or welfare are notified to agencies with statutory responsibilities without delay. - ensure that people looking after children are suitable to fulfil the requirements of their roles, with specific regard to the manager.

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must:

 ensure there is an agreed procedure for checking the identity of visitors, this refers to checking the identity of parents of new children attending the setting.

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must:

 train all staff to understand their safeguarding policy and procedures, and ensure that all staff have up to date knowledge of safeguarding issues.

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must:

 implement a policy and procedures to safeguard children that covers the use of mobile phones and cameras in the setting

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must:

 implement an effective key person system that ensures that every child's care is tailored to meet their individual needs; offers a settled relationship for the child and builds a relationship with their parents or carers

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must:

 obtain and share information regularly with parents, carers, professionals and other settings to promote an effective two-way flow of information that informs planning and supports effective teaching

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must:

 implement a policy and procedures to promote equality of opportunity for children, which includes how the individual needs of all children, including those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, will be included, valued and supported

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must:

 ensure there are appropriate arrangements in place for the supervision of staff who have contact with children and families, which includes opportunities for staff to discuss any issues - particularly concerning children's development or well- being; identify solutions to address issues as they arise; and receive coaching to improve their personal effectiveness

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must:

 ensure that staff know that they are expected to disclose any convictions, cautions, court orders, reprimands and warnings that may affect their suitability to work with children

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must:

 implement the behaviour management policy and procedures, so that the behaviour of all children is managed well

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must:

 ensure those who are responsible for preparing and handling food are competent to do so

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must:

 record the following information for each child: information about any other person who has parental responsibility for the child

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must:

 improve staff's knowledge of the learning and development requirements in order to consider the individual needs, interests, and stage of development of each child and use this information to identify their next steps and plan a challenging and enjoyable experience for each child in all of the areas of learning and development

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must:

 keep a record of written complaints relating to thefulfilment of the EYFS requirements and notify complainants of the outcome of the investigation within 28 days of having received the complaint

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who attend

Children are not making good progress in their learning given their starting points. This is because staff do not support children's learning in a purposeful way that motivates them to try new experiences or that challenges them in their play. Valuable opportunities to build on and extend children's prior learning are missed by staff who fail to focus on what the children already know or support them further through appropriate modelling. Despite being offered a range of play resources in the day, children appear disengaged and disinterested in the selection on offer. Older children who have been at the pre-school for some time, find the selection unappealing and are observed running around, jumping on and off the slide or engaging in fantasy play that involves fewer positive interactions with staff or each other. Many new children struggle to settle because staff do not have a secure understanding of what interests them and have not planned or prepared the

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who attend

session for younger, less confident learners. For example, staff shake a tambourine to indicate that they are holding a meeting time. They verbally direct children to the mat, but do not encourage new children to join the group by walking over with them, or sitting with them to help them learn the routine. Those children who do move to the mat gain little from the activity as it is hard to follow because too many children are talking, playing with toys or wandering off. Children find it hard to sit for the length of the meeting time and staff often have to raise their voices to be heard over the noise.

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who attend

Staff have an insecure understanding of how to link what children are working towards in their learning with the activities they offer, so planning does not meet their needs. This also means they are unable to re-shape tasks or sharply focus support to enhance children's learning when they do engage with children. Tracking of children's progress is inconsistent between staff members and overall is poor. Tracking is too infrequent, does not link to the areas of learning and is not accurate enough to determine where children most need support in their learning. Equality of opportunity is not extended to all children in the pre-school. This means some groups, for example those children still learning English as an additional language or children with special educational needs, are not making expected levels of progress or achieving in line with their peers, especially in language, communication and social skills. This means that many of the children who have

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who attend

identified starting points below those of their peers are not making enough progress to ensure that the achievement gap is closing.

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who attend

Partnerships with parents are friendly and suitable levels of information are shared with them about the activities in the pre-school via newsletters and noticeboards. Parents state they are happy with the pre-school and comments received are very positive. Staff make some attempts to work in partnership with families by including them in story times and inviting them to activities such as sports days, open days and parents' evenings. These methods generally give parents an idea of their child's progress. However, staff do not use these opportunities well enough to engage parents to become actively involved in their child's learning by finding out about children's interests at home and including these interests in their planning. As a result, children's progress is not as good as it should be, given their ages and stages of development.

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

The current key person system does not support children in developing secure attachments with staff or each other. This is because levels of individual support are poor, as staff spend their time and attention on routine jobs within the pre-school and less time supporting children. Although, staff gather information from parents at settling in visits, staff do not use this effectively enough to manage young children's move into the pre- school. This means that they fail to respond appropriately to children when they become distressed or need additional help and leave children to cry. This does not provide children with a positive first experience of being away from their parents or help them feel secure in the care of others. In addition, because staff choose to ignore poor behaviour in some groups of children, instead of providing positive strategies to support their developing understanding, younger children find it harder to engage with others. This does not help

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

children feel safe or settled and impacts on their emotional well-being. This also has a direct impact on their progress in the prime areas of learning as children find it hard to share resources, develop positive relationships with each other or respond to requests by staff. There are limited opportunities for older children to manage tasks for themselves to learn independence such as tidying up the toys as staff are observed doing this for them. As a result, children do not acquire the skills and attitudes necessary to prepare them for their next stage in learning and school.

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

The pre-school is suitably resourced and overall there is an adequate selection of toys and equipment. Resources in the majority of areas in the main playroom are stored appropriately and presented at children's height. However, the quality and selection is variable during the day as children have to rely on what staff put out for them to play with. As a result, some resources that staff select have little play value. In addition, staff do not make effective use of information that has been written on children's educational plans by professionals involved in their care. Staff do not provide children with access to the resources that have been suggested to promote their learning. This means that children are not encouraged to make the best progress possible and the achievement gap is not narrowing.

