Toybox Pre School at Brighton Women's Centre

Toybox Pre School at Brighton Women's Centre 22 Richmond Place, Brighton, BN2 9NA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/02/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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

 Staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of promoting children's learning, which motivates young children to explore and learn through their play.  Staff are friendly and interact well with children, demonstrating a genuine interest. As a result children, demonstrate they feel safe and are developing secure emotional bonds.  Staff use resources such as a local park to give children challenging experiences and to promote their developing skills, particularly in physical development.  Staff develop strong links with local nurseries that successfully support and ease children's transitions.  Staff maintain clear, reasonable and consistent limits inside and outside the setting. This helps children understand how to manage their behaviour effectively.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The system used to establish effective partnerships with parents is not yet fully effective, particularly regarding parents supporting their children's learning at home.  Staff do not always effectively support children's growing knowledge and understanding of healthy foods.

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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 children in all indoor areas of the setting, including on an outing visiting a local park.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of documentation, including medication and accident records, children's registration documents, children's attendance records, staff files and supervision documentation and the setting's safeguarding policy and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held ongoing discussions with the manager and the deputy throughout the inspection, including discussions about safeguarding issues.  The inspector gathered parents' verbal views.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector discussed leadership and management with the manager and the deputy manager and carried out a joint observation with the manager.

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Information about the setting

Toybox Pre-school at Brighton Women's Centre registered in 2013. It is owned by Brighton Women's Centre. It operates from one room in the Brighton Women's centre in Brighton, which is in East Sussex. The setting provides sessional care. It is open each weekday from 9.15am to 12.15pm, term time only. All children have access to a small outdoor play area and are also taken to local parks on a daily basis. The setting is registered on the Early Years Register and both parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently two children attending of early years age. The setting is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged three and four years of age. The provision employs two members of staff. All members of staff hold appropriate early years qualifications. One member of staff holds Early Years Professional Status and one member of staff holds Qualified Teacher Status.

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

 strengthen the system with parents that supports children's learning at home, particularly regarding the sharing of the children's next steps in learning

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

 increase further the opportunities and experiences for children to understand and make healthy choices in relation to food.

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who attend

Staff demonstrate a secure understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, resulting in children making good progress towards the early learning goals from their starting points. This helps them prepare well for school and their future learning. The staff regularly use the outdoor resource of a local park to effectively support children's development. As a result, young children enjoy practising physical skills during a variety of activities. For example, they thoroughly enjoy using a variety of ladders which incorporate different levels of challenges. They also negotiate swing bridges and tunnels where they learn to coordinate their movements by going backwards, forwards and bending to the height required. Children are very confident and explore independently. They are motivated and thoroughly enjoy exploring sensory activities, such as foam and glue. During these activities, staff

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who attend

effectively use simple mathematical language such as 'big' and 'small'. They also draw their attention to the patterns children make in the foam. This successfully supports their understanding of shape, space and measure. Staff help children develop a very good understanding of the world. Children enjoy first hand experiences in the environment. For example, they visit a story telling session at a local library. They also discover and discuss new exciting things on their daily walk to the park, such as showing real interest in looking for bubbles and the foam that some insects make. They also discuss and compare the buds and flowering daffodils they see. This helps them to develop understanding of the natural world. Staff provide a good range of media and materials for children to explore and play with. For example, children enjoy making bubble pictures using paint and collages using different coloured paper. This helps them to develop their skills in creativity.

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who attend

The quality of teaching is good. Staff are skilled at teaching and extending children's critical thinking skills, so they become confident and independent learners. For example, they encourage children to reflect on how they can get down from a large climbing frame and then gently support their confidence and understanding by making suggestions for them to try out. This encourages children to think and try new ways of doing things. Staff promote communication and language well with young children. They introduce new words and repeat and add words to the children's vocabulary. This encourages children to form more complex sentences and to extend their vocabulary. During story-time when children talk about the things that they associate with the story, staff use meaningful questions about the subjects the children raise. This effectively encourages the children to extend and consolidate their vocabulary and confidence in speaking.

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who attend

Staff use the information from observations well to make sure that children achieve as much as they can. They effectively identify children's starting points and complete observations and monthly summaries of development in the children's learning files. These clearly show what children know and can do and are linked to their age and stage of development. This in turn, successfully helps staff to identify the children's next steps in learning, monitor their progress and identify any gaps in their learning. The staff effectively use information from observations to plan and meet the children's individual learning needs and interests. For example, children's opportunities to learn to share and develop good relationships are successfully promoted through introducing a group snack time. Staff also provide opportunities for an individual child to play with their peer group outside the setting when they are the only child attending the session. Staff complete the

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who attend

required progress checks for two-year-old children and share this successfully with parents. This allows them to monitor children's progress in all the key areas of development.

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who attend

Partnerships with parents are good overall. Parents successfully share their children's interests and development when at home. This, in turn, allows staff to effectively consolidate and extend children's learning in the preschool. For example, when parents comment on children's particular interests in shops, the staff create a shop in the setting. This helps the children role play their experiences and develop and consolidate their understanding. Staff share information regarding the children's care and achievements through some discussion and through the regular sharing of the children's learning files and development summaries. However, the summaries of learning and their observations do not identify the children's next steps in learning. This restricts parents in fully supporting their children's learning at home.

