Happitots Community Pre School

Happitots Community Pre School Chapel St. Leonards GM Primary School, Amery Way, Chapel St. Leonards, SKEGNESS, Lincolnshire, PE24 5LS

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 01/11/2013 03/06/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 1 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 Children's learning and development is hindered by poor teaching, especially during adult-led focused activities. For example, staff do not always gain children's attention to fully engage them and they do not consistently build on what they say to extend their communication and critical thinking.  Observational assessments are not used effectively by all staff to closely monitor children's progress from their starting points. This results in staff not always identifying and planning appropriate next steps to promote children's ongoing progress and development.  Monitoring processes are ineffective, resulting in staff not being sufficiently supported and coached to improve practice. As the manager works in ratio for the majority of the time, it prevents her from monitoring the implementation of systems to support the delivery of the educational programmes and to ensure information sharing processes

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This provision is inadequate

with parents are consistently used.  Children's well-being is not always effectively promoted. This is with regard to children not being actively encouraged to make use of the all-weather protective clothing and the setting have not fully evaluated the impact on their signing in and out procedures on children.

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It has the following strengths

 Children are happy and they relate well to the kind, caring staff team.

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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 compulsory part 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 and care practices within the main playroom and outside area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with children and staff throughout the inspection and she held a meeting with the senior nursery manager and spoke with the operational manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took into account the views of parents and carers spoken to during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at relevant documentation including observational assessments, policies, the self-evaluation and information used to assess the suitability of staff.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the senior nursery manager.

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Information about the setting

Happitots Community Pre-School was registered in 2010 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. It operates from a children's centre on the grounds of Chapel St Leonards Primary School, Chapel St Leonards, Lincolnshire. The pre-school serves the local area and is accessible to all children. There is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school employs six members of staff and a senior nursery manager. Of these, the senior nursery manager holds a Foundation Degree in Early Years, the manager holds an appropriate early years qualification at level 4, three staff hold qualifications at level 3 and two at level 2. The pre-school opens Monday to Friday term time only. Sessions are from 9.15am until 3.15pm and children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 65 children attending who are in the early years age group. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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must:

 ensure staff use effective teaching strategies to create purposeful learning experiences which engage and challenge all children, with specific regard to ensuring children's attention is always gained during large group activities so that they are actively listening and can respond appropriately as they learn

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must:

 ensure staff fully consider the individual needs and stage of development of each child when planning small group time activities so that they: effectively differentiate the activity; spend equal amounts of time focusing on each child to support their ongoing development; and build on what children say to extend their communication and critical thinking skills

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must:

 ensure staff consistently and accurately assess children's progress from their starting points and use this information to more effectively plan purposeful future learning experiences for each child so that they make good progress

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must:

 ensure staff are more effectively monitored, coached and mentored through supervision to identify weaker practice with regard to teaching so that targeted support and training is provided to develop staff's skills

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must:

 ensure practices are more effectively monitored throughout the setting to identify inconsistencies with; the delivery of the educational programmes; and the processes used to keep parents informed of their children's care and learning.

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

 encourage children to more consistently use the all-weather protective clothing and boots when engaging in wet and messy outdoor activities to fully protect their well- being

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

 examine the effectiveness of getting parents and/or carers to physically sign their children in and out of the setting, to fully evaluate whether this is causing any unnecessarily delays in the collection of children and the impact of this on their well- being.

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who attend

Children's learning and development is ineffectively promoted because teaching is inconsistent and poor. Although children have fun in the well-resourced indoor and outdoor environments, adult-led activities are poorly planned by some staff. This is because observational assessments are not used consistently by all staff to assess children's progress from their starting points. They are also not used to identify and plan purposeful next steps to support individual children's ongoing progress and development. Although clear information sharing processes are in place to encourage parents to become actively involved in their children's learning and development, these are inconsistently implemented. This limits the effectiveness of working in partnership with parents to support children's progress.

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who attend

During small group activities staff do not consistently differentiate activities or spend equal amounts of time focusing on all children to support each child's development and inclusion through purposeful play experiences. They also do not always build on what children say to extend their language and critical thinking skills. During larger group adult-led activities, staff do not always gain children's interest and focus at the start of the activity. This results in the majority of children not actively engaging, listening or responding. It also results in the slight deterioration of children's behaviour. Teaching, specifically during adult-led activities is consistently poor. This results in the majority of children's learning being ineffective, leading to them being inadequately prepared for school.

