Rauceby PreSchool

Rauceby Pre-School The Village Hall, Main Street, South Rauceby, Lincolnshire, NG34 8QQ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17/10/2013 31/01/2011

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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

 Teaching is consistently strong and fully supports all children with their progress in all areas of learning.  Children show an eager disposition towards learning and are independent learners, who lead their learning with confidence.  Children form strong bonds with their key person, other staff and children. They are secure and show a strong sense of belonging.  Children behave well and show a mature sense of responsibility for their age.  Partnerships with schools are fully embedded and contribute well to helping ease children's transitions.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The outdoor area is not yet a highly stimulating environment, therefore, children are not always challenged to their full potential with developing their overall physical skills, their creativity or their understanding of the natural world.  There is some scope to enhance the organisation of lunchtime to further ensure that children continuously receive helpful messages about hygiene and positive social learning.

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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 had a tour of the premises and met with staff and children.  The inspector observed children indoors and outdoors.  The inspector and manager completed a joint observation of children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector had several meetings with management, looked at children's observations, assessments and planning, a range of policies and procedures and sought the views of parents.

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Information about the setting

Rauceby Pre-School is a committee-run provision which has been operating from the village hall since 1988. The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register. The group has the use of the foyer, main hall, kitchen, toilets, ante-room and storage areas. There is an enclosed area adjacent to the building for outdoor play. There are steps and a ramp to access the setting and street parking in front of the premises. Children attend from the rural village of South Rauceby and surrounding areas.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school employs seven members of childcare staff. Of these, five hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3, including the manager and another member of staff who also have been awarded an early years degree at level 6. The manager has Early Years Professional Status. The other member of staff is currently working towards Early Years Professional Status.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school is open each weekday during term time, from 9am until 12pm and from 12pm until 3pm each Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 40 children attending, who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The pre- school is a registered charity.

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

 enhance the outdoor area further to create a highly stimulating environment that provides increased levels of physical challenge for children and promotes their creativity and understanding of the natural world to their full potential

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

 promote positive hygiene and social learning to children at lunchtime by providing children with somewhere to put their school bags, so that these are not stored on the table, which has the potential to spread germs and reduces table space for food.

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who attend

Children are excited when they arrive at the pre-school. Parents and children are warmly greeted by staff, so that they feel welcome. Staff set out resources each day and create a stimulating environment for children that promotes their curiosity and desire to explore. Children invent games together and play cooperatively, negotiating and solving problems independently. For example, a group of children build with large, foam bricks making buildings, boats and roads. Children share their ideas well and understand the importance of listening to each other and giving each other a turn. Children show good physical skills and have a good understanding of early mathematical concepts. They place pieces together to make shapes with straight edges and curved edges. They use the road, for example, to balance on as they wear their princess costumes and make their way towards the castle. Children use their language well to communicate with each other and their

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who attend

imaginations well to develop their play.

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who attend

Staff make precise observations of children's achievements, including the progress check at age two and raise next steps in their learning, which they use purposefully in children's individual plans to ensure that each child is appropriately supported and challenged. They are very observant of what children are doing and recognise the learning that is taking place and how this can be extended for each child through things they like doing. For example, staff enable a small group of children to build and create their own objects outdoors with large construction sets. The quality of teaching is strong because the member of staff listens to children and develops their thinking by asking relevant questions about what they are doing and why they are doing it. Time is given to children, so that that they can process the questions and give thought to their responses. Children take the lead in their play and collectively decide to make their structure into a table. They

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who attend

make this upside down and then turn it over, which requires clear thinking and good team work. Children decide that they want this to be a library with books. They get books from the outdoor store and chairs from the playhouse. All the time the member of staff follows their lead and extends their thinking by talking to them about what is taking place. Children show how they enjoy books as one child tells the story in their book to the member of staff and the other children. When the child is satisfied, the child then asks the member of staff to read it again. All the children in this group are fully involved because engagement and interaction is very good. Staff have good skills and expertise and quite naturally cover all areas of learning and development through whatever children are doing. Children in this playgroup are making good progress with their learning and development. They are doing so because they are able to express themselves well and

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who attend

staff are skilled at picking up on what each child enjoys and progressing them in ways that suit each child best. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities as the support that staff provide is very attentive and takes full regard of the focus of their individual needs and next steps in learning.

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who attend

Many children enjoy playing outdoors and do so in all types of weather as they now have continuous access to the garden. This is a significant improvement since the last inspection and much hard work has taken place to enrich outdoor learning for children. However, in spite of the good progress that has been made, the outdoor area is not yet a highly stimulating area as it does not fully promote children's creativity, exploration and physical learning to their maximum potential. All children make good progress with their listening, understanding and speaking skills, including children who have identified speech and language delay. They contribute well to conversations during circle time and show how quickly they are settling-in as they start to know each other's names and make friendships within the group. At the end of the session children gather round in a circle on the floor to listen to a story. Some sit next to each other and a couple of younger children

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who attend

sit snuggled up close to staff, showing how secure they feel with staff. Children enjoy using the computer for many different purposes and by the time they leave the pre- school, all children have a good understanding of how to use the mouse proficiently. Staff place a lot of focus on helping children with their number and letter recognition, understanding of expectations and how to be independent and responsible. By the time children leave the pre-school they are well equipped with the skills they need for school.