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

There are some opportunities for children to develop an understanding of healthy lifestyles, as they enjoy a range of fruit options at snack time and access drinking water inside or outdoors throughout the day. Staff work adequately in partnership with parents to ensure that dietary needs are catered for. Staff use this to keep a list of suitable snacks to offer children if they have additional dietary requirements or to cater for dietary preferences. Snacks offered to children appear to be appropriate, but staff do not follow robust procedures during the preparation or serving of food as they have not been trained in food hygiene. For example, they do not follow correct procedures when warming up children's lunches in the microwave. Suitable procedures for nappy changing, the administration of some medication and the treatment of accidents are in place.

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

Children have some opportunities to develop their physical skills as they engage in some physical play in a sectioned off area of the main play space. For example, they negotiate the rungs on the ladder of the climbing frame or slide down the slide. Children have access to an outdoor play space, when staff take them outside to play. This area is resourced to provide children with some opportunities to jump, run or read books in the pop up tent or access the small range of toys that staff take out with them to play with. Children clearly enjoy being outside but the outdoor area is not used well enough to support children's all round learning because poor planning and staff interactions, limits children's learning potential overall.

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provision

This inspection was brought forward as a result of a concern noted by Ofsted. The concern was that the provider had not supplied Ofsted with information that has been requested on several occasions to enable suitability checks to be completed on the nominated person and other committee members. In addition, concerns were also raised that the provider had failed to update Ofsted of a change to individuals who make up the pre-school committee. It is requirement to do so. At the inspection it was found that the provider had still failed to take action and was therefore not complying with a number of safeguarding and welfare requirements. As a result, Ofsted will issue a number of welfare requirement notices.

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provision

Safeguarding responsibilities have not been met, as the provider does not have robust policies or procedures in place to safeguard children. Staff do not have a secure understanding of safeguarding, in particular the procedures to follow for reporting safeguarding concerns or working in partnership with other agencies. As a result, staff did not follow the Local Safeguarding children's Board (LSCB) procedures when an incident occurred. Although, the manager and some staff have since accessed child protection training, they still fail to demonstrate a suitable understanding of their responsibilities in identifying or monitoring concerns about children in their care. In addition, the safeguarding policy and procedure that is shared with parents and that staff follow, is out of date. This means that staff do not know of their responsibility to report changes in their suitability to the provider and are unaware of any whistleblowing procedures.

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provision

Consequently, children's welfare cannot be assured as staff at the pre-school are unable to safeguard children adequately which compromises children's well-being. Children's safety is further compromised as staff do not collect information about who has parental responsibility for the child or keep a record of concerns that parents raise or respond to them appropriately. There is no mobile phone or camera policy because the manager was unaware of her responsibility to have one or to implement it within the pre-school. These are clear breaches of safeguarding and welfare requirements, which have a negative impact on the safety of children at the pre-school. Also, the pre-school is not complying with a number of requirements of the Childcare Register. However, risk assessment procedures are adequate and a suitable regard is given to daily safety checks on the premises.

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provision

Self-evaluation procedures are poor. Current procedures are not effective in monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the educational provision. The manager does not have rigorous procedures in place to monitor staff performance, such as offering supervision and appraisals. This has led to inequalities in staff practice and consequently poor quality activities for some children and lack of support for others. A key weakness within the pre- school is the quality of staff interactions and their understanding of their roles and responsibilities. This has led to inconsistent practice that has not been tackled, and some staff do not demonstrate the necessary knowledge and understanding of how young children learn. As a result, children are not making sufficient progress given their starting points because staff do not have the knowledge and skills in order to deliver a nurturing or challenging learning environment for children. The manager and staff do not demonstrate

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provision

a suitable capacity to make improvements to the pre-school and their practice.

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provision

Parents have some opportunities to input their views or feedback on the care at the pre- school through settling in questionnaires and discussions at parents evening or with staff. However, on occasions staff do not provide parents with accurate information about how well their children have settled or use further comments to inform changes within the pre- school. Partnerships with other agencies that are involved with the children, such as speech and language therapists or support workers, are not yet effective enough to provide consistency in meeting targets on children's care plans. This is because action points that have been identified have not been suitably implemented or robustly monitored to help narrow the gap for some children. This results in children not making sufficient progress given their starting points, especially in the prime areas of learning, such as, their personal, social and emotional development. Poor regard to maintaining

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provision

records and sharing important information promptly with local agencies that support families in the pre-school, means that the needs of the children are not met.

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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:

 keep and implement a written statement of procedures to be followed for the protection of children, intended to safeguard the children being cared for from abuse or neglect (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that the childcare is accessible and inclusive by taking all reasonable steps to ensure that the needs of each child, relating to their childcare, are met (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  keep a written statement of procedures to be followed in relation to complaints which relate to the requirements of the Childcare Register and which a parent makes in writing or by email (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  inform Ofsted of the following: the name, date of birth, address and telephone number of any partner, director, senior officer or other member of the governing body (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  keep and implement a written statement of procedures to be followed for the

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

protection of children, intended to safeguard the children being cared for from abuse or neglect (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that the childcare is accessible and inclusive by taking all reasonable steps to ensure that the needs of each child, relating to their childcare, are met (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that children's behaviour is managed in a suitable manner (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  keep a written statement of procedures to be followed in relation to complaints which relate to the requirements of the Childcare Register and which a parent makes in writing or by email (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that children's behaviour is managed in a suitable manner (compulsory 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 507892 Local authority West Berkshire (Newbury) Inspection number 931770

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 35 Number of children on roll 50 Name of provider Beansheaf Community Pre-school Committee Date of previous inspection 22/04/2010 Telephone number 0118 9454312

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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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