Wick Pre-School

Wick Pre-School The Cottage @ The Village Hall, Manor Road, Wick Bristol, South Gloucestershire, BS30 5RA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 28/11/2013 28/01/2010

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 All children including those with additional needs are making good progress and staff have high expectations for them  The pre-school is well-resourced and offers a range of stimulating indoor and outdoor learning experiences.  The key person system is effective in nurturing the individual needs of children and building their self-confidence and emotional security.  Management has a strong overview of the educational programme and use an effective tracking and monitoring system  Strong partnerships with parents are well established and their contribution highly valued by staff.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The noise level can be disruptive at times in the play room and this hinders children's concentration and ability to communicate effectively with other children and staff.  The layout of furniture sometimes prevents children from moving around freely and exploring their indoor play environment.

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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 play rooms and pre-school's outdoor area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of practitioners working with children and sampled children's assessment records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of the parents and carers spoken to on the day.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector held a meeting with the manager of the pre-school.

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Information about the setting

Wick Pre-School opened in 1968 and re-registered in 2006 when it transferred from Wick Church Hall to the Village Hall, South Gloucestershire. It is situated in the centre of the village and children attending the setting are from the local area. The pre-school is in receipt of funding for two-year-old places as well as free early education for children aged three and four years. The pre-school supports children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. On Monday the pre-school operates from 9.15am to 3pm and sessions offered on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday run from 8am to 4pm including a half session on Friday from 9.15am to 12.45pm. Children can attend morning or afternoon sessions or a full day. The sessions include opportunities for children to stay at the pre- school to have a pre-packed lunch. The pre-school also order hot meals from outside caterers. The building is split over two floors. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor

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Information about the setting

play area where they have chickens and ducks and an established growing area. The pre- school is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary part of the Childcare Register. There are currently 59 children in the early years age range on roll. Wick Pre-School is a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance. It is managed by a voluntary committee, made up of parents of children who attend the group and members of the local community. The group employs eight staff, seven of whom hold relevant child care qualifications and one who is currently unqualified. Advice on the education programme is provided by an advisory teacher from the local authority.

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

 explore different approaches such as smaller group sessions to help reduce the noise level in the play room in order to improve children's focus and concentration during play

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

 review the layout of the play room by using less furniture in order to create a more spacious play area that is easily accessible for children and less cluttered.

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who attend

Staff complete detailed assessments on all children upon entry to the pre-school and records show that all children are improving consistently in their learning. This is due to staff's strong knowledge of the learning and development requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Consequently, children progress well in all areas of learning, taking into account their starting points. Children with special educational needs and those learning English as an additional language are making good progress and any gaps in their learning are rapidly closing. Staff have high expectations of what children can achieve and plan appropriately for their next steps in learning.

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who attend

Children enjoy reading and listening to stories. A range of books reflecting the age of the children are accessible both indoor and during outdoor play. Staff help children to develop good communication skills by modelling language, explaining and skilfully asking questions. As a result, children are motivated to learn and explore. Throughout the pre- school, children have access to a range of opportunities to develop their early writing skills including a large chalkboard, educational computer games and painting easels. Children enjoy working in small groups outdoors to create their own nature display. Staff encourage them to collect a variety of herbs, leaves and twigs to make a large collage using a range of creative and natural materials. Staff assess what children know through ongoing observations and use this information to follow their interests. Children express an interest in building a 'den' and staff help them using branches from an old apple tree

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who attend

which had been cut down. This provides a challenging experience for children as they carefully select branches with their friends, and begin creating their own den space. Management and staff have invested a great deal of attention to the outdoor environment. It now offers a rich and stimulating outdoor learning experience where children flourish and learn new experiences. Two staff have recently undertaken 'Forest School' training which has greatly influenced the quality of the outdoor provision and improved learning opportunities for children.

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who attend

Staff encourage children's mathematical learning through play by counting and comparing objects they find. For example, children will go around the garden looking for the hanging compact discs that are labelled with numbers. Staff use a number checklist to encourage children to recognise all the numbers. Children also have access to low-level number charts and staff use group activities to encourage children to look compare these numbers to see which are more or less than. Staff teach children to develop good skills in using a range of equipment and creative tools. For example, staff will demonstrate to children how to hold a pencil correctly, or show them how to gently place ingredients into a bag using a spoon. This helps children to develop good hand to eye coordination skills. Staff will also encourage children to hold scissors correctly and motivate children to keep trying and practising. The quality of teaching is consistently good.

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who attend

Staff develop strong partnerships with parents. The key person completes initial assessments of a child's starting points taking into account the views of parents. Staff will keep parents well informed about their children's progress through learning journals, daily diaries and informal feedback. Parents attend review meetings each term with their child's key person to discuss their progress including progress reviews for two-year-olds. The key person system is effective in working closely with parents to agree targets and interventions to support their child's individual learning needs.

