Promise ChildcareOfsted inspection, 13 Jan 2014

The Forest Chapel Playgroup The Forest Chapel, Charnwood Drive, Leicester Forest East, LEICESTERSHIRE, LE3 3HL

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 13/01/2014 24/04/2013

p.1

early years provision

This inspection: 4 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

p.1

This provision is inadequate

 Children do not make sufficient progress because they are not challenged appropriately. Observations and assessments are not consistently used to plan stimulating, individual learning experiences for each child. Monitoring is weak, leading to gaps in the educational programme.  Some staff do not have a robust understanding of the action to take should they have safeguarding concerns. As a result, children's safety is compromised.  Systems to monitor the quality of the setting and the supervision of staff to improve their personal effectiveness to support children's learning and development are not suitably embedded into practice.  Staff's knowledge and understanding of the learning and development requirements are not robust which results in inconsistencies within teaching, thereby, children are not well prepared for their next stage of learning or school.

p.1

It has the following strengths

 Children are settled and feel secure due to the sensitive interactions they receive from staff.  The staff team promote children's health and use risk assessments to ensure potential hazards are minimised, both within the setting and on outings.

p.1

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

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector observed practice and interaction between the staff and children.

p.2

Inspection activities

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

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector undertook an inspection of the areas of the premises used for childcare, both indoors and outside.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector examined a range of documentation, including suitability records and qualifications, policies and procedures and children's developmental records.  The inspector spoke with three parents during the visit.

p.2

Information about the setting

The Forest Chapel Playgroup was registered in 1996. It is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a small chapel in Leicester Forest East, and is managed by a private individual. The playgroup serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from two rooms and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play.

p.3

Information about the setting

The playgroup employs nine members of childcare staff. Of these, five hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 and 3, including the manager who holds Early Years Professional Status and a member of staff who has Qualified Teacher Status.

p.3

Information about the setting

The playgroup opens Monday to Friday all year round from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. Wrap-around care is offered, before and after school and during school holidays. There are currently 40 children attending who are in the early years age group. The playgroup provides funded early education for three- and four-year- old children. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The playgroup is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance.

p.3

must:

 ensure that all staff understand the safeguarding policy and procedures, in order to respond in a timely and appropriate way to any safeguarding issues

p.4

must:

 improve the quality of teaching by supporting children during planned and child- initiated play to ensure that learning experiences enable children to make effective progress across all areas of learning

p.4

must:

 develop staff's knowledge and understanding of the learning and development requirements to ensure they offer a quality learning experience for all children and are able to plan challenging experiences in all seven areas of learning to meet children's individual needs, learning styles and next steps in their learning

p.4

must:

 use information gained from observations and assessments of children to plan challenging learning experiences for each individual child and by monitoring the educational programmes to ensure that all areas of learning are sufficiently covered and any gaps can be identified

p.4

must:

 improve the use of staff supervision to monitor staff performance and set challenging targets for improvement.

p.4

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

 improve leadership by implementing effective monitoring of all aspects of the setting to ensure the consistent delivery of the educational programme and care practices

p.4

who attend

During children's induction, staff obtain information from parents about what their child already knows and can do. This information is then used to aid the settling-in and initial assessment process. The child's key person begins to carryout ongoing observational assessment to identify children's interests and abilities. However, this information is not used consistently to aid or plan challenging experiences to extend children's learning. As a result, children are not consistently provided with stimulating activities that are fully matched to their interests and learning needs. In addition, information gathered on children's learning is not used consistently to track the progress children make or used to inform the next steps in their learning and development. Consequently, this has an impact on how well children achieve and make progress towards the early learning goals of the Early Years Foundation Stage. This also means they are not adequately prepared for the

p.4

who attend

next stage in their learning. Although some progress has been taken to adapt the educational programmes, the impact of this on children's learning is yet to be realised. Furthermore, some staff are not able to demonstrate a clear understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. As a result, the activities offered do not consistently promote children's progress across all areas. Planning does not provide consistently challenging experiences for children in all areas of learning. For example, children taking part in a creative activity use only one type of coloured pen and paper of the same colour and in the sand play there are no additional resources on offer to allow children to adapt their play and ideas. As a result, children are not highly engage or challenged in their learning.

p.5

who attend

There is an inconsistency in the quality of teaching. For example, where adults are seen to support activities, these are not sufficiently planned to engage or challenge children's learning. This results in children becoming disinterested in some activities, causing them to move away. In addition, some staff lack enthusiasm when interacting with children which leads to missed opportunities to extend and support children's all round development. For example, a child takes a picture they have made to a member of staff, whilst they praise them for their achievement, they do not ask questions about this or the colours used, missing opportunities to build on their knowledge. However, some staff do interact well with children, using a range of open ended questions to encourage them to think and challenge their ideas. For example, when building with the construction a child is asked 'what will happen when you put one more brick on'. The child successfully surmises

p.5

who attend

that this will fall over, laughing as this occurs. Parents are involved in children's learning through daily verbal discussions and through the contribution of photographs from home which staff place in children's learning journals. In addition, daily information sheets are used, particularly for younger children, to inform parents of their child's day. However, this mostly relates to their care. Opportunities are being developed to engage and involve parents to contribute to their child's learning, for example, through open days and suggestion boxes, but as yet this is not fully effective. Parents have opportunities to loan books or games from the setting to guide children's learning. However, this system has not been developed to show or encourage parents how this can be used to extend or support children's learning in the home environment. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported through staff liaison with parents and working

p.5

who attend

partnerships with a range of multi professionals to support children's individual needs.