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who attend

Staff fully include parents in all aspects of the pre-school and keep them very well informed about their child's learning. For example, parents are invited to stay and play sessions where they have first-hand experience of how the Early Years Foundation Stage is delivered to their children and how they can continue this at home. Parents have continuous access to their child's Learning Journeys and many contribute to these with observations they have made at home. This provides staff with a consistent means of tracking children's interests and progress through their whole-life experiences. The pre- school provides learning sacks, which parents can take home to use with their child and also a book service, so that they can choose books with their children. This helps children to enjoy learning and to share what they know with family members.

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

Children develop strong relationships and bond well with staff and each other. New children settle well because staff place significant focus on the prime areas of learning. Young children enjoy learning from their older peers as this is a small pre-school where everyone knows each other well. The highly effective key person and family group system supports children's confidence and feeling of belonging because staff are attentive and include children very well and value their ideas. Staff gather good quality information from parents at the start of the placement and use this information well to settle children quickly. All parents are offered settling-in visits, so that they can remain with their child until it is felt that the child is ready to be left. Daily feedback is given to parents about their child's day and staff listen well to what parents have to say. This all contributes well to easing children's transitions from home to pre-school.

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

Children are confident, self-motivated and acquire the necessary skills to equip them emotionally for their future transitions and move to school. This is achieved because the manager and staff consider the layout of the pre-school carefully, to enable children to become independent, active learners. The safe and accessible storage of toys ensure all children have equal access to resources indoors and outdoors, while good supervision and risk assessments help to safeguard them as they move freely around the pre-school. Staff set up the room as 'zones of learning' with well-selected resources to inspire and challenge children's thinking and creativity. Consequently, children want to have a go and learn through investigation and exploration.

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

Children's good health is mostly promoted successfully as they learn about making healthy choices, such as what foods are good for use, why we need exercise and why we need fresh air and rest. They eat healthy snacks in the playgroup and eat these together in a family group. This helps to promote children's social learning and is a valuable conversation time where children develop their language skills further. However, a weakness exists with the organisation of lunchtime, which is not as positive as snack time. This is because children have nowhere to store their school bags and put these on the table along with their lunch boxes. This does not promote positive hygiene and detracts from the good social learning that takes place at snack time because the table is very cluttered. In spite of this, children are independent and develop good self-care skills. They get their own bags and unpack their lunches. Children know to wash their hands before

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

Children behave very well and understand expectations through consistent behaviour management and simple rules that are realistic and help them to learn about safety. For example, children know to not walk around with scissors in their hands, to use furniture appropriately and to not run in the playroom, as it might cause an accident. Children are very cooperative and help tidy up their toys when asked and listen well to what staff are telling them. They are polite and play very well together, sorting out any small disagreements they may have or listening well when staff help them with this. This contributes well to when they move on to school as they successfully develop skills they need for more formal learning.

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provision

All staff have a good understanding of safeguarding and their duty to protect children. Management follow correct procedures where any issues arise and this includes taking appropriate action against staff if needed during any internal investigations. Child protection and first aid training are mandatory for all staff and all policies and procedures are regularly reviewed at staff meetings to ensure that knowledge is constantly refreshed. A great deal of safeguarding training has been completed recently to consolidate all staff's awareness and understanding of procedures. New staff participate in induction, so that they know what is expected of them from the start and all staff are checked for their suitability to work with children and serve a probationary period to ensure they fulfil their role to the standard required.

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provision

The pre-school is organised and managed well. The manager and committee have reviewed all policies, procedures and information that they provide to parents. They have made many improvements to the setting, some by successfully meeting the recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection and others through reflection and self-evaluation, which parents are included in. These improvements have had a positive impact on children, for example, re-organising the structure of the day to facilitate continuous outdoor learning. New resources have been purchased to enhance outdoor learning, such as additional storage for the resources, which children can access, a mud oven and a gravel barrel for children to use in their play. Staff participate in a wide range of training, some of which is developed and delivered by the manager. Most recently they have completed training about signing and language courses to develop their

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provision

knowledge of how to communicate with children with speech delay. They have also done a great deal of training to enhance their existing knowledge of effective teaching and learning. Some have completed training around the needs of two-year-olds to meet the current demand for this age group. Management and staff drive improvements well and have put a lot of work into ensuring the smooth running of the setting by working closely with the committee and keeping them well informed about where improvements are needed to benefit children. They work well together as a team and the improvements they have made are very noticeable and have a positive impact on children's learning and development.

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provision

Partnerships are strong and fully embedded. Parents are provided with good quality information when their child first starts at the playgroup, so that they know how this is organised to keep their child safe and protected. The manager ensures that parents understand how learning is promoted to their children and have good information available to them about ways in which they can continue this at home. Positive partnerships with other settings, especially schools are also firmly in place. The manager is a member of the local cluster groups and meets with schools and other providers regularly. Schools visit the pre-school to meet children who are moving up into reception and staff complete an assessment form for the reception teacher, so that children have continuity with their learning when they first start. Children have good opportunities to visit the village school, which is where most children move on to and this helps to

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provision

familiarise them before they start. The partnership with parents and other professionals is also firmly embedded. Staff fully include parents in all aspects of the pre-school and keep them very well informed about their child's learning. For example, through the play and stay sessions and parents' evenings. Parents receive good quality information about the pre-school through regular newsletters and a parent noticeboard. They have home-link books, which they can contribute to and daily chats with their child's key person. They currently complete questionnaires to express their views and also have representatives on the pre-school committee. Their views are fed into the self-evaluation and improvement plan for the pre-school. Partnerships with specialised professionals are also in place and this helps to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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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 253604 Local authority Lincolnshire Inspection number 920135

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 40 Name of provider Rauceby Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 31/01/2011 Telephone number 01529 488087

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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

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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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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