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who attend

When children engage in free-play activities their learning is more appropriately supported as staff engage in their chosen play. Children enjoy digging in the mud, sand and pebbles outside. This enables them to explore resources which are linked to the environment in which they live. Activities are set out for children to access inside and staff allow children to use these as they wish. For example, two children request to move the number stencils to the floor. The member of staff allows them to do this. She then encourages them to identify the numbers as they make a number line, which they then count in sequence. Children explore their creativity as they use a range of media and materials. They cut and glue paper as they make pumpkins. However, due to the inconsistencies in teaching, children's learning and development is not adequately promoted overall.

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

Children are happy and settled. They relate well to staff, showing secure attachments to them. This is because staff gather some clear initial information from parents, which enables them to meet children's care needs. As children get older they begin to develop their social skills as they begin to play more cooperatively with their peers. Staff use positive strategies to manage and promote children's good behaviour and this is mainly effective. When children's behaviour begins to decline slightly, this is down to ineffective teaching which results in children not being stimulated appropriately.

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

Children remain healthy and safe through appropriate practices, which they learn to adopt during the daily routine. For example, children develop independence with their health and self-care skills and they show awareness of some good practices when they advise their peers they now must dry their hands after washing them. Children engage in lots of outdoor play opportunities, which encourage them to be active. However, the educational programmes to support children's progress within all areas of learning are ineffective. This results in children not making sufficient progress within the prime areas of learning. For example, when a member of staff observes children building with the bricks, younger children show little awareness of turn taking and sharing. The member of staff does not identify this as an area to further support their development in. When children engage in messy and wet play experiences outside, they are not always actively encouraged to wear

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

the all-weather protective clothing and boots to fully ensure their well-being is maintained. Children play safely and their awareness of safety issues is adequately promoted through their play and through some appropriate discussions.

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

The setting has transition arrangements in place to support children's move to school. Children's new class teachers are invited into the setting to observe the child in an environment which is familiar to them. This enables the practitioner to assess the child, while the child gets to know their new teacher. This helps children to feel emotionally ready for the next step in their learning of starting school.

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provision

The setting is not meeting all of the statutory requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. While the safeguarding and welfare requirements are adequately met through the implementation of suitable policies and procedures, the learning and development requirements are not being suitably met. Although the management team are aware of their roles and responsibilities, the day-to-day manager of the setting is provided with very little time to effectively monitor the setting. This is because she works in ratio, focusing on supporting children's development for the majority of her time. This helps to ensure that adult to child ratios are maintained and staff are deployed to make sure children are appropriately supervised. While the manager demonstrates some good teaching skills, she is unable to effectively support and coach her staff. This is because weaknesses within the educational programmes have not been identified through effective monitoring. Although

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provision

supervisions of staff are undertaken, these are ineffective as they have not identified the poor teaching skills demonstrated by staff, mainly during adult-led activities. Inconsistencies with the use of observational assessments and the use of sharing bags to support the continual exchange of information between the setting and home have also not been identified. This results in staff not being supported to develop their skills through effective role modelling, coaching and mentoring. Everyone is involved in the process of self-evaluation and they are all committed to the continued development of the setting. However, significant targets requiring further development to support the effective delivery of the learning and development requirements have not been identified, resulting in children receiving inadequate learning experiences.

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provision

Children are cared for by a qualified staff team, whose suitability has been assessed through the setting's secure recruitment and vetting procedures. This inspection took place following a recent concern relating to a child getting out of the setting and being found unsupervised in the front garden area. The setting immediately completed their own investigation into this incident and found that a number of contributing factors which occurred on this particular day, led to the child being able to walk out of the main door. They have taken action to ensure this does not happen again. The main internal door to the room is now kept securely closed at collection and drop off time. A member of staff monitors this door, only allowing three parents into the secure gated area within the playroom at any one time to collect or drop off their children. This ensures children are more closely supervised to ensure they leave the setting with an authorised person. This

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provision

minimises the risk of any child getting out of the setting unsupervised. However, as the setting get parents to physically sign their children in and out of the setting before they allow them to move to the gate to be collected, they have yet to fully monitor the impact of this on children's well-being. This is with regard to some children sometimes seeing their parent but not being allowed to immediately go to them or not seeing their parent as they have to wait for a longer period of time until they are allowed into the setting. This is leading to some children becoming slightly distressed during this time. Risk assessments are used to identify and minimise hazards and staff have a good understanding of child protection procedures, which helps to protect children from potential harm.

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provision

Partnership working with other providers and parents is adequate. Parents receive some good information through notice board displays and they mainly make positive comments about the setting and the standards of care and learning their children receive.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory 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 EY404904 Local authority Lincolnshire Inspection number 939779

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 38 Number of children on roll 65 Name of provider Pre-School Learning Alliance Date of previous inspection 03/06/2013 Telephone number 01754 875186

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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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