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

There is an effective key person system in place. This provides good continuity and consistency of care for the children. Staff implement effective strategies to help settle new children in. For example, they encourage parents to participate in settling in visits and gather good information about the children's interests at home. Parents are also able to communicate changes in children's needs through informal ongoing conversations. This enables staff to have a good understanding of children's individual needs and to continually meet them. Staff are friendly and interact well with children. They demonstrate that they value and have a genuine interest in them. As a result children are happy and display confidence in interacting with staff. For example, when the staff invite them to choose when they want to go to the park, pointing out that it is very windy at the moment and that it might rain, children confidently inform them they want

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

Staff use positive strategies to promote children's good behaviour. They are good role models and the children benefit from their use of lots of praise and encouragement. This effectively promotes children's self-confidence, esteem and skills in cooperation. They also sensitively and clearly explain why behaviour is inappropriate as well as discussing the consequences of children's actions. This effectively helps children develop an understanding of how to manage their behaviour. Children develop a very good understanding of how to keep safe. They learn about road safety on their outings when staff discuss the safe procedures they must follow, such as holding the staff's hands at all times. They also enjoy participating in pressing the buttons at designated crossings and watching for the red man to change to green. The staff implement good methods to prevent the spread of infection. For example, they implement exclusion periods for

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

children who have infectious conditions. These measures effectively contribute to the children's good health and safety. There is a good emphasis on healthy lifestyles overall. For example, staff teach children to blow their own noses and to place their used tissues in a nearby bin. Children are very active and thoroughly enjoy visiting the local parks on a daily basis. Here, they have access to a wide range of innovative experiences that encourage and challenge their physical skills. For example, children enjoy using a pulley system to manoeuvre the bucket they have filled with sand. Children have a healthy snack of fresh fruit and biscuits every day and are able to choose what they wish to eat. However, the experiences and opportunities for them to fully develop their understanding and make healthy choices regarding food are slightly limited.

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

The learning environment is good overall in helping all children progress towards the early learning goals. Staff provide a very child-friendly environment, organising space and a wide range of stimulating resources well in all areas to promote children's play, independence and decision making skills. For example, staff create a cosy tent-like structure above the role play area for children to play. This motivates children's interest in the area and stimulates their play. Staff deployment is good. Children are within sight and hearing of staff at all times. This means staff give good support and meet the needs of all children, particularly those that need additional support with tasks such as hanging their coats up. Staff are effective in helping children prepare for their move to new settings so they feel happy and secure. Children gather confidence and familiarity by participating in

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

planned activities. For example, they share books on going to new schools and have discussions with the staff on the new environment they will encounter. These strategies help the children feel very confident when they ultimately transfer. In addition to this, staff effectively share what they know about children with the staff in the new setting. They keep in contact for a period of time after the children transfer to support the staff and the children with any occurring issues.

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provision

Staff have a good awareness of the welfare and safeguarding requirements. Arrangements for safeguarding children are effective with staff having very good knowledge of the procedures to follow when concerns are raised with children or adults. They demonstrate they are fully aware of their responsibilities. Risk assessments and daily checks are regularly conducted and reviewed, and there is appropriate action taken. For example, in addition to the exterior door of the main play room being locked when children are present, all visitors to the building are admitted by staff and records made of the time they are in the building. The leadership team uses robust recruitment and vetting procedures to appoint staff. There is a detailed induction process in place which covers a six week period and involves monthly supervision meetings. This means staff are fully aware of their roles and responsibilities and this, in turn, ensures children's health, safety

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provision

The management team has a good understanding overall of their responsibilities in meeting the learning and development requirements. The leadership and management team have effective systems for evaluating their provision and practice that help them to inform the nursery's priorities and drive improvement. They monitor the quality of the provision, creating a development plan and identifying improvements in outcomes for children. For example, all staff have renewed and updated their safeguarding knowledge by completing additional training. In addition to this they have applied for and secured new funding to improve the facilities, in particular to provide a low-level sink for children to use. The preschool staff also value parents' views and fully take account of them to help drive improvement in their partnership working and care of the children. For example, as a result of parents raising concerns about the extremely small outside area,

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provision

the staff now take the children to a nearby park on a daily basis.

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provision

In addition to regular staff meetings and informal discussion, supervision meetings take place on a monthly basis for all staff. This enables the small number of staff to discuss issues concerning the children's development and wellbeing and helps to ensure that staff successfully support the children's individual needs. The supervision meetings also effectively identify training needs and secure opportunities for professional development. This effectively supports and helps drive improvement within the nursery to the benefit of the children. The partnership with parents is strong overall. Staff provide a good range of information for parents which includes the nursery's policies and procedures. This helps parents to be aware of the staff's responsibilities. Parents are happy with the care and learning provided for their children. They feel their children are making good progress, particularly in their

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provision

confidence and physical development. They state that their children are excited to come to the preschool and that staff are professional, friendly and caring. They also feel that they are effectively involved in aspects of children's care and learning; for example, by helping children settle into the setting and sharing information on what children are doing at home. However, the limited information that is shared regarding supporting children's learning and development at home restricts a cohesive approach in supporting children's progress and improving outcomes for children.

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provision

Children benefit from the staff developing good links with other professionals and agencies. For example, the staff welcome and successfully implement advice from the local development worker, such as improving the promotion of children's understanding of good hygiene. They also support and use local area initiatives, such as a story-time session at a local library. This helps to promote the children's enjoyment and understanding in literacy.

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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 EY466433 Local authority Brighton & Hove Inspection number 928909 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 10 Number of children on roll 2 Name of provider Brighton Women's Centre Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01273698036

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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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