Lindley Pre-School Playgroup

Lindley Pre-School Playgroup Methodist Church Centre, East Street, HUDDERSFIELD, West Yorkshire, HD3 3ND

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10/10/2013 17/06/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2

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This provision is good

 Staff create a welcoming and stimulating learning environment where children settle in well and make warm relationships with each other, resulting in, children feeling happy, safe and secure.  Children are supported particularly well to enable them to make good progress in their personal, social and emotional development. As a result, they play well together, demonstrate good levels of independence and are building good levels of self-esteem and confidence.  Children are happy and confident at the pre-school because staff work hard to develop trusting relationships and give a high priority to promoting children's well-being.  Partnerships with parents are very strong and make a good contribution to providing continuity and consistency of care for all children and their families.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 There is scope to further improve the book area to engage children more readily in the books.

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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 observed activities throughout the pre-school in both the indoor and outdoor spaces.

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Inspection activities

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

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documentation, including children's records, learning and development information, staff records and a selection of policies and procedures.

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Information about the setting

Lindley Pre-school Playgroup was registered in 1989 on the Early Years Register. It operates from rooms on the first floor of Lindley Methodist Church Centre in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. The pre-school is managed by a voluntary committee. The pre-school serves the local community and is accessible to all children. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school employs five members of childcare staff plus one administrator. Of these, four hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3. The manager has Early Years Professional Status. The pre-school opens Monday to Thursday, term time only, from 9.15am to 11.45am and from 12.30pm to 3pm. Friday's session is 9.15am to 11.45am. There is also a lunch club that operates from 11.45am to 12.30pm each week day. Children attend for a variety of sessions throughout the week. There are currently 55 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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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 develop further children's interests in books by making the book area more inviting for the children.

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who attend

Children are progressing very well in all areas of learning and development, as a result, they are developing very good skills for their future learning and development. The staff know their key children well and complete detailed observations and assessments on the children. Consequently, planning is based on children's interests, next steps of learning and a balance of child-led and adult-led activities. Parents are fully involved in their children's learning to maximise the learning outcomes for their children. During home visits, prior to children starting at the pre-school, staff obtain information from parents about what children already know and can do. This helps staff assess children's development from the beginning to ensure that activities enhance children's learning promptly. Children's learning is then regularly assessed and monitored as they move towards the early learning goals. Parents are also given good information on how they can

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who attend

support their children's learning at home through a variety of means. For example, parents are encouraged to attend family learning and stay and play sessions. They also access the 'home link board' that contains very useful information. Children's progress check at age two is completed alongside parents, which helps identify any extra support that children may need.

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who attend

Staff work hard to set up an array of interesting activities daily, putting everything away at the end of the session. They overcome this difficulty of shared accommodation with a positive spirit, saying it encourages them to 'try new things', change resources more frequently and provide fresh experiences for the children. Children are very motivated and eager to learn. This results in a very busy yet quiet and calm atmosphere, which helps children's concentration immensely. Children develop their communication and language skills well. Staff interact effectively with the children, as they play and ask useful questions to help the children think and problem solve. For example, when a group of children use apples to make prints, staff talk with them about how the apples look inside. They talk about the core and the seeds and ask children where they think apples grow. Children are then encouraged to think about other types of fruit that they like to eat, hence developing

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who attend

their concept of what fruit is. Children have easy access to books and enjoy listening to stories and taking part in recalling the story as the staff read to them. However, most of the books are stored in an open box and are not attractively displayed. Consequently, the books appear less interesting and inviting for children to access by themselves to fully promote a love of books.

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who attend

Children enjoy songs and rhymes and take part in action songs with enthusiasm. They particularly enjoy dancing and moving to action songs, using streamers and ribbons to accentuate their movements. They are encouraged to develop their early writing skills and have easy access to drawing and writing materials. They make marks on the chalkboards outside in the play area and delight in displaying their drawings on a display board in the playroom, which boost their self-esteem. Staff provide children with lots of opportunities to explore and learn using their senses. For example, they learn about capacity, as they talk about containers being full or empty when they play with the oats in a tray. They explore the different feel of the sand and the oats as it runs through their fingers and talk about the different textures. Children have fun using the variety of electronic equipment made available to them to help them understand how things work and happen. For

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who attend

example, they use the metal detectors as they move around the playroom looking for different objects. Staff support them to take photographs of their activities helping them understand how to use a camera. They investigate outdoors using the magnifying glasses and they talk with staff about what they see. For example, staff talk with the children about whether the spider looks bigger or smaller through the magnifying glass and they count how many legs it has. Children are then encouraged to make their own representations of the spiders that they find, as they draw them using pens, pencils and crayons.

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

Children's personal, social and emotional development is very well supported by the welcoming staff. Children transfer smoothly from home, as a result of an effective settling- in process and the strong welcome from the team of key persons. New parents have ample time to raise questions as they settle their children. Children build strong relationships as staff provide genuine warmth and affection. They show interest in each child, listening to everything they say and attentively meeting their personal needs. If children find it difficult to settle on any particular day they are given lots of one-to-one support until the child is ready to move away from the adult and play. This supports children's emotional well-being very well and enables them to develop their independence and to gain confidence to explore the learning environment. Staff also support children well with their move onto the school. They talk with children about their new adventure

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

and use photographs and books to help children become familiar with their new teachers and routines, for example the lunchtime routine.

