Brookside Pre-School

Brookside Pre-School Brookside Methodist Church, Gunthorpe Road, PETERBOROUGH, Cambridgeshire, PE4 7TG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 12/09/2013 07/03/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 Children settle well and form secure attachments with their key person and other staff. Children's individual care needs are well supported.  Children make independent choices in their play both indoors and outdoors. They have access to a suitable range of toys and activities.  Children are safe and secure because staff undertake regular risk assessments to minimise potential hazards and they demonstrate a clear understand of the importance of keeping children safe.

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It is not yet good because

 Children's progress is not effectively monitored to ensure potential gaps in learning are highlighted quickly so they do not fall behind.  Teaching overall is not always of sufficient quality to ensure that children secure every possible learning opportunity from the activities they participate in. As a result, children make satisfactory, rather than good, progress.  Staff leading activities are not always familiar with individual children's learning needs to enable children to be supported effectively. As a result, opportunities for children to develop the characteristics of effective learning, are not always used effectively.

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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 children playing both indoors and outside.  The inspector completed a joint observation of an activity with the manager.  The inspector spoke with staff and children throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's records, learning journals and planning documents.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a selection of documentation, including risk assessments, policies and procedures, staff records and evaluations.

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Information about the setting

Brookside Pre-school was registered in 1983 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in the Brookside Methodist Church Hall on Gunthorpe Road in Peterborough. The pre-school serves the local area and is accessible to all children. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The pre-school employs six members of childcare staff. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications to at least level 2, including two with early years degree qualifications. The pre-school opens Monday to Friday during school term times. Sessions are from 9am until 12noon. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 28 children attending who are in the early years age group. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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must:

 maintain a strong focus when planning activities to ensure staff know what they want children to learn and that they tailor their input according to individual children's learning needs so that they are offered rich, challenging learning experiences

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must:

 develop the quality of teaching by adopting high quality questioning skills, listening carefully to children and thinking about the best time to intervene to develop children's language, feed in new vocabulary and challenge their thinking, so that children make best progress and develop strong characteristics of effective learning.

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

 monitor children's learning effectively so that cohorts and individual children's progress is tracked precisely and gaps are identified quickly to prevent children from falling behind.

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who attend

Children are secure and confident as they select activities to participate in. Many prefer the outdoor experiences available to those set up indoors. Children show a positive approach to learning with some of the activities and resources reflecting their interests. For example, children dress up as firemen and run to collect water to put out the imaginary fire. Good interaction from a member of staff enables children to think about what they are doing and make sense of their imaginary play. However, on other occasions, such as when children make musical instruments, their requests to deviate from the planned activity are either not supported or their enquiries left unanswered. This means that some children's learning is not effectively supported as language is not extended or thinking challenged. As a result, enough consideration is not always given to the different ways children learn, so that they are helped to make best progress and to

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who attend

develop strong characteristics of effective learning.

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who attend

Staff demonstrate a sound understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They obtain information from parents about their children's preferences, characteristics and capabilities and use the information to assess their starting points. As a result, staff plan activities that are of interest to children when they start. Consequently, children settle well into pre-school life. Staff make, at least, weekly observations on their key children as they play and use these to plan activities together on a weekly basis. However, other staff do not appear to have knowledge of individual children's learning needs which means that sometimes learning opportunities are lost during activities not supervised or led by a child's key person. As a result, children make satisfactory progress overall, rather than good. Assessment records are maintained by each child's key person and termly reports are shared with parents. Any

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who attend

comments parents make about their child's development is used by the key person to support the child's learning programme.

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who attend

Children are friendly and confident and interact well with each other and with the adults, particularly during small group sessions. New starters learn the circle time routines from the older children. They learn to take turns to select a song for the group to sing and particularly enjoy copying the actions for songs, such as for 'wind the bobbin up'. They listen as their friends share news or talk about a toy. Opportunities such as these, help to develop children's confidence, communication and social skills and so satisfactorily prepare them for school. Staff promote children's physical development suitably. They have access to a variety of tools to use with the play dough or to practise pre-writing skills with. They have climbing frames and slides set up outside to use at any time and can access balls, hoops and skipping ropes to practise skills in the large outdoor area. Children use their imaginations well. They pretend to go shopping to buy cat food and things for their babies

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who attend

although are surprised when the shop runs out of food, unlike the stores they visit with their parents. Staff engage them in discussions about this and they learn that big lorries bring more groceries to enable shops to restock their shelves. This enhances children's understanding of the world.

