Noahs Ark Pre School

Noahs Ark Pre School Robertson Barracks, Swanton Morley, DEREHAM, Norfolk, NR20 4TX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/12/2013 23/03/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 An effective key person system enables staff to form secure and trusting relationships with children and parents. Children settle quickly and enjoy their time at the pre-school.  Children are provided with a range of suitable opportunities to initiate their own play, helping them to learn the basic skills required to support their future learning.  Self-evaluation systems have improved since the last inspection, enabling the pre- school to identify appropriate areas for improvement.

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It is not yet good because

 A written statement of the policy and procedures to be followed regarding the use of mobile phones and cameras within the pre-school has not been produced. This is a legal requirement but staff are aware of the procedures to follow.  Children's learning needs are not always well met, as some children find the planned activities too difficult while others are not sufficiently challenged.  A sufficient system to monitor how staff interact with the children is not yet in place. This means that the quality of teaching is variable and not all children consistently make good progress in their 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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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 in the indoor playrooms and the outside learning environment.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings and discussions with the manager, deputy manager and the chairperson of the committee.  The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of practitioners working with children, the provider's self-evaluation form and improvement plan.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day and from information included in the pre-school's own parent feedback.

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Information about the setting

Noah's Ark Pre-School opened in 1995 and is managed by a voluntary management committee. It operates from an open plan area in the community centre at Robertson Barracks, Swanton Morley and has access to an enclosed area for outdoor play. It is situated near to the village of Swanton Morley which is near to the town of Dereham in Norfolk. The pre-school is open each weekday in term time from 9am until 3pm with sessions from 9am until 12 noon and 12 noon until 3pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions.

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Information about the setting

A holiday club is provided during some school holidays for children up to eight years old. There are currently 28 children on roll within the early years age range. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It serves both the military and the local civilian community. The pre-school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children for whom English is as an additional language. The pre-school employs six staff, of whom, five are appropriately qualified and experienced. The provision is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

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must:

 review the safeguarding policy and procedures to include a written statement regarding the use of mobile phones and cameras in the pre-school

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must:

 improve the quality of teaching by ensuring that; all staff understand how to extend children's learning; the planned activities for groups of children effectively meet the needs of children of different ages and abilities.

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

 monitor staff interactions with children, for example, by introducing a system of observing staff during activities and providing feedback and support to help them develop their skills.

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who attend

Noah's Ark Pre-School provides a friendly environment. Children enjoy their time at the pre-school and have access to an appropriate range of resources. The indoor and outdoor areas have been reviewed since the last inspection and offer children space and freedom to explore their surroundings. Staff are able to promote positive relationships as they encourage children to take turns and share. As a result, children play happily alongside each other. Staff help to support children's self-esteem by praising their attempts at mastering new skills. On some occasions, staff respond well to what children are doing and saying and are able to spontaneously develop their knowledge and understanding. However, these interactions are inconsistent as some staff members miss vital opportunities to encourage children to solve problems, identify solutions and overcome challenges. This means that the quality of teaching is variable, resulting in some activities

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who attend

where not all children are able to make good progress. For example, when children are playing with model figures from a favourite television programme, some members of staff effectively encourage the children to develop their own ideas by asking them to explain what is happening, while other staff members lead the play themselves, telling the children what to do with their characters, which does not extend their learning. These differences in staff interactions are due to members of staff who, although enthusiastic, are not as experienced at considering how to develop children's understanding. This is because the quality of teaching in the pre-school is not yet effectively monitored by the management team, therefore, staff members are not fully supported to continually improve their skills.

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who attend

The pre-school is participating in the programme 'Every child a talker' and through this staff have identified and targeted those children who need extra support to develop age- appropriate language skills. The programme has enhanced the knowledge of some members of staff and, as a result, is improving their ability to develop children's speech, including those children for whom English is an additional language. Children learn to count as adults show them how to say number names in order during their play. Consequently, children have a sufficient range of opportunities for mathematical development and are appropriately supported to develop their understanding and counting skills. The outdoor area has been developed well since the last inspection. Digging areas and a mud kitchen have been established and are enjoyed by the children who use the areas to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world. The pre-school provides

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who attend

opportunities to prepare children for the next stage in their learning by involving them in group activities, where they join in with adults to learn specific skills, such as identifying colours, numbers and matching objects. However, on occasions, children of different ages and abilities are grouped together to take part in these activities. This results in the older children dominating the activity, providing answers to questions before the younger children are able to have a chance to think and join in. For example, when younger children struggle to find an object of a particular colour, an older child is asked to help and find it for them. This means that the younger children are not able to develop their skills, while the activity does not appropriately challenge the older children to improve their understanding.

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who attend

Since the last inspection the pre-school has improved their systems for observing and assessing children's development. The child's key person regularly observes and documents children's progress in developmental records. This information is used to plan appropriate next steps for children to enable them to make adequate progress. Staff make use of these next steps to plan a range of activities and identify children who may need extra support with their learning. This approach supports those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff involve parents in their child's learning. They share information in daily diaries and offer progress reviews of each child's development where they share learning records with parents, who generally feel informed about their children's stage of development.