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

Children explore their environment freely and they choose what they wish to play with, moving resources around to extend their own play and learning. For example, a child who shows an interest in fire engines, wears a fire helmet, while making a fire station from the bricks and is supported by staff to make a tube, from paper, that they use as a fire hose, to pretend to put out a fire while playing outdoors. Resources are plentiful, of high quality and staff are imaginative in presenting these to engage children in play.

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

Children show high levels of independence within the preschool, which promotes their confidence and self-esteem. For example, they enjoy clearing away and washing their own plates and cups after snacks and meals, using the child height facilities. They confidently wash their hands using the portable sinks in the different play areas, as a result, they learn good self-care and hygiene practices. Children's behaviour is very good because they are busy enjoying themselves. Staff are innovative in providing solutions to the difficulties of using a large hall. They plan the layout thoughtfully so there are no 'corridors' through the large room, that might encourage children to run. Staff deal with minor incidents stemming from frustration quickly and effectively. All staff help children understand what is expected of them. All children follow the 'golden rules' of expected behaviour, which the older children have helped to create. Staff inform children about changes that are going to

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

happen within the routine so that they feel secure in knowing what is going to happen next.

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

All staff speak to children clearly and pleasantly, therefore children respond well, listening when asked. They quickly learn the session's routines, such as when it is time to have their lunch. They learn to manage their lunchboxes and drink containers competently, following encouragement by staff. Children eat healthy lunches, as parents respond well to the managements requests to provide healthy options. Mealtimes are social occasions where children chat animatedly to others, showing developing friendships. Children access drinks regularly throughout the sessions to ensure that they keep hydrated.

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

Children are effectively learning how to keep themselves and others safe. For example, they listen to safety instructions as they attempt to come down the slide in a variety of positions and show pride in their accomplishments. Children choose whether to play indoors or outdoors in the fresh air each session. This means that those children who learn better outside have good opportunities to do so. Staff successfully enhance the programme for physical development. For example, children walk to the local playground to enjoy the challenges of different equipment and they enjoy music and dance sessions each week.

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provision

The management team and staff have a good awareness of their responsibilities in meeting the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Procedures for safeguarding children are strong. All staff have attended safeguarding training to ensure that they recognise the signs and symptoms of abuse and know what procedures to follow should they have any concerns. The manager also works closely with the local social care department to further protect children. Detailed risk assessments are in place, which covers all areas of the pre-school and any outings that children may attend. Through daily checks, risks around the room are minimised. Regular fire evacuation practises are completed, to ensure that children know what to do in an emergency. The committee support the manager and staff very well and carry out the necessary checks to ensure that the manager and staff are suitable to work with children. Regular staff appraisals and

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provision

meetings ensure that the committee is fully aware of the routines of the pre-school and staff training needs are monitored and updated. Staff take pride in their roles and responsibilities within the pre-school and cascade information that they have obtained, from courses that they attend, to enhance practice throughout. For example, the two- year-old coordinator is currently looking at developing play sessions solely for the two- year-olds, to further ensure that their needs are met.

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provision

The monitoring and evaluation systems are secure and staff use these well to support children's learning and development. The manager oversees children's progress and she tracks this to ensure that gaps in achievement are closing. The management team use self-evaluation to ensure that the pre-school's strengths and areas for improvement are highlighted and effectively addressed. They continue to work on developing outdoor play for the children and have recently developed 'grab bags', which contain resources to enhance a particular area of development outdoors, such as activities for windy and rainy days. The pre-school also continues to develop children's mathematical skills as was recommended at their last inspection. Action plans are clear and concise and show the pre-school's very good commitment and capacity to continually improve. Parents are involved in the self-evaluation process through discussions, parent questionnaires and

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provision

through the playgroup's committee. As a result of parents suggestions the pre-school has extended its day to include a lunch club for the children, which helps those parents who work. Parents state that they are very happy with the care and learning opportunities that their children receive. They state that their children's social and communication skills have improved immensely and that all staff are very helpful and cooperative. Children's views are also taken into consideration to enhance the provision. For example, last term the pre- school had a 'children's council' which consisted of the older members of the group. However, these children have now moved on to school but the pre-school is hoping to set this up once more as children's skills develop through the year. Staff monitor the children successfully and change the playroom around to meet their changing needs. For example, they have recently changed the singing sessions for the younger children to help their

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provision

concentration skills. The staff team effectively promote partnerships with parents, agencies and other early years providers. Parents are fully informed about all aspects of the pre-school through regular chats, newsletters, the 'home link' board and stay and play sessions. Highly effective partnerships with other professionals ensure children's individual needs are clearly identified and well supported through ongoing review. Staff establish secure links with the local nursery and school and they work closely with social care departments, health visitors, speech and language therapists and the local children's centre. As a result, they effectively support the needs of all children very well.

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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 311322 Local authority Kirklees Inspection number 937293

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 55 Name of provider Lindley Pre-School Playgroup Committee Date of previous inspection 17/06/2013 Telephone number 07905725128

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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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