Clocktower House Pre-School

Clocktower House Pre-School North Camp, Redvers Buller Road, ALDERSHOT, Hampshire, GU11 2LT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 14/11/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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

 The deputy manager, who is currently managing the provision, provides staff with a positive role model due to her good communication with children and her ability to promote their learning in a knowledgeable way.  Children are exceptionally motivated, enthusiastic and independent learners due to the good range of resources and activities available and the opportunities they have to make choices in their play.  Children show good concentration, persist with activities and are provided with challenge as they use the resources in different ways and make discoveries.  Staff support children when needed to help them achieve their aims, and they stimulate children's interest through shared attention.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not make the most of all space in the outdoor area to support children's understanding of the world..

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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 activities in the two play rooms and outside play area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager of the provision in the first group room.

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Inspection activities

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

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation and checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of practitioners working with children, the provider's self-evaluation form and improvement plan.  The inspector took account of parents' views spoken to on the day of the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Clocktower House Pre-school registered in March 2013. The provision is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is one of four settings, privately owned and managed by Aldershot Garrison Pre-School Settings. The provision has sole use of the ground floor of the premises located in North Camp, Aldershot in Hampshire. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The pre-school receives funding for the provision of free early education to children aged three and four years old. There are 53 children on roll in the early years age range. The pre-school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who are learning English as an additional language. It opens five days a week during school term times only, from 9am to 12pm, from 9am to 2pm and also from 12pm to 3pm. The pre-school employs eight staff to work with the children, all of whom have

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Information about the setting

appropriate early years qualifications to at least level 2.

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

 enhance use of the outdoor area to support children's learning about the natural world, such as by making effective use of all available space.

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who attend

Children's individual needs are well met. Staff provide children with a very good range of challenging experiences that successfully capture their interests and enthusiasm for learning. For example, children particularly enjoy using the real woodwork tools. Staff plan activities that provide children with a good balance of free play and adult-led learning. For example, children make soup, bread and sandwiches, take part in music and movement sessions and enjoy pancake races. Staff have a good knowledge of the characteristics of effective learning, which they use to help children make good progress. Staff allow children to do things for themselves and provide good support when needed, which successfully promotes children's independence and enthusiasm for learning. Consequently, children are well prepared for starting school. Staff share children's developmental records with parents that include the next steps for their learning. Parents are fully involved in

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who attend

children's learning because staff ask them to contribute and share information about their children's achievements at home. These are displayed on a 'wow' board in the pre-school that enables all staff to see how children are making progress at home.

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who attend

Staff have a good knowledge of how their key children gained through observation and assessment, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language. This knowledge helps to ensure that children are progressing towards the early learning goals. Staff know when to join in with children's play to extend their learning and when to leave them to play independently. Consequently, children show very good self confidence as they persist at activities for long periods of time and use the resources in imaginative ways. Staff help children to achieve their aims and work with them on a one to one basis to promote the next steps for their learning.

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who attend

Children show good understanding and listening skills as they join in large group activities. They are confident communicators and spend considerable time talking together during their play. Staff talk in a positive and respectful way, which provides children with a good example of how to communicate with others, which children copy in their play. Staff use visual images with examples of Makaton signs to promote children's involvement and communication during group singing activities. Consequently, children use familiar words and join in as they sing a 'hello' song. Children show great enthusiasm as they jump into a ball pool and good control of their movements, as they jump off a climbing frame and land safely with both feet together. Staff extend children's physical development by setting up assault courses indoors and outdoors and initiating large group games using a parachute.Children show interest in books and listen well while staff read stories during

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who attend

group activities. They often make marks and some children are beginning to write their name with most letters correctly formed.

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who attend

Children learn about the needs of others as they dress up as bears for a fundraising day. Staff explain about the reason for the fundraising so children begin to learn about helping others. Children often choose to use the good range of media that is available to them every day. For example, they play with water, sand and paint and help themselves to a wide range of collage resources to make various designs. Children play imaginatively as they dress up and choose to use the wide range of accessible resources in different ways. They find new ways to do things, for example, as they put the dolls in the water tray and work together to use yogurt pots, scoops and paint brushes to bath them. Outside, however, staff do not make full use of all the available space to support the programme offered to develop children's understanding of the world. For example, the digging and planting area is uncared for and does not include a wide range of resources that provide

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who attend

children with experiences to further develop their understanding of how things grow.