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

Staff offer a warm, caring and welcoming environment for children and their families. A well-established key person system helps children to form good attachments with adults and settle smoothly into the pre-school. Staff get to know the needs of individual children when they first start by using the ' All About Me ' forms that parent's complete. Parents are invited to attend the pre-school with their child prior to starting and staff encourage parents to provide their child's comfort toys including favourite blankets if it helps them to feel secure and comfortable. Children are happy and motivated to learn. Staff play a crucial role in raising children's self-confidence by offering praise, encouragement and use kind gestures as appropriate.

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

Staff encourage children to develop independent skills by managing their self-care needs such as toilet training. Children show an awareness of good hygiene practices and know they must wash their hands before and after mealtime. Activities and equipment are accessible for all children and low-level storage trays mean that children are able to select their own play items. The pre-school is very well equipped and staff will plan challenging learning experiences using a range of suitable resources. However, some areas of the pre- school room can become overcrowded due to the excessive use of tabletop activities and trays making the room feel cluttered.

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

Staff are good role models and demonstrate to children in accordance to their age and understanding what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Children are well mannered, polite and friendly. They enjoy talking to their friends and share resources well. Staff have introduced mini visual cards which are attached to individual key rings for children to carry. The visual cards help children to identify the daily routine and are particularly beneficial for those children learning English as an additional language as it helps them to communicate their needs. Children are developing an understanding of their 'indoor' and 'outdoor' voice. However, the background noise created when children are engrossed in play is high at times. Therefore children becomes a little distracted, especially when they are engaged in quieter learning experiences such as sharing a book.

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

Staff provide children with healthy snacks and drinks. They teach children to take an active role in growing a range of their own vegetables and herbs. Children also bake cakes using the eggs they collect from the chickens and ducks they care for. Meal times include a healthy packed lunch, which children bring from home. The pre-school uses an outside caterer to provide an alternative option if parents want to order hot meals. Staff promote the importance of physical exercise and movement skills. The outdoor area offers a range of activities that promote skills in balancing, climbing, ride bicycles and pushing cars. Children also go on outings including walks to their local school. Staff teach children about their own safety as they wear reflective vests and hold hands when crossing the road. Staff use these opportunities to help children learn about road safety and awareness. These trips also form a part of the process to help prepare children to move up to school.

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

The local school teacher also visits the pre-school prior to the children moving in order to build new relationships and ease the transition.

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provision

All staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities for protecting children from possible harm or neglect. The manager who is the nominated individual for safeguarding has completed relevant training, and demonstrates a sound understanding of her responsibilities. Appropriate policies and procedures are in place and all staff have completed online safeguarding training and know what to do if they have a concern. Staff continue to update their knowledge and the manager leads regular staff training sessions where she reviews any changes to the safeguarding policy. The manager oversees the pre-school leader, who carries out the daily safety checks and yearly risk assessments which is completed in all areas that children and staff use. The manager oversees the daily safety checks and any potential hazards identified are managed appropriately to protect children from harm. Recruitment procedures are thorough which include checking the

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provision

suitability of staff to work with children.

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provision

The manager and staff have a strong and secure understanding of children's learning and development. The quality of the teaching is consistently good. The manager has introduced a new tracking system in order to gain a better overview of each child's progress. She meets with staff once a week to discuss children's learning journeys. Any concerns identified are recorded in individual plans and targets are agreed in consultation with parents. Regular staff supervisions, performance monitoring observations as well as yearly appraisals by management have a positive impact on practice. The manager makes use of the South Gloucestershire training booklet to identify suitable courses for staff. Along with the local early years advisor, the manager also delivers in-house training to staff on areas such as planning, and managing children's behaviour. The manager has also attended leadership training and as a result has implemented a number of strategies to

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provision

improve the overall management of the pre-school including delegation of tasks.

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provision

There are good systems to monitor and evaluate the pre-school. The manager meets with staff to discuss areas for development. Their self-evaluation helps to identify areas for improvement such as revising the layout of the pre-school entrance to make it more accessible for parents. Staff take notes from observations and use group time discussions to gain feedback from children in order to influence the self-evaluation process. The manager values input from parent questionnaires and any information gathered is evaluated and used to identify areas for improvement.

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provision

There are effective systems to share information with outside professionals including the local SENCO and health visitor. Some children attend other settings during the week and the manager shares information with relevant key people to ensure there is continuity in their learning. The children benefit from visiting their local school and the school teacher also sees them at the pre-school. Partnerships with parents are strong. A good range of information is available for parents and they are kept up to date of current events through the pre-school website and parent's information board. Parents are encouraged by staff to be involved. Daily feedback and termly parent review meetings provide opportunities to inform parents of their child's learning as well as sharing ideas on how to extend their play at home. Parents and carers comment on how happy and settled their children are at the pre-school. One parent commented 'I could not think of any other setting where I would

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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 EY341261 Local authority South Gloucestershire Inspection number 845734 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 34 Number of children on roll 59 Name of provider Wick Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 28/01/2010 Telephone number 0117 937 3970

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Setting details

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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