Blackmoor Badgers

Blackmoor Badgers Blackmoor Village Hall, Honey Lane, Blackmoor, Liss, Hampshire, GU33 6BU

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 23/01/2014 04/02/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 4 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 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Children are happy and confident and build secure relationships with their key person.  Children behave well and are helpful and kind to each other as staff are positive role models and provide clear boundaries.  Staff support children's language development as they talk to them and comment on what they are doing as they learn and play.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff supervision and appraisal is not fully embedded in order to maintain improvements to practice.  Systems of monitoring and assessing children' s progress are inconsistent so that some opportunities for planning challenging activities are missed.  Children's opportunities to learn and explore outside are not always maximised due to the lack of storage and resources.

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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 staff and children in the indoor and outdoor environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector had discussions with staff and looked at some of the children's records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with the manager and looked at policies and documentation.  The inspector spoke to children and their parents and carers.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.

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Information about the setting

Blackmoor Badgers registered in 2010. It is a privately owned group, which is located within the village of Blackmoor, near Liss in Hampshire. The provision includes a pre- school and a holiday playscheme, both of which operate from two rooms in the village hall. Children come from the local community and surrounding areas. The pre-school opens five days a week during term time. Sessions are from 9am to 3pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and from 9am to 12.30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This includes a lunch club. The holiday playscheme operates on various days during school holidays, with sessions held from 8am to 3pm Monday to Friday. Blackmoor Badgers is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 13 children in the early years age group on roll. The pre-school is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children

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Information about the setting

aged three and four years. There are four members of staff who work with the children. Of these, three hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3. The pre-school receives support from the local authority children's services and Children's Links.

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must:

 review and extend staff supervision and appraisal processes to ensure that staff continue to be supported and develop in their practice.

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

 enhance the outdoor learning environment to ensure challenging and enjoyable experiences are planned consistently across all areas of learning outside

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

 continue to develop and monitor systems of tracking children's progress to ensure that staff and parents have consistent and accurate information about children's progress.

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who attend

Children come into the pre-school happy and are quick to settle, so that they start to play and learn straight away. They are confident and independent learners and staff provide a welcoming, clean and well-maintained learning environment. Children form strong bonds with adults and their peers, helping them to feel safe, secure and ready to learn. Staff have a sound knowledge and understanding of how children learn and develop so they plan for children to move on in their learning. Staff know the children well and gather information from children's settling in visits, through observations and through continuing close liaison with parents. Children make progress as staff use this information to plan individual learning. For example, painting is set out so the children can build on the previous days experience and continue their interest in talking about colours and rainbows. A number activity is planned to develop the knowledge and skill of a child who

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who attend

has just started to talk about numbers and count fingers. Children are learning about winter and cold places and are able to talk about and build on what they know through small world play of a snow scene. However, the activities and resources available to the children outside are more limited and staff do not plan learning outside with equal vigour. This means that children's learning outside is not promoted effectively and there are missed opportunities for children to make progress.

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who attend

Staff have a sound knowledge of each child and have started to keep records so that they can track children's progress in more detail. However these are not always completed regularly. This means that the records do not always show a full picture of each child's progress so that next steps in learning are sometimes missed. Although staff regularly discuss children's learning with their parents, accurate information about individual learning is not yet consistent so parents may not be clear about their child's individual progress or how to best help their child learn at home. Parents say that they are happy with the progress that their children make, particularly in developing their confidence. Parents are pleased that the staff know their children well and are confident that their children are kept safe. They also say that they feel welcome and included in their children's learning.

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who attend

Children are enthusiastic and motivated to learn. Staff are sensitive to children's interests and needs which supports children in developing their concentration and attention as they play, explore and investigate. Children participate in a range of activities and develop their independence as they choose what they want to play with from clearly labelled and accessible resources. Children are encouraged to form friendships, share and help each other. For example, older children help younger ones to use scissors safely and children happily take turns and help each other. The children are able to make decisions and develop their independence as they help to organise snack time. They also develop their number skills as they set out the correct number of plates and cups. Children become confident communicators as they are supported in developing their language and vocabulary. Staff make time to listen to children and have meaningful conversations about

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who attend

the things that interest them. Staff comment on the children's play and encourage them in what they are doing, giving the children time to respond. This enables children to feel that what they do is valued and they are supported and are encouraged to develop their thoughts. Children develop their literacy skills as they find their own names to self-register in the mornings. They become familiar with songs and rhymes as they join in whilst going to wash their hands or getting ready to go outside.