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

Children are happy and settled, due to the caring approach from staff and are very well behaved. Staff quickly offer suggestions and set expectations when needed, for example, to enable children to learn to share favourite resources together so everyone gets a turn. Children form very good friendships, which can be seen as they walk around holding hands and talk together in a calm way. Staff are aware and responsive to children's emotional needs. For example, during large group registration times they ask children how they are feeling, talk through anything they feel sad about and offer a cuddle. Children are independent and self-motivated learners. They maintain their focus on activities and laugh at their discoveries. For example, when they stick different resources into modelling dough that subsequently fall over. Children show fascination and try different approaches during activities, pay attention to details and are proud of their achievements. For example, they

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

mix icing sugar and water together to decorate biscuits and learn about the consistency needed.

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

Children are provided with healthy snacks and packed lunches by their parents. Staff observe children during mealtimes to ensure they do not share food to protect them from the risk of allergic reaction. Children's good health is promoted through plenty of opportunity for them to play outdoors all year round. Staff invite the dentist to visit the provision at regular intervals so children can learn about how to brush their teeth effectively. Children show exceptional independence and confidence as they move freely between the two main play areas and the outside play area, deciding what they want to do. Children are provided with a good range of indoor and outdoor resources that promote most aspects of their development and inspire them during their play. There are plans in place to further improve the organisation and resources in the outdoor play area. Children focus and learn about their own safety as staff provide opportunities for them to use real

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

tools on a workbench and suitable knives during cooking activities. Children remember what they have been told and show responsibility as they hammer nails into wood and cut up ingredients. Staff plan activities that promote children's awareness of diversity. For example, children make clay pots for Diwali and talk about the meaning of the celebrations. Staff display words and pictures in other languages and find out how to pronounce them correctly. Consequently, children feel comfortable to use their home language in their play and as a result, widen their friendships. There are plans in place to celebrate other festivals related to the Nepalese children attending the nursery, to further promote children's awareness of differences in society.

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

Children's move to school goes smoothly because staff and teachers complete exchange visits. Staff take children to the local school sports days to join in races and attend the pantomime so they are familiar with the environment. Staff provide teachers with a report about all stages of children's development when they leave the provision, which helps to promote continuity in children's learning.

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provision

Staff complete child protection training and know what action to take if they are concerned about a child's welfare. They work closely with social services to monitor children's well-being as needed. Management regularly review staff understanding of child protection policies and procedures to ensure they are effectively implemented in everyday practice. Since registration, the manager of the provision has left and the organisation are in the process of recruiting to this post using robust procedures to do so. All staff have had appropriate checks completed. Their on-going suitability to be with children is monitored through annual appraisals. Children are well supervised at all times and their safety is well maintained through effective risk assessments. Staff are observant of children's movements and work well as a team to ensure that staff to child ratios are met, as children move freely between different rooms and the outside play area throughout

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provision

each session. The deputy manager, who is currently managing the provision, provides staff with a good role model due to her good communication with children and ability to promote their learning in a positive and knowledgeable way. The organisation supports staff training. Their individual developmental needs are identified through observation of practice and discussion of about their interests at staff meetings and appraisals. There are clear induction procedures in place for new staff, which also involve meetings with other managers in the organisation. Staff generally share information about children's individual needs at staff meetings, which enables them to monitor and revise activities that help all children make good progress. Staff use their observations and assessments to adapt activities, for example, as they lower their voices when leading activities so that children can hear themselves and others sing.

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provision

Self-evaluation is good. Since registration and the appointment of the temporary manager, staff have become more motivated due to their inclusion in driving improvement. For example, they have re-organised resources so they are safer and more accessible, changed snack time so it is an area of the provision that is more hygienic, created an outdoor mud kitchen and increased the frequency of cooking activities. The newly appointed operations manager for the organisation is in the process of devising and implementing a more effective system for tracking children's progress. There are plans in place to introduce a specific quality assurance scheme that will enable all staff to adopt a more active role in reflecting on their own practice.

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provision

Staff establish good communication with other professionals to identify all children's needs and ensure they receive continuity in their care and learning. For example outside professionals are invited to the provision and work with staff to provide advice that helps children with special educational needs/ and or disabilities make good progress and settle into school. Staff work with children on a one to one basis to successfully implement the aims of individual educational plans.

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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 Requires improvement The provision is not giving children a good standard of early years education and/or there are minor breaches of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected within twelve months of the date of this inspection. 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

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Grade Judgement Description

the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. 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 EY447666 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 907839

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 52 Number of children on roll 53 Name of provider Aldershot Garrison Pre-School Settings Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01252 333752

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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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