Skendleby Playgroup

Skendleby Playgroup The Old School, Main Road, SKENDLEBY, Nr Spilsby, Lincs, PE23 4QE

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 13/12/2013 26/06/2009

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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

 The effective key person system ensures children show a high level of security and have a good sense of confidence and well-being.  The partnerships with parents are strong. Information shared between parents and staff ensures that staff are able to meet children's care and learning needs effectively.  The manager is committed to building strong relationships with local feeder schools. This means that the children have good transition arrangements when they leave the playgroup.  Management is strong and there is clear motivation to continually develop the nursery in order to improve opportunities for children's learning.  Teaching is good because staff provide interesting opportunities for the children. As a result, progress is positive given children's individual starting points and capabilities.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 There is scope to maximise the use of open-ended questioning to further enhance and extend children's growing communication, language and critical thinking skills.

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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 completed a joint discussion with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to the manager, staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of staff working in the playgroup and a range of other documentation.  The inspector observed child-led and adult-guided play experiences.  The inspector went on a village walk with staff and children.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Skendleby Playgroup was registered in approximately 1975 and is on the Early Years Register. It is situated in a village hall in Skendleby, Lincolnshire and is managed by a committee. The playgroup serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from one main hall and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The playgroup employs three members of childcare staff. Of these, two hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and one at level 2. The playgroup opens term time only. Sessions are from 9.30am until 12.30pm, with an optional lunch session from 12.30pm until 1.30pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently eight children attending who are in the early years age group. The playgroup provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children.

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

 extend individual children's already good communication skills, for example, by providing more consistent use of open-ended questioning to further enhance their critical thinking skills.

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who attend

Staff have a good understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. All of the staff are qualified in childcare and they have good knowledge of child development and how to assess children's learning. Staff make regular and precise assessments and use these effectively to plan challenging and stimulating experiences for all children. Staff identify next steps for individual children and these are used to inform the future planning. The play experiences are closely linked to children's individual interests and learning requirements. Children's progress is successfully monitored and tracked by staff who demonstrate good quality of teaching. As a result, children's learning and development is successfully enhanced. Staff gather quality information from parents before their children start at the playgroup. This helps children settle because staff provide activities and toys that build on

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who attend

their interests. Staff are aware of the requirement to provide parents with a 'progress check at age two' and complete this where necessary.

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who attend

Children enjoy the responsibility of carrying out tasks as one child becomes 'Leader for the day'. Their role includes, leading circle time, preparing snack and announcing routine changes, such as tidy-up time. This supports personal, social and emotional skills. Staff join in with children as they play with play dough; they take this opportunity to extend their learning by asking, 'have you got enough cupcakes for everyone, how many more will you need to make?'. This supports the development of children's calculation skills. Children see positive images of race, culture, gender and disability through the toys and equipment, which reinforces their understanding of the wider world. Staff are enthusiastic and the good quality teaching encourages children to use expressive language as they eagerly prepare for their village walk. Staff introduce the walk and use a running commentary and occasional questions effectively to extend children's listening and

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who attend

attention skills. However, there is scope to make even more use of teaching strategies, such as consistent use of open-ended questioning, in order to continuously enhance children's learning to the highest level. Children are developing a good understanding of the natural world as they grow plants in the garden and enjoy eating their crop for snack. Staff talk to them about what they have planted and children remember that they are growing tomatoes. Each week, the playgroup plan a physical education session; children bring their sports gear and change into it. This supports their physical skills along with preparing them with a routine they will encounter at school.

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who attend

The children have opportunities to take part in a variety of expressive arts and crafts. For instance, they become engrossed in using a selection of media, such as glitter and paint. The children take it in turns to create a paper chain and they marvel as it gets longer and longer. Children enjoy the experience of sharing stories with staff and point animatedly at the familiar pictures. As a result, children are developing their literacy skills. Well-planned adult-led activities are fun and promote learning well. For example, staff lead children on a village walk around the local community. They eagerly look around to tick off the items on their list. Literacy skills are promoted very well as children record their findings on a clip board. Staff effectively support children's communication development during the walk. They engage children in interesting and thought-provoking discussions. After putting on

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who attend

wellington boots and wet suits the children are suitably attired to enthusiastically splash in the puddles. Children show they have enjoyed this experience by saying, 'I love it at playgroup'. These developing skills help to prepare children for school. There are regular opportunities for parents to share information and plan for children's learning in the playgroup and at home. For example, quality displays in the foyer tell parents what their children have been doing and the current planning is available for parents to add their children's interests. All children have a regular summary assessment of their progress recorded under the different areas of learning. Parents' comments are valued and are included in this assessment. Staff provide ideas for parents to enhance their children's learning at home.

