Misterton Pre-School

Misterton Pre-School Misterton Village Hall, Unity Lane, Misterton, Crewkerne, Somerset, TA18 8NX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20/01/2014 14/09/2010

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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

 Children develop trusting relationships with staff and warm friendships with one another, which helps them settle in well and explore freely.  Children enjoy stories and write purposefully in lots of situations. This helps to promote their emerging literacy skills well.  Children use their imaginations well and move resources around the setting freely to extend their play.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff do not consistently make good use of the observations and assessments to promote children's next steps of learning effectively. As a result, not all children are making good progress with their speech and language.  Staff do not support all children's creativity and ideas in the outdoor play area to help them successfully solve problems and accomplish their chosen tasks.  Staff do not successfully engage all parents in contributing information about what their child can do at home to further promote children's learning.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities and the quality of teaching in the hall and outdoor play area.  The inspector sampled children's assessment records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a meeting with the manager to assess suitability and qualifications of staff and management's knowledge and understanding of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage requirements.

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Information about the setting

Misterton Pre-School registered in 1993 and is run by a committee of parents. It operates from the village hall in Misterton, Somerset. Children have access to the adjacent recreation ground and play park for outdoor play. Children attend from the local surrounding areas.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 19 children on roll in the early years age group. The pre-school is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education to children aged three and four years. The pre-school supports children who learn English as an additional language. The pre-school is open weekdays during term time from 9am to 12pm, with an optional lunch club from 12pm to 1pm.

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Information about the setting

There are four staff members employed to work directly with the children, all of whom hold relevant early years qualifications.

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must:

 improve the use of assessments and planned activities to promote children's next steps of learning more effectively. This especially applies to promoting children's speech and language.

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

 support children's creativity and ideas more effectively in the outdoor play area by, for example, providing them with the resources and support they need to solve problems and accomplish their chosen tasks

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

 encourage all parents to contribute more information about what their child can do at home, to promote their child's learning further.

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who attend

Staff implement suitable systems to plan and monitor children's learning. They record their observations of children in each child's Learning Pathway, and use this information to plan children's next steps of learning. However, not all staff consistently update observations and assessments or use these in activities effectively to help children progress. As a result, not all children are making good progress in aspects of their communication and language development. Staff provide parents with opportunities to get involved in their child's learning and keep parents informed of how their child is progressing. For example, staff invite parents to attend meetings with them and provide parents with the required progress check for two-year-olds. However, staff are not always successful in engaging all parents to contribute information about their child's learning at home to help them promote their child's learning further.

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who attend

Staff interact with interest and enthusiasm in children's play, providing reassurance and support to help children feel secure. This ensures children feel sufficiently confident to explore freely. Staff promote children's self-confidence by encouraging them to carry out tasks for themselves. For example, children learn to manage their personal hygiene, dress themselves and serve their own snacks. As children progress they carry out tasks with greater responsibility, such as helping set out snacks and passing messages to staff. This helps to promote children's independence and prepares them for the next stage in their learning. Staff provide children with some challenge in their play through asking questions. However, not all staff are quick to help children when challenges occur. For example, children encounter a problem when they try to pour water through the tubes and pipes outside; they call out 'it's not going through', but staff do not help them find a

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who attend

way to succeed. This does not help children to learn how to persist in solving problems successfully.

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who attend

Staff encourage children to move resources around the setting to extend their imaginations. For example, children dress up, find 'babies' to care for, take them for walks around the hall and fetch diaries from the writing area to make lists. Children investigate different media, materials and objects which they combine creatively and use in different ways. For example, children paint the walls with water and others mix water and sand to paint on the bollard figures outside, and tell others 'now they look beautiful'. Staff do not always, however, respond quickly to children's interests and ideas to help them complete tasks successfully. For example, staff do not act quickly when children call out 'we need more water' in order to continue with the outdoor painting activity they have devised. Consequently, some children lose interest.

