Impstone Preschool

Impstone Pre-school Pamber Heath Memorial Hall, Pamber Heath Road, Pamber Heath, Tadley,Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG26 3TQ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17/09/2013 05/05/2009

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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

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This provision is inadequate

 The committee has failed to supply Ofsted with information on changes to its members which is an offence.  The committee and staff have failed to ensure parents have access to a clear complaints procedure should they wish to raise a concern. Also, information shared with parents does not always help them to build on children's learning experiences at home.  Staff interactions are not sufficiently focused on providing support that is specifically targeted on narrowing the gaps in children's learning. This is because some staff do not have a secure enough understanding of how to plan for the individual needs of children in a way that provides for their specific needs.  Self-evaluation and monitoring procedures have identified a number of issues and steps have been taken to make improvements. However, these new ways of working have not rapidly tackled the inconsistencies in teaching or in the progress that some groups

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This provision is inadequate

of children make, as these are still becoming embedded.

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It has the following strengths

 Children are safeguarded because all staff demonstrate a sound knowledge and understanding of their roles and responsibilities for child protection. Ongoing risk- assessments ensure that any potential hazards are identified and minimised.  The key person system provides each child with a warm relationship that caters well for their care needs and emotional security.

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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 activities in the main room of the pre-school and the garden area.  The inspector held a meeting with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to members of the staff team about the progress of their key children and their understanding of the policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's observation, tracking and assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of staff working with children in the pre-school and a range of other documentation.  The inspector took into account the views of parents and carers.

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Information about the setting

Impstone Pre-school, opened in 1989 and operates from Pamber Heath Memorial Hall, in Tadley near Basingstoke. The pre-school use the main hall, the kitchen and toilets of the single storey community building. It is run by a voluntary management committee. The group has access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 29 children on roll, in the early years age range. The setting receives support from the local authority and receives funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The pre-school is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9.15am to 12.15pm and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9.15am to 2.45pm during term time. There is also a lunchclub Monday to Thursday which operates from 12.15pm to 1pm. Children have the option to stay for lunch club until 1pm on

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Information about the setting

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The pre-school supports children who are learning English as an additional language and those children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. There are six members of staff working with the children; of these four hold appropriate early years qualifications. Two other members of staff are working towards qualifications.

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must:

 improve staff's knowledge of the learning and development requirements in order to consider the individual needs, interests and stage of development of each child and use this information to identify their next steps, and plan a challenging and enjoyable experience for each child in all of the areas of learning and development

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must:

 make the following information available to parents and/or carers: how parents and carers can share learning at home

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must:

 ensure the written procedure for dealing with concerns and complaints from parents and/or carers contains details of how to contact Ofsted, if they believe the provider is not meeting the EYFS requirements and details of the timescales in which the provider will respond to the complaint.

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who attend

Children are not making adequate progress in their learning overall because the levels of support they get from staff are not focused enough to meet their individual learning needs. Staff set out a generally suitable range of resources daily for the children to play with and organise some daily group opportunities to help children progress in their learning. However, because staff are unclear on the learning outcomes for each activity the range on offer does not provide enough focus on supporting children to make progress in key areas that are specific to their individual learning. In addition, the quality of staff interactions to support children to make good progress is often inconsistent across the pre-school, which limits children's capacity to learn. Although teaching overall is generally adequate, some examples of poor quality teaching were observed on the day of the inspection. For example, during a structured group activity for older children, they

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who attend

were observed to quickly became bored and disinterested in the game. This was because there were not enough cards for each child, the instructions were too complicated and it took too long for each child to take their turn. Staff failed to consider elements such as the amount of children taking part, their current interests or a clear outcome to work towards when planning the activity. As a result, this activity did not meet the groups' specific needs. This does not support children to become active learners because it does not sufficiently promote children's awareness of turn taking or listening to instructions in readiness for their move to school.

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who attend

Some staff provide suitable levels of support during routines activities which builds on children's developing understanding of mathematical language and concepts. For example, they model basic counting as they tidy up the toys, counting the bricks as they put them away or comparing quantity as children pour milk into their cups at snack time. However, these opportunities are not used to good effect by all staff and some staff simply supervise children in their play, tending to only intervene in the play when a dispute occurs or there is a change in routine. As a result, children mostly occupy themselves with the range of resources on offer, rather than experience good quality staff support that is specifically targeted on narrowing the gaps in their learning. This also means that those staff miss too many opportunities to actively build on what children already know. The combination of inconsistent staff support and lack of targeted activity planning means that

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who attend

children are not making as much progress as they could. This is particularly evident in areas such as personal and social development where some groups of children are struggling to build relationships with others. This is also evident in the progress some children make in areas of communication because staff have not yet introduced consistent teaching methods to support those children who are learning English as an additional language.

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who attend

Partnerships with parents and carers are friendly and suitable levels of information are shared with them about the activities in the setting, via newsletters and noticeboards. However, current relationships do not fully engage parents as partners because parents are not fully up to date with how their child is progressing in the pre-school. This is because children's most important next steps in their learning are not routinely shared with them in order that they can support progress towards these at home.

