Greyfriars Pre School

Greyfriars Pre-School Greyfriars Community Centre, 44 Christchurch Road, Ringwood, Hampshire, BH24 1DW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/09/2013 04/02/2009

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early years provision

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

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This provision is outstanding

 Children play in a vibrant, welcoming environment. They are looked after by dedicated, professional staff who meet their individual care, learning and welfare needs exceptionally well.  Staff plan meaningful and relevant experiences, enabling children to make significant progress in all areas of learning.  Observation and assessment records are precise and provide a clear picture of each child's achievements to accurately inform and focus planning.  Partnership with parents is a key strength. Staff establish positive and caring relationships with the children and their parents to ensure children are confident and settled within a trusting and nurturing environment.  Excellent use of reflective practice, alongside continual evaluation, ensures the ongoing improvement of this provision. Staff are proactive in attending regular training and seeking information from childcare organisations and local professionals, which ensures

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This provision is outstanding

they continue to extend their skills and knowledge.

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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 in the main play room and in the outdoor play area. The inspector observed staff deployment and the supervision of the children indoors and outside.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with parents and carers, staff, children and management at the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's learning journeys, a sample of planning documentation, a selection of children's records and the pre-schools policies and procedures. These included the safeguarding, outings, social networking and complaints policies.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the manager, the chairperson, the headteacher of the local primary school and several members of staff, including the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of recruitment, suitability and qualifications of staff working with children.

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Information about the setting

Greyfriars Pre-school opened in 1961, it is community based and run by a committee. The group operates from Greyfriars Community Centre in the centre of Ringwood and serves the local community and outlying rural areas. The group has access to the Ebenezer Hall, the foyer, toilet and kitchen facilities and a secure outdoor area is available for outside play.

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Information about the setting

The group is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 62 children on roll, all of these are in the early years age range. The nursery gets funding for the provision of free early education to children aged two, three and four. The group offers sessional care in term time only. It is open from 8.45am to 11.45 and 12.30 to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday. A Monday toddler session is open 1pm to 2.30pm. Children attend a variety of sessions each week.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school welcomes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language. There is a team of 10 staff who work directly with the children; of whom nine hold early years qualifications.

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

 extend children's awareness of health by talking to them about the effect of exercise on their bodies and the positive contribution it can make to their health.

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who attend

Children make outstanding progress in all areas of learning and development. They benefit from the support of experienced and enthusiastic staff that effectively organise a variety of imaginative activities, which promote exploration and motivation. Expert practice and an inspiring commitment from staff in this group ensure that all aspects of children's care and learning are promoted with great success overall. Staff undertake comprehensive preparation for these to ensure all the required resources are to hand. The areas of learning are seamlessly weaved into each activity. For example, shapes, numbers and patterns are integrated into every activity and learning experience. Children demonstrate excellent pre-writing and concentration skills as they write for a variety of purposes. Children have access to a wide range of equipment that extends their knowledge of information and communication technology. Interaction is excellent and staff spend their

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who attend

time focusing on children's enjoyment and achievement. Staff use observations and assessments to identify achievements and the children's next steps in learning. They use this information to plan activities that cater for children's individual needs. Throughout the time a child is at the pre-school, staff gather evidence in the form of drawings, pictures, and photographs. This is then displayed in a personalised portfolio to show each child's unique learning journey.

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who attend

Children have freedom to choose how they play during the free-flow each session. They can move throughout the setting, both inside and outside, as they want. This type of play helps them to develop self-esteem and feel empowered and included. All children have excellent opportunities to be creative. Consequently, creativity is in abundance and weaves throughout every aspect of the children's learning and development. Their imagination is promoted through a plethora of exciting resources and opportunities. For example, the adaptation of the role play area provides opportunities where children can act out real life scenarios, such as a shop where they can see numbers displayed. They use a cash register with coins and money, write shopping lists, find the items that are in shops, and understanding that they have to pay money for them. Hospital role play offers an excellent learning opportunity. Children can investigate and explore each others' bodies

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who attend

and discuss what happens if you have an ear ache, and what happens at the doctors. This effectively promotes their communication skills and interaction. In the garden the children relish playing around the 'fairy tree'. They listen for the fairy bells and leave notes for the fairies to read.

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who attend

The Rainbow sensory room in the garden is a superb experience for all children. Children are able to learn how to stimulate sensory play through light and sound, textures and touch. Children have built an insect hotel out of natural resources and they use the bug pots and magnifying glasses to find new insects to put in the hotel. Staff teach the children about the different insects using the pictorial reference posters by the hotel. Therefore, children begin to identify what the insects are called and why they are different to each other. Children are thrilled by the bird box in the garden and staff use this as a learning forum for children. A robin lands here and the children have drawn pictures of the robin, they enjoy making a bird hide and they feed the birds.

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who attend

Children develop a love of books as they sit with adults and enjoy the pictures and stories either in the book corner or on the story benches in the garden. Staff take time to listen to children's conversations and ideas with interest and sensitivity.