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who attend

Staff promote most children's communication and language skills appropriately. Staff provide brief, focused group activities to help children to learn to listen and maintain attention. Staff ask children questions to encourage them to express themselves, share their news and to tell stories. However, staff do not consistently support all quieter children in communicating and using their language skills effectively. For example, staff do not encourage these children to express how the foam in a sensory activity feels, smells and looks. As a result, some children are not making good progress in their spoken language development. Children read stories spontaneously, join in group story times with excitement and some recall stories to staff in planned activities. In addition, children borrow books from the 'Book Club' to enjoy at home. This helps to develop children's interest in books. Children write purposefully in many activities. They make

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who attend

good use of the many writing resources staff provide. For example, children write in cards, on envelopes and in diaries and they write on white boards alongside staff. This help to promote children's early writing skills in their chosen areas of play.

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

Children arrive happy and settle in quickly. They receive a warm welcome from staff who are interested in hearing children's home news. Key persons provide close reassurance to help the younger children feel secure. Children enjoy taking the pre-school soft toy 'Tony the Tiger' home with them and recording his adventures in a diary, which staff then read out to the group. This helps to support children in the move between their home and the pre-school. Staff help children to develop positive attitudes and good behaviour, and most staff promote the 'golden rules' consistently. As a result, children behave well and are forming warm friendships with others who they seek out to play and cuddle up with. Staff acknowledge children's achievements by praising them and awarding stickers; this helps to promote children's self-esteem.

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

Children benefit from a well-organised indoor play environment in which they choose toys from the low units and have space to play unhindered. Younger children enjoy the cosy book corner in which they cuddle up for quieter play. Children also play outside regularly. This allows children opportunity to choose their preferred play environment, although staff do not always interact in these activities to help children fulfil their potential in all areas of learning. Staff carry out daily health and safety checks throughout the premises. Staff supervise children appropriately, especially in the outdoor play area. This helps to ensure safety measures are in place, the premises are secure and children cannot leave unsupervised.

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

Staff promote children's healthy lifestyles appropriately. Children benefit from regular outdoor play in which they use a suitable range of physical play and creative activities. They visit the play park to use larger scale equipment and to run more freely, and walk in the local countryside to observe the natural environment. Staff guide children on how to keep themselves safe by discussing safe play rules and teaching children how to respond in an emergency.

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provision

Management and staff have a sound knowledge and understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They have a clear knowledge of the correct procedures to follow if they have a concern about the welfare of a child, and their responsibilities to safeguard children's welfare. Management implements secure vetting procedures to help ensure staff are suitable to work with children. Management deploys staff appropriately throughout the indoor and outside play areas to ensure children's needs are met. In addition, staff implement up-to-date policies and procedures and daily checklists to help protect children.

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provision

Management uses suitable systems to monitor and evaluate the quality of the pre-school provision. The manager observes staff through working as part of the team each day. She meets with staff, more formally each term, to discuss the strengths of their practice and to support them in improving any areas of weakness. Staff also evaluate the planned activities each week to monitor the impact of this on children's development. Management and staff record strengths and weaknesses of the provision in the setting's self-evaluation book. This is being used to develop a new self-evaluation form to drive further improvements to the quality of children's care and learning. As a result, staff have successfully implemented improvements. For example, staff now use number labels to help promote children's numeracy and plans are in place to provide more secure boundaries in the outdoor play area for children. Staff have also addressed the

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provision

weaknesses identified in the last inspection. For example, children now freely use a good range of resources to promote their emerging writing skills and play with toys which promote children's understanding of diversity.

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provision

Staff establish suitable partnerships with parents who they provide with appropriate information about most aspects of the provision. Staff keep parents informed through face-to-face communication, displays and newsletters. Parents are encouraged to contribute their views of the setting at meetings with staff. Staff establish close links with the village school, which most children attend, and communicate regularly with other early years settings children also attend. This helps to promote children's needs consistently.

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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 142967 Local authority Somerset Inspection number 814040 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 34 Number of children on roll 19 Name of provider Misterton Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 14/09/2010 Telephone number 07870103376

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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

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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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