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

Children establish secure and trusting relationships with their key person and the other staff at the pre-school and are learning to be caring towards each other. This is in part due to the strong partnerships in place with parents and the routines in place to ensure a smooth transition from home to pre-school. All staff are sensitive and caring towards children's needs and encourage children towards the quiet area and the books if they show signs of tiredness. Children play co-operatively with their friends. For example, a child noticing another child playing with a favourite item asks if he can have it when they have finished. The other child agrees. Staff have a consistent approach in their expectations of children's behaviour, which ensures that children quickly learn what is acceptable. Staff adopt positive methods to manage behaviour which ensures children's self-esteem is enhanced as they receive praise for good behaviour, effort and

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

Equipment, toys and other resources are suitable for the age and developmental stage of the children attending. They are well maintained and appropriately accessible to the children. Despite being unable to permanently attach displays to the playroom walls, staff display children's artwork in other ways and have helpful posters and labelling for the children to follow. Staff support children's emerging understanding of the importance of a healthy lifestyle that includes physical exercise and a healthy diet. They gain an awareness of the importance of exercise and physical activity as they participate in action rhymes in their groups and play activities in the garden. Nutritious snacks, which meet dietary requirements, are provided for children to access as they wish, under the supervision of a member of staff. Children learn about and practise good hygiene, as they routinely wash their hands before touching food and after visiting the toilet. They are given plenty of time

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

to put on their own coats before going outside to play and at home time. As a result, children achieve independence in their personal care. Staff make the most of opportunities for children to further develop self-care skills, for example, as they help them to pour their own drinks.

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

Children develop an understanding of their personal safety through routines. For example, they are encouraged to tidy away after themselves and help with the general tidy up at the end of the session. People from the local community are invited to visit the pre-school, such as, the fire service and police, so that children start to learn about potential risks outside their homes and the pre-school. They participate in emergency evacuation drills with the staff, which familiarises them with what might happen in an emergency so that they are not frightened. They are also provided with activities to learn about road safety so that when they are out and about they know how to behave.

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provision

Staff have a good working knowledge of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. There is a clear safeguarding procedure, which links to the Local Safeguarding Children Board guidelines, enabling them to suitably protect children and themselves if there is a concern. All staff and helpers have their suitability checked through the Barring and Disclosure Service and there are thorough processes in place for the recruitment and induction of new staff. Staff understand their safeguarding duties so that children are protected and cared for in a secure environment. Policies and procedures and other documentation promote children's safety and welfare appropriately. Staff collect any necessary medical information from parents to ensure children's health needs are met. Accidents and incident records are monitored periodically to identify any possible areas for concern. Risk assessments and

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provision

daily checks are detailed enough to effectively minimise risks to children.

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provision

The pre-school has a managing committee who oversees the manager's day-to-day management of the pre-school. A clear self-evaluation process is in place which considers children's and parents' views. Questionnaires are used to obtain parent comments and staff talk to children in the small group sessions to gain their views. Recommendations from the last inspection report have been taken into account during the pre-school's ongoing development. However, monitoring of the educational programmes and the quality of teaching is not rigorous enough to highlight any gaps in children's progress and ensure each child's learning needs are fully met to enable them to make good or better progress in all areas of their development. Staff performance is monitored through regular supervision meetings and an annual appraisal. However, the manager does not spend very much time in the playrooms observing interaction between children and staff and as a

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provision

result, there are weaknesses in the quality of teaching.

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provision

The pre-school works closely with staff at several schools to prepare children for their move to full time education. Links are established with external agencies that provide additional support for children although no partnerships are in operation at the moment. Parents have access to the pre-school's policies and procedures and are encouraged to contribute to their children's learning at home through 'beat baby' visiting children at home and by having special open days so they get to know more about how their children learn through play.

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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 256747 Local authority Peterborough Inspection number 909739

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 52 Number of children on roll 28 Name of provider Brookside Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 07/03/2011 Telephone number 01733 328 192

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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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