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

Staff are warm and welcoming as they help children to settle well into the pre-school. Children show they have developed strong attachments with staff members as they seek out their key person for cuddles or climb on an adult knee when they need comfort. The focus and establishment of these secure relationships particularly supports those children living on the military base who often have one parent away from home. This is further developed by pictures of children's families which are displayed at a low level along with recordings of their parent's voices. This effectively promotes children's well-being as they are comforted by hearing their parents' voice when they are away from home. The pre- school responds well to the demands of the military environment where children often require a place with short notice. They invite parents to attend the pre-school with their children to help them feel settled. The pre-school is in the process of establishing a

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

programme to visit children in their own homes before they start at the pre-school, helping to develop children's emotional attachments with their key person. Children are emotionally well prepared for the next stage in their learning as they visit the local primary school to meet their new teachers. When a child's family leaves the base at short notice the manager ensures that the child has a transition report to take with them to their new setting. The manager has a good understanding of the emotional needs of the children and families that attend the pre-school and spends time helping parents to manage difficult times in their lives. This supportive approach helps to promote a continuity of care for the children that attend.

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

The pre-school makes sure that the child's key person attends to their personal needs to ensure that children feel consistently well cared for. They work well in partnership with parents to help children to develop their confidence when using the potty or the toilet. Staff have paediatric first aid training and are able to deal effectively with minor injuries and illnesses. The establishment of a quiet room provides children with a cosy area to rest or sleep when they need calm time. This supports the emotional well-being of all children, but particularly younger children who benefit from individual time with their key person as they settle down to sleep. This room also provides an area for staff to promote positive behaviour, as they talk to children about how they are feeling and help them to calm down. Snack time is a well-thought out experience as staff encourage children to become independent as they poor their own milk, select their grapes and are supported by staff

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

who help develop their fine muscle control as they cut their own slices of banana. Members of staff interact well with the children to discuss their choices and encourage them to try new foods, effectively promoting healthy eating habits. The outdoor area provides children with freedom to develop their physical well-being. Children have planned opportunities to take part in physical activity on a daily basis, where they enjoy a good range of activities to develop coordination and their large muscle control. Staff are enthusiastic about encouraging children to be active as they join in with their games and encourage them to be active in their play. Children learn to keep themselves safe through discussions with staff which help them learn to manage their own risks. For instance, they talk about why they need to put on their coats before going out in wet and windy weather. Regular fire drills are carried out with the children so they know what do to in an

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

emergency. Staff carry out daily risk assessments and take appropriate action to minimise potential hazards or risks. For example, the pre-school is checked twice a day to ensure that it is safe for the children to play.

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provision

The management team generally understand their roles and responsibilities in meeting the safeguarding and welfare of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Recruitment, induction systems and regular staff appraisals ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. Staff are able to recognise the signs and symptoms of abuse and clearly know how to report concerns. However, during the inspection, it was found that the pre-school does not have a written statement regarding the use of mobile phones and cameras in the setting. This is a breach of the Early Years Foundation Stage child protection requirements. During discussions with the manager, it is apparent that the pre-school follows clear systems to ensure that staff and parents do not use personal mobile phones and cameras when in contact with the children. Therefore, the lack of the written policy does not have a significant impact on children's safety. Nevertheless, this

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provision

policy is required to guarantee that all those involved with the pre-school understand the procedures to follow to ensure the protection of all children.

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provision

The management team has a realistic understanding of the effectiveness of the pre- school. The manager and deputy manager work together well. The manager oversees the administration and the daily running of the pre-school, while the deputy manager has accessed a range of training courses and demonstrates the commitment and drive required to improve the quality of the education that the pre-school provides. Assessment of children's learning is appropriately monitored through regular meetings where staff discuss children's needs and plan activities for the next steps in their learning. This helps staff members to find out about children's individual learning requirements. The manager regularly reviews the needs of all staff through their appraisals and ensures that they attend essential training courses such as first aid to develop their skills. However, the quality of teaching within the pre-school is not regularly monitored, due to the manager,

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provision

who is waiting to attend a training course to learn how to effectively observe staff and provide focussed feedback to enable staff to improve their performance. This lack of monitoring results in inconsistencies in staff interactions with children and, therefore, the quality of teaching requires improvement. As a consequence, not all children are able to make good progress in their learning.

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provision

The pre-school staff generally understand the importance of partnership working with external agencies in order to secure appropriate support and interventions for individual children. Tracking systems help staff to identify areas where children require additional support; helping them to access the interventions they need to progress. The pre-school has established effective partnerships with their local authority support team and speech and language team which help them support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Advice from professionals is acted upon by the child's key person who understand how to put programmes of support into place where they work individually with children to help them learn basic skills. The self-evaluation process has improved since the last inspection. Planned procedures ensure that parents and children contribute to evaluating the quality of provision. In general, planned improvements are appropriate

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provision

to enable the pre-school to continue to develop. For example, the pre-school has appropriately identified a current focus of working with all parents to involve them more effectively in their child's learning at home. Overall, parents are happy with the care that the pre-school provides; they comment that they appreciate the help and support the staff at the pre-school gives them. They see the benefit that coming to the pre-school has on their children and are grateful for it.

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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 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 EY220790 Local authority Norfolk Inspection number 819557

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 54 Number of children on roll 28 Name of provider Noah's Ark Pre School (Swanton Morley) Committee Date of previous inspection 23/03/2009 Telephone number 01362 627975

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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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