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who attend

There is a happy buzz of activity, songs and laughter throughout the pre-school. Staff and children have great fun during musical movement sessions as they sing and march around the room with enthusiasm. However, at the end of these physical activities staff do not always make the most of the opportunity to teach children about the effects of exercise on their bodies and the positive contribution it can make to their health. Children learn about the community around them through arrange of outings. For example, going to the shops, the fire station, bus station and local supermarket. At the supermarket the children had a tour of the bakery and learnt how to fill a doughnut with jam.

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

Children show clear delight at attending this pre-school. They are happy and feel safe, secure and have a strong sense of belonging. This is because they are supported by staff who believe that the freedom of children to play independently and to discover the world is crucial to their development and happiness. They develop close and trusting relationships with the staff and are superbly well supported in their learning and development. The pre-school provides a friendly, warm, welcoming atmosphere and a highly stimulating learning environment. Children undertake an extensive range of activities and learning opportunities. They have access to an outstanding selection of resources. These are plentiful in all areas and freely accessible to all children. Children's artwork is beautifully displayed around the pre-school, showing how much they value individual achievement. Visual timetables are well utilised in the pre-school. They are an

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

effective way of communicating the routine of the day to younger children, those with special educational needs, those learning and English as an additional language or those who are new to the group pre-school.

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

Staff are excellent role models, demonstrating team work and positive behaviour such as good manners and sharing. They promote children's self-esteem and offer praise and encouragement at all times. Behaviour is excellent and staff support children through clear and concise behaviour management strategies. Children are confident, increasingly independent and very helpful. The youngest children take pride in given tasks such as tidying up at the end of a session. The rich and varied opportunities allow children to understand about safely assessing risks. For example, staff actively encourage children to talk about their experiences of keeping safe throughout the day and include them in managing daily risk as they help staff to complete daily checks. To involve the children in daily risk assessments staff have created a 'super bear' who helps to teach the children about safety and how to keep them safe. 'Super bear' is used to help children learn by

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

challenging them to think how and what they have to do to stay safe. This provides children with a very good awareness of health and safety at their level of understanding and development.

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

To promote children's understanding of good hygiene practices, staff draw their attention to everyday activities such as hand washing. By reinforcing simple messages the highly skilled staff ensure children do not miss out on this type of incidental learning. Staff provide clear messages to children on healthy eating and advocate the benefits of a healthy lifestyle through activities and topics. Children help to prepare the snack by chopping the fruit for the rest of the group, and in doing so discuss the nutritional benefits of that fruit. Children have daily opportunities to develop independence skills such as washing their hands, toileting, and finding their own bags. They have plenty of opportunities for physical activities and fresh air throughout the session. They have a range of activities on offer to develop all aspects of their physical development, for example, large wooden climbing frames, balancing resources, balls, tricycles, and space to

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provision

Leadership and management is inspirational. All staff and the management team have an excellent understanding of their responsibility to ensure that the provision meets the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. This includes maintaining all the required policies, implementing all procedures consistently and keeping accurate records. They are both professional and highly motivated. Consequently, staffs' energy and enthusiasm has a positive impact on children's learning and development, and ultimately in providing children with an excellent start in life. There is an exceptionally high standard of teaching and learning. Staff work well together as a team with designated roles and responsibilities, which effectively supports the day-to-day organisation of the pre-school. As a result, it is evident that children's well-being and learning is their clear priority. Children's safety is paramount. All staff are fully aware of the safeguarding

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provision

policies and procedures. They are also all involved and take ownership of undertaking risk assessment and ensuring children's safety. Security is excellent, with measures in place to see parents and visitors in and out of the building. Children are safe and feel secure within the setting. Staff maintain vigilant supervision and high adult to child ratios at all times both inside the pre-school, outside in the garden and during outings.

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provision

When reviewing their practice and completing their self-evaluation, all staff play an active role. This ensures they have shared aspirations, an inspirational vision for the future and a clear understanding of what it is about their existing practice that works so well. Awareness of issues of equality and diversity underpin everyday practice as staff get to know each child extremely well and understand how to meet their differing needs. The special educational needs coordinator has an exemplary understanding of her role and dedicates her time to supporting the children at the pre-school to progress in order to attain their individual next steps and personal goals.

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provision

Parents are offered superb levels of support and the staff understand the benefits of working in true partnership with them. Partnerships with parents are one of the key strengths and are significant in ensuring the needs of all children are exceptionally well met. Parents have regular opportunities to discuss their children's progress and are encouraged by the highly skilled staff to play an active role in their children's learning and development through for example, using 'WOW' vouchers. Parents are encouraged to attend regular planning and review meetings, and are supported to express their views of their child's needs. At the inspection parents commented that staff are "super and very friendly and supportive" and described the pre-school overall as "amazing and excellent". Partnerships with others who share the children's care are outstanding. The staff work extremely closely with many professionals in order to support the individual needs of the

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provision

children and their families. The manager and special educational needs coordinator meet regularly with other professionals to discuss and review the individual needs and progress of the children. If children attend another setting, comprehensive information is shared in order to promote children's learning and development collaboratively. The pre-school has excellent links with the local schools in order to support them to aid the child's transition. The children have regular visits to the schools and the teachers make annual visits to the pre-school. The result is a truly holistic approach to the care of the children at the pre- school.

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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 511532 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 929147

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 28 Number of children on roll 62 Name of provider Greyfriars Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 04/02/2009 Telephone number 07852 342312

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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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