p.5

who attend

Children's personal social and emotional skills are developing generally well. Staff place emphasis on this area of learning to enable children to acquire the skills needed for future learning. For example, children are observed to take it in turns whilst playing a game and ask if they can use the pushchair when they see a child at another activity. They have suitable space to move around freely in and have access to a suitable range of resources. The space available to babies is being developed to enable them to have access to a suitable range of resources to promote their skills and abilities. During story time younger and older children are separated to ensure that stories offered are age and stage appropriate. They enjoy listening to stories in these small groups and overall, staff keep them interested by reading to them in an enthusiastic way. During this activity, staff teach children literacy skills adequately, for example by encouraging them to predict what will

p.5

who attend

happen next and by pointing to the text of the book. Children begin to develop some knowledge of their place in the local community through walks to places of interests and local parks. Children enjoy using their imagination in role play areas and through the use of small world equipment. They 'pretend' to speak to people on the telephones and when 'cooking' dinner, they point out to staff that they need to be careful as the food is hot. This also supports their understanding of the world.

p.6

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

Children are kept physically safe because staff ensure the premises are secure and visitors to the setting have their identity checked and are asked to sign a visitor book. In addition, staff remind children not to run around inside and to be careful on the decking outdoors when this is wet. Children take part in the fire evacuation practice, which helps them to learn how to keep themselves safe as they know what to do in an emergency situation. However, they are provided with a false sense of security because evidence is not fully in place to show how suitability checks on some staff have been completed and there are weaknesses in some staffs knowledge and understanding of safeguarding procedures, which has the potential to place them at risk of harm.

p.6

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

Overall, the key person system is effective to ensure that care practices support children's individual needs. All children have formed appropriate emotional attachments with adults in the setting enabling them to feel settled and secure. Suitable information is obtained from parents before children begin at the setting regarding children's care and routines, which staff follow to help children gain confidence in their surroundings. As a result, children are happy to attend. Children behave appropriately at the setting and staff ensure consistent messages are used to enable children to understand what is asked of them. For example, when children are seen to pour sand on the floor in the hallway, they are reminded where the sand should be and the reasons for this, for example, to prevent slipping. Children understand routines and a bell is used to announce specific events, for example, snack time, outdoor play and tidy up time. This helps all children, particularly

p.6

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

younger age groups, to know and understand the structure of their day. Staff praise children for carry out set tasks, contributing to their self-esteem.

p.6

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

Children begin to develop their skills in independence because staff give them time to put on their own coats before going outside. Children of all ages wash their hands, when required, and older children particularly are skilled in this task. They have opportunities to be physically active both indoors and outdoors and have access to a suitable range of resources to promote their large muscle skills, such as, sit and ride toys, climbing frames, balancing equipment and bats and balls. Children are offered a suitably balanced diet which is either prepared by staff or a cook who attends three days a week. Information is gathered on children's dietary needs to ensure that all foods offered support their health and well-being. Suitable procedures are in place to ensure that all accidents are recorded and shared with parents and any medicines required are stored and administered appropriately, supporting children's health and wellbeing. Children's transition from the

p.6

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

pre-school to school are appropriately supported. The manager has begun to make links with schools that children will move onto ensuring that children are appropriately prepared for this change.

p.6

provision

Leadership and management is inadequate. Although systems are in place to ensure that all staff are safe and suitable to care for children, some staff do not have a secure understanding of the action to take should they have concern for a child's welfare or what systems are in place, should a member of staff be accused of harming a child. This has the potential to delay any action taken, impacting on the safety and wellbeing of children. This is a failure to meet legal requirements in the Early Years Register and both parts of the Childcare Register. Documentation is in place to show how ratios are consistently maintained to support children's welfare. In addition, children are appropriately supervised both indoors, outside in the garden and during outings to ensure they remain safe whilst at the setting.

p.7

provision

Since the last inspection, the manager and her staff have begun to work on the previous actions that were required to improve the setting. For example, risk assessments have been developed to ensure that any potential hazard to children, both within the setting, outdoors and on outings are minimised. Resources have been organised more effectively to ensure that children are not exposed to damaged equipment and procedures for ensuring that staff recruitment supports children's welfare reflects required procedures. The manager has a suitable understanding of the need to monitor all children's overall progress and how this information should be used effectively. However, this is not yet implemented into the setting, as a result there continue to be weaknesses within the delivery of the learning and development aspects of the Statutory framework of the Early Years Foundation Stage. These weaknesses mean that children do not benefit from

p.7

provision

challenging learning experiences based on their own needs and interests. Therefore, they are not making sufficient progress in their learning and development.

p.7

provision

Systems to manage staff performance and ensure their continuous professional development are inadequate. Although the manager has begun to use appraisals to assess staff's skills within the setting, this procedure is too basic to ensure all staff know what they need to do to support children's learning more effectively. The documentation used to reflect this procedure is beginning to link to specific targets for development and training opportunities, but this is not consistent and training opportunities are limited. Team meetings take place on a regular basis and are beginning to be used to discuss areas of weakness within the setting and to establish action plans for improvement. The manager and her staff have begun to evaluate the service offered to children and their families. However, this is not robust and does not identify specific weaknesses within the setting. The manager works in partnership with the local authority development officer

p.7

provision

who supports her to make improvements within the setting. The staff support children to have a smooth transition to school. They make sure that older children have some opportunity to practise the skills they will need when they start school, such as, learning to recognise letters and numbers and being confident in managing their personal skills.

p.7

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

p.8

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

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.10

Setting details

Unique reference number 226487 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 948678

p.10

Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 23 Number of children on roll 40 Name of provider Ruth Lynam Date of previous inspection 24/04/2013 Telephone number 07882 883 935

p.10

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.

p.10

Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

p.10

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.

p.10

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.

p.10

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.

p.11

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,

p.11

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’.

p.12

Type of provision

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

p.12