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who attend

Children's maths skills are developed by knowledgeable staff who provide opportunities for children to develop number skills and to use mathematical language. Younger children learn about shapes and explore capacity and volume whilst pouring and filling containers with buttons. Whilst older ones arrange the buttons in patterns, count and sort them and use scales to learn about weights and measuring. The children talk about the bubbles they blow outside, comparing the size and direction that they are blown in. Children develop their physical skills when jumping on the trampolines outside or going down the slide but there is too little physical challenge outside for the older children. Children are encouraged to explore and investigate, talk about what they see and notice the world around them. They learn about the environment as they dig the garden, and grow vegetables. Staff discuss how the wall fell down in the garden and point out the tractors and lorries that

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who attend

drive past, encouraging the children to think about where they might be going. This helps children feel part of the community and promotes their understanding of the wider world.

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

Children and parents are welcomed into the pre-school at the start of each session. Staff are on hand to greet them and make time to chat and talk. The children are confident and chatty whilst they self-register, organise their belongings and start to play. The key person system ensures that there is close communication between staff and parents and this enables staff to effectively meet children's individual needs. Children are able to form strong bonds with their friends and with staff, which helps them develop a sense of belonging. Children are considerate and help each other and this is fostered and valued by staff. When a younger child is unclear about tidying up after snack time a member of staff uses cuddly toys to make it a game and an older child joins in and helps the younger one follow the routine.

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

The adults are positive role models and as a result children are very well-behaved and kind to each other. Children know the routine well, so are confident to explore and make decisions. The adults are well deployed so that children are supervised appropriately and they have plenty of time to talk and play with the children whilst supporting their learning and development. Children know how to behave and keep themselves safe as they remind each other to share and take turns. The children have a good understanding of how to keep safe as they remind each other to walk on the path outside as it gets slippery and to put scissors down as they are sharp. Children respond positively when staff gently reinforce the boundaries and rules.

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

Children eat a healthy variety of foods at snack time including a drink of milk, bananas and toast. Staff encourage them to remember different vegetables that they have grown at pre-school. They learn good hygiene routines as they readily wash their hands and help to organise snack time. Children develop their independence skills as they pour their own drinks, set the table and clear away. Children benefit from opportunities for physical activities and exercise both inside and outside. The hall space has been developed to include space for physical activity including climbing apparatus as well as the children having plenty of room for energetic play outside. There are trampolines, a see-saw and climbing apparatus and a small slide outside but it is more suited to the abilities of the younger children and more could be done to challenge the older ones.

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provision

The manager and staff demonstrate an appropriate understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework and there are policies and procedures in place. Staff know what to do if they have any safeguarding concerns and their knowledge is up-to-date. Vetting and recruitment procedures mean that all adults working with the children are suitable to do so. The manager is involved with the hands on running of the pre-school and reviews and monitors staff practice through informal observations and feedback, team meetings and annual appraisals. This has helped the manager to identify some training needs but these systems have not been in place for a sufficient amount of time to have had a significant impact on the consistency in the quality of practice.

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provision

The manager and staff have a clear view of the settings strengths and areas for development and are in the process of embedding systems to promote improvement through self-evaluation. The self-review process is starting to have a positive effect and issues have been addressed to ensure that all children continue to make progress. For example a rating scale has been used to evaluate the environment which has led to improvements in the use of the hall and how staff use songs and rhymes to enhance children's learning. Children's progress is regularly discussed amongst staff and a 'Special Book' has been introduced in which to record individual children's progress. This system is not yet robust so that all staff are consistently tracking and monitoring children's progress in more detail in order to ensure that they are making good progress. The manager readily seeks and takes on board guidance and support where needed. For example, from Local

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provision

Authority officers, which enhances the expertise and knowledge of staff.

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provision

The partnership with parents is good. Parents receive detailed information about their child's day such as what they have eaten, who they have played with and what they have enjoyed doing. Parents are able to speak with the key person anytime and have regular newsletters. Parents speak highly of the setting and say that they feel welcome, valued and listened to. All parents spoken to, know who their key person is and that their child's special book is available. Some parents have taken it home and this is appreciated especially when one parent is unable to get to the setting in person. Information is shared between settings where children attend more than one, for example with childminders, which helps to ensure continuity of care. There are close links with the local school and teachers visit the setting and staff and children make visits to the school. This helps children feel more secure at times of transition and ensure that they continue to make

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provision

progress in their learning at times of change.

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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 EY412514 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 906803 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 13 Name of provider Carole Ann Rudd Date of previous inspection 04/02/2013 Telephone number 01420 538160

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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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