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

Children relate well to the small staff team, showing they feel emotionally secure in their care. They are happy and enjoy attending the intimate and relaxed playgroup. Children show a good sense of belonging and display high levels of confidence and self-esteem. For example, they readily show their sense of humour as they tease staff and pretend they do not know obvious answers. Staff focus on helping children to acquire communication and language skills, and on supporting their physical, personal, social and emotional development and children are happy and eager to attend the playgroup. The staff work well with each child's parents to help them settle-into the playgroup when they first start attending. Settling-in is done on an individual basis and the key person continues a close working partnership with parents. This helps ensure that children's needs are met throughout their time in the playgroup. Colourful displays of children's artwork, posters

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

and family photographs create a welcoming and stimulating environment, which helps all children feel a sense of belonging.

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

The staff are good role models and use positive techniques for managing children's behaviour. As a result, this has a positive impact on the children as they display good behaviour at all times and are kind and caring towards one another. Children begin to understand the concept of time as they use a sand timer to anticipate tidy-up time. Being 'Leader for the day' gives children a sense of responsibility. For example, this child takes control of circle time, prepares snack, announces tidy-up time and generally takes on small duties. The playgroup is equipped with a very good range of age-appropriate toys, games and resources, which children freely access. This promotes their learning and independence well. Children enjoy both indoor and outdoor play to effectively develop their physical abilities and promote their good health. Children have plenty of opportunities for fresh air through outdoor play. They use the enclosed outside areas for a

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

range of activities, such as planting and growing, water play and ride-on toys.

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

Children are independent with their health and self-care skills, showing a good awareness of the need to wash their hands before sitting down to eat their snack. Quality visual prompts further support children's independence skills, for instance, photo routines for hand washing are displayed in the bathroom. Children help to prepare fruit for snack, using a knife carefully to chop an apple. These activities help develop children's independence. They are provided with healthy options at snack time, which encourages them to make healthy lifestyle choices. For instance, children sit chatting together as they help themselves to cheese, breadsticks and fruit. After lunch the children clean their teeth; this further reinforces healthy practices. All children bring a packed lunch to the playgroup. The parents are supported in making healthy choices because the manager is pro-active in providing advice and information on what to pack for lunch. Children's awareness of safety

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

is promoted as staff help children to learn to abide by the clear rules and boundaries of the playgroup. For example, children learn to walk on the path and not run when crossing the road when out in the community. Children are well supported in their transitions as they move on to school. Several local schools have supplied the playgroup with a 'School Transition' booklet; this supports parents as they make a choice where to send their child as they move on to the next stage of their learning. The manager consistently strives to build relationships with the schools where children move on to. For example, when teachers are unable to visit the playgroup, the key person visits the reception teacher and they share what they know about the children.

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provision

Arrangements for safeguarding children within the provision are good. Staff have knowledge of child protection procedures and what to do if they are concerned about a child in their care. There are clear procedures if there is an allegation against a member of staff. Any concerns are dealt with promptly and effectively. The manager understands when to inform the relevant authorities and Ofsted. This fully supports children's safety in the playgroup. The educational programme is monitored effectively by the manager. This includes regular tracking of practice and groups of children to ensure appropriate intervention and monitoring of children and the areas of learning.

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provision

Recruitment procedures are good and all staff hold a recognised childcare qualification. Induction procedures are in place to help and support new staff. No unvetted member of staff is permitted unsupervised access to children in the playgroup. Recent attendance at a local authority managers' briefing has resulted in the implementation of new arrangements to ensure the ongoing monitoring and performance management of staff. The small staff team have clearly forged close working relationships, which enables them to work very well as a team. This helps to maintain the consistently good teaching practice. The manager and committee support the staff in their professional development by carrying out appraisals. Training is arranged as required or as staff request it. This helps to make sure up-to-date practices in childcare and education are in place.

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provision

Policies and procedures and other documentation helps staff to successfully promote children's welfare. Risk assessments are maintained to ensure that all areas children access, both indoors and outdoors are safe and suitable and this supports children's well- being. The manager, staff and committee share a vision for driving improvements. Detailed self-evaluation helps identify the playgroup's strengths and weaknesses in order to enhance the provision and opportunities for children. For example, many improvements, including those raised at the last inspection, have been addressed. These include, using information from observations and assessments more readily to provide a personalised learning approach to focus on next steps. The outdoor environment continues to be a development strategy, this is ongoing and is included on the current improvement plan. This means improvements are continually being raised and fed into a

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provision

Parents state they are happy with the standard of care and learning their children receive. They confirm children are making good progress and the staff are friendly and approachable. This small playgroup has been operating for nearly 40 years, some children are second generation. As such, there is a warm and genuine atmosphere. Information is shared with parents through newsletters, noticeboards and a social media page. The staff team understand the importance of partnership working with external agencies and shared carers in order to secure appropriate interventions and interactions for children to receive the support they need. This ensures continuity in the children's ongoing learning and development.

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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 253590 Local authority Lincolnshire Inspection number 942932

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 16 Number of children on roll 8 Name of provider Skendleby Playgroup Committee Date of previous inspection 26/06/2009 Telephone number 07732 264891

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Type of provision

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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