Christopher Robyn Pre-School

Christopher Robyn Pre-School St Alban's Church Hall, St Simon's Close, OFFERTON, SK2 5AG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 13/09/2013 17/05/2010

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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 does not have a sufficient understanding of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. This means there are several breaches of the legal requirements, which significantly compromise children's safety, well-being and progress.  Recruitment procedures are extremely weak because staff are not adequately vetted to ensure they are safe to work with children.  Staff do not provide sufficiently planned or purposeful play, which challenges and stimulates children's learning and development. Observations and assessments do not inform the level of children's achievement, learning style or next steps and, as a result, children's progress is variable.  Managers do not monitor the performance of staff. This means their training needs are not identified to ensure children benefit from knowledgeable staff.  Staff have not completed the required progress check at age two to provide parents

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This provision is inadequate

with a summary of their child's development to contribute to the health visitor review.

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It has the following strengths

 Relationships are caring, relaxed and friendly, which means children approach the staff confidently and are obviously comfortable in their care.  Staff provide a range of play and learning resources in which children play and explore confidently.

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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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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled records and documentation, including policies and children's development records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took into consideration the views of the parents spoken to on the day of inspection.  The inspector asked staff questions to support her observation and documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out observations of staff and their interactions with children throughout the day and examined samples of documentation related to children's welfare and learning.

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Inspection activities

 A tour of the pre-school and a joint observation were made by the inspector and the manager, of a member of staff who was leading a small group activity for children.

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Information about the setting

Christopher Robyn Pre-School is owned by a private provider and was egistered in 2009 due to a change of premises on the Early Years Register. It operates from two rooms in St Alban's Church Hall in the Offerton area of Stockport. The pre-school serves the local and wider area. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school opens Monday to Friday term time only. Sessions are from 9.30am until 3.30pm. Children are able to attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 36 children attending who are in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It employs seven staff who work with the children of which six hold an appropriate early years qualification at level 3 or above and one member of staff is unqualified. The pre-school receives support and guidance from the local authority.

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must:

 ensure all staff working with children are subject to a rigorous recruitment procedure including obtaining suitability checks and new staff are given a suitable induction to ensure they are clear about their roles and responsibilities

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must:

 provide opportunities for regular staff supervision in order to foster mutual support, team work and continuous improvement in order to improve practice and ensure all children are consistently supported

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must:

 improve the use of information about children's starting points and observations to inform assessment to more rigorously track children's progress across the seven areas of learning. Use the information to tailor challenging and stimulating activities which meet the children's individual learning needs and help them to make good progress

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must:

 identify and assess the risks or hazards that may arise daily for children, such as access to the outdoors, and take appropriate steps to minimise and manage those risks and hazards in order to ensure children's safety

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must:

 use routine assessment, such as the progress check at age two, to identify children's strengths and where their progress is less than expected. Provide parents with a short written summary of their development in the prime areas of learning

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must:

 update safeguarding and welfare policies and procedures to ensure they are in line with the requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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

 build on existing partnership working by inviting parents to contribute to the observations of their children's learning to fully support and inform planning for the next stages in children's development

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

 use self-evaluation to identify priorities and develop plans for future improvement taking into account the views of parents, carers and children, so that the care and learning experiences for children improve.

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who attend

Staff have a satisfactory knowledge of the prime and specific areas of learning and mostly plan activities that are enjoyed by children, which generally support their overall development. However, as a result of the weak supervision systems to build on staff knowledge, some staff lack a detailed knowledge and understanding of how to best plan for children's learning. This results in some staff providing adult-led focused activities for long periods of time meaning that some children become disinterested as the activities are not in line with their age or stage of development. Staff make records of the observations they have made about what a child has done and generally identify the next steps in children's learning, however, this practice is variable. As a result, some adult-led activities focus on the same outcome for all children rather than focussing on children's individual next steps in their development, which means that children's learning is not appropriately

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who attend

Children develop their communication and language skills as they listen to stories and join in with songs. For example, they enjoy joining in with the actions to the 'five currant buns'. Children also enjoy outdoor play and staff promote children's personal, social and emotional development as they encourage them to take turns at putting the snails they have collected into a bucket. They gain great pleasure kicking the ball to each other and riding bikes, promoting their physical skills. Children enjoy making marks with a freely available range of resources including crayons, pencils, paper and chalks on the walls in the outdoor area. Children handle tools carefully as they explore the play dough and show respect for resources and equipment as they carefully put things away when they have finished. They develop their mathematical awareness as they play in the play dough and describe the cake tins as 'full' and 'empty'. As a result, children are developing some of the

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who attend

skills required for their next stage of learning.