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

Children are happy to come to pre-school and settle well at the beginning of their day because staff have introduced a number of effective methods to encourage and support those children who are attending pre-school for the first time. This includes the successful implementation of a secure key person role that has led to strong, caring and respectful relationships with families. Young children receive plenty of cuddles and one to one support to help them settle. Staff use information gained from settling in visits and discussions with parents to help children enjoy their first experiences. For example, all children are provided with an individual drinks bottle when they first arrive, which has their photograph attached. This makes it not only easy for children to find their drink, but also helps the children feel recognised and included in the group. As a result, children are beginning to form attachments with staff which suitably promotes children's sense of

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

security within the pre-school. However the key person system is not so effective in making sure that activities and experiences children have are tailored to meet their individual learning needs. This affects how well children make progress in their all-round learning, including in their personal, social and emotional development.

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

Children are building on their understanding of good behaviour because staff model behaviour strategies based on kindness, safety and respect. Clear, consistent routines and simple instructions are provided to children to help them recognise the rules of the group. For example, when children get up during lunchtime, staff gently direct them back to the table explaining the rules. They then spend time sitting and talking to children, to value how well they have responded to what was asked of them. All staff are polite; they make individual time to deal with children's requests and speak positively to the children at all times. As a result, there are few incidents of poor behaviour, other than lack of engagement during some activities. There is a suitable range of toys and resources in the pre-school which children can access from the low level shelves or units that staff put out every day. These mostly meet their needs, although there are fewer books and images

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

that acknowledge some children's cultures or backgrounds.

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

Children's knowledge of a healthy lifestyle is promoted as children have continuous access to drinking water and staff observe robust hygiene procedures when serving food. Suitable procedures for nappy changing, the administration of some medication and the treatment of accidents are in place. Children have some opportunities to develop their physical skills as they engage in some physical play in a sectioned off area of the main play space. For example, they negotiate the rungs on the ladder of the climbing frame or ride bikes with increasing control down the grassy slope. Children clearly enjoy being outside but the outdoor area is not used well enough to support children's learning because poor planning and staff interactions limit children's learning potential in this area.

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provision

Safeguarding responsibilities have been not been fully met. Representatives from the committee have failed to update Ofsted of a change to the details of the individuals who make up the pre-school committee. It is requirement to do so, however at the inspection it was found that the provider had a reasonable excuse as to why a notification had not been made sooner. Ofsted do not intend to take further action on this occasion.

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provision

Further safeguarding responsibilities have been suitably met. The staff team have a satisfactory understanding and awareness of current child protection procedures and the routes of referral should they have a concern about a child in their care. A secure recruitment and induction procedure is in place for new staff and a record of the Disclosure and Barring Service check is obtained for all adults working with the children, including trainees and students. There is a clear mobile phone and camera usage policy, which also extends to all tablet computers and other media. This is strictly enforced to safeguard children's privacy. Staff undertake daily risk assessments and areas of the pre- school and the resources and equipment are routinely checked.

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provision

The manager has a developing understanding of her responsibility to ensure that the pre- school meets the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Since her recent promotion to manager, she has conducted a review of the pre-schools' strengths and weaknesses, which has led to an action plan of key points to address over the coming months. Steady progress has been made towards implementing this and has included a number of changes to staffing; with the recruitment of new staff and the introduction of a supervision policy to tackle weaknesses in teaching. An ongoing system of staff training and supervision opportunities give staff the opportunity to improve on their practice and for weaker teaching to be steadily addressed. However, much of this working practice is new to the staff team this term and the manager has yet to monitor the success of these new initiatives, which are still becoming embedded. This means that while some elements

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provision

of teaching are currently inadequate, there is sufficient capacity to improve on this over the coming months. Self-evaluation and monitoring procedures also include the introduction of an electronic monitoring system to ensure that weaknesses in the progress of groups of children are quickly identified and suitable support is provided. This too has also been recently introduced but has already supported a number of changes in the pre- school. This includes the use of a number of new strategies, such as partnership working with others, to support children with English as an additional language. It also includes the review of resources and routines to enable the successful transition of two year olds into the group.

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provision

Parents speak highly of the setting and staff appear to have positive relationships with parents and carers. They have some opportunities to input their views or feedback on the service through questionnaires and daily conversations with staff. The pre-school also provides parents with a procedure to follow should they have a concern that they wish to report. However, this policy currently lacks sufficient detail on how the complaint will be resolved and staff are not secure in their knowledge of how to deal with such issues. This is a breach of a legal requirement. Some arrangements for sharing information with other providers, for example the local school, have been established and similar strategies have been adopted in the pre-school to promote continuity when children make their move to school.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 keep a written statement of procedures to be followed in relation to complaints which relate to the requirements of the Childcare Register and which a parent makes in writing or by email (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  inform Ofsted of the following: the name, date of birth, address and telephone number of any partner, director, senior officer or other member of the governing body (compulsory part of the Childcare Register).  keep a written statement of procedures to be followed in relation to complaints which relate to the requirements of the Childcare Register and which a parent makes in writing or by email (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).

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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 Satisfactory Satisfactory provision is performing less well than expectations in one or more of the key areas. It requires improvement in order to be good. 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 the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be inspected again within 12 months of the date of this inspection.

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Grade Judgement Description

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 507838 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 843300 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 29 Name of provider Impstone Pre-school Committee Date of previous inspection 05/05/2009 Telephone number 01189 701048

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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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