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who attend

There is little information gathered from parents on entry to the pre-school about children's previous and current learning and development at home. Therefore, the baseline assessment do not consider parents' views about what their children can already do in order that staff can incorporate this in their planning. Staff have not begun to complete the required progress check at age two. This means that parents of children who have recently turned three years have not received the required summary of their children's progress in the prime areas. Parents are happy with the care their children receive. However, they are not routinely given information to help guide children's learning at home to secure a shared approach to children's learning and development.

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

The pre-school operates a key person system, which enables children to form some positive relationships with staff and begin to seek reassurance from them. However, children have a false sense of security because not all staff are suitably checked to ensure they are safe to work with children. In addition, information gathered from parents upon child's entry is minimal. Therefore, staff do not always have all the information they need, including children's likes and dislikes to enable them to support children when starting at the pre-school. As a result, some children are quite upset and unsettled. Children are reasonably well-prepared for their transition to school as the pre-school completes transition meetings with teachers from schools.

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

Children are beginning to learn about adopting healthy lifestyles. Staff provide a range of healthy snacks for children and sit with them when they eat to encourage snack and mealtimes to be a sociable occasion. Staff remind children about good hygiene practices as they remind children that food that has been on the floor should be put in the bin as if eaten, they may get a poorly tummy. There is an outdoor area where physical equipment is available around the side of the building. However, children's safety is compromised due to weaknesses regarding carrying out appropriate risk assessments for the outdoor area. Staff encourage children to independently wash their own hands and wipe their own noses, demonstrating they can manage their own personal needs.

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

Resources are also arranged so children can make some independent choices during free- play time. Children demonstrate confidence in their own environment. For example, they move freely from one activity to another. Children behave well in the pre-school because staff praise their efforts and they are proud of their achievements. Appropriate strategies are in place to manage children's behaviour. For example, staff encourage them to share and take turns, which enables children to play together happily. Staff role model good manners to the children while giving out snacks and, in response, children use their manners and are polite.

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provision

The inspection was brought forward as the result of a complaint regarding safeguarding. However, on the day of the inspection it was found that the management team do not have sufficient knowledge of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage in order to support the staff and ensure the requirements are adequately and fully implemented. Therefore, a number of the legal requirements have been breached.

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provision

Staff have suitable understanding of their responsibility to safeguard children in their care and are clear about the procedures to report concerns. However, policies and procedures have not been updated to meet the Early Years Foundation Stage to ensure children are appropriately protected. The management team demonstrates a satisfactory awareness of how to ensure the environment is safe for children. For example, they conduct a basic daily visual risk assessment of the indoor and outdoor areas. However, risk assessments are not carried out for the route from the church to the outdoor area. Therefore, the staff are not aware of potential hazards and are ill-prepared to manage them, which does not fully protect children during these transition from indoor to outdoor.

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provision

Children's safety is also compromised as they are not adequately safeguarded because the recruitment process is weak. References are not in place for all staff and the system for ensuring staff have a Disclosure and Barring Service check in place is not robust. As a result, staff's suitability to work with children has not been effectively checked to ensure children's safety at all times. In addition, there is no induction system for new staff upon commencing their roles, therefore, staff do not have all the necessary information they need to carry out their roles effectively when starting at the pre-school.

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provision

Staff hold relevant qualifications and meet informally as a team to discuss upcoming events and general practice. However, there is no regular supervision process in place to support the staff. As a result, they are not given opportunities to reflect on their practice and identify areas for improvement, both in relation to their professional development and areas for development in their practice with children. The monitoring of the pre-school as a whole is weak and does not clearly tackle the most significant areas for improvement. Despite the manager recognising where some improvements are needed, action has not been taken to address the weaknesses and there is no clear improvement plan in place. Therefore, there is insufficient improvement to the pre-school's practice. This does not support children's progress.

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provision

The educational programmes are not monitored effectively and, as a result, planning is not tailored to meet children's individual needs. Self-evaluation is not used effectively to drive improvements. Therefore, strengths and areas for development have not been identified. Furthermore, the views and opinions of parents and children are not included or taken account of, to ensure that the pre-school develops in line with their needs and views. Staff are establishing relationships with parents and those spoken to are happy with the experiences that their child receives. While basic information is shared with parents about who their child's key person is, partnerships with parents are weak as little information is shared to support both parents and staff in supporting children's learning and development. Parents' involvement in promoting their children's learning at home is not sufficiently encouraged by the pre-school.

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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 EY399723 Local authority Stockport Inspection number 929158

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 36 Name of provider Sharon Sandra Davies Date of previous inspection 17/05/2010 Telephone number 07855 627594

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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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