Stonebroom Pre-School

Stonebroom Pre-School Stonebroom Village Hall for Senior Citizens, Off Cleveland Road, Stonebroom, Alfreton, DERBYSHIRE, DE55 6JF

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 24/02/2014 13/05/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 2 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Teaching in the pre-school is strong, particularly with regards to communication and language. Staff provide interesting and challenging activities for the children across a broad educational programme. As a result, children makes good progress because they are engaged and motivated.  The environment is safe and welcoming. Children are happy and benefit from the wide range of resources that successfully support their learning and play.  The manager and staff work closely in partnership with parents and the local authority to improve the provision and provide consistency for children.

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It is not yet good because

 Not all staff have a sound knowledge of the policies in place with regards to child protection, to ensure that the swiftest and most appropriate action is taken to safeguard children.  The committee do not fully understand their roles and responsibilities in ensuring that the Statutory requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage are met. As a result, there is an over-reliance on the manager to monitor the pre-school.  The children are not provided with consistently regular access to the outdoor area. As a result, children do not always benefit from daily fresh air and outdoor play.

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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 pre-school and the outside learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector conducted meetings with a number of parents and discussed their views.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed the children's assessment records and spoke to both the manager and the staff throughout the inspection.  The inspector conducted a joint observation.  The inspector checked the relevant policies and procedures for the pre-school.

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Information about the setting

Stonebroom pre-school was registered in 2005 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is a committee-run pre-school situated in a village hall, located in Stonebroom, Alfreton, Derbyshire. The pre-school serves the local area and is accessible to all children. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The pre-school employs four members of childcare staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3. Supply staff, volunteers, students and parents also provide support to the staff. The pre-school also receives support from the local authority.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school opens Monday to Friday during term time. Sessions are from 9am until 12pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 24 children attending who are in the early years age group. The pre-school supports children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and provides funded early education for two, three, and four-year-old children.

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must:

 improve staff's understanding of the policies and procedures in place for safeguarding, specifically in relation to recording concerns and the reporting structure, to ensure the most appropriate and swift action is taken to safeguard children should a concern arise.

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must:

 ensure that the leadership and management team have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities with regard to ensuring that the safeguarding and welfare, and learning and development requirements are met.

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

 provide the children with more frequent opportunities to access the outdoor area to further support their physical well-being and enhance their learning opportunities.

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who attend

Throughout the pre-school, the children are supported and cared for and their needs are at the forefront for each member of staff. They cater the activities to the children's interests and have a positive relationship with each child. Staff understand where the children are at developmentally and complete accurate assessments on their progress. They highlight the starting points of the children and subsequently make frequent updates on their progress, therefore, ensuring that any issues with regards to a child's development is highlighted. This means that key workers effectively identify children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and take appropriate action, such as contacting outside agencies for guidance and assistance. From this, they are able to put these suggestions in to practice and devise the next steps in their learning, therefore enhancing the children's rate of progress.

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who attend

The quality of teaching within the pre-school is effective. Staff communicate well with the children. They use good quality questions in order to encourage the children to think for themselves and become efficient learners. This also supports them in becoming proficient speakers. Language development has been improved by the introduction of 'Every Child a Talker' and by employing an Early Language Lead Practitioner who has introduced an array of activities to aid language development. Staff provide story sacks that the children take home and share with their families. These have received positive feedback from the parents who are then supporting the children's learning at home, specifically in the area of communication and language skills. The staff plan and implement a number of interesting activities which cater for the seven areas of learning and the children enjoy these. They have access to a range of stimulating resources, including the use of computers, which are

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who attend

appropriate to the age range and ability.

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who attend

Opportunities are available in the outdoor area that expand on children's learning. For example, a 'bug hotel' helps children to learn about nature and living things, they are creative in a well -resourced 'mud kitchen' and a den where they can sit quietly and read a book, all of which are popular with the children. The skills that children gain from the activities and opportunities at the pre-school, such as good language and independence, prepare them well for their next stage in learning. Parental involvement in children's learning is an important aspect for the pre-school and maintaining positive relationships with the parents is of prime importance to the staff. To ensure that this is done, the staff make themselves available on a daily basis for discussions with the parents and have regular formal and informal contact with them in order to highlight each child's progress and development.

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

Children are appropriately cared for within the pre-school and the staff provide a warm and welcoming environment for the children to learn in. Due to secure relationships with the parents, the staff are aware of any sensitive issues which may be effecting a child, and act on this accordingly. As a result, each child is settled and secure within their care. As well as supporting children's emotional preparedness, the pre-school has procedures in place to ensure that the process of transition to the pre-school and then onto the local primary school runs as smoothly as possibly. The children are well behaved and the staff use positive praise consistently and appropriately, to which the children respond well. Each member of staff understands the importance of informing the children of healthy life-style choices and this is incorporated in to the daily activities set out within the pre-school. For example, staff encourage children to understand healthy foods while completing a fruit

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

and vegetable jigsaws and when playing with the role-play food sets. Care routines are well established. Staff support the children and encourage them to wash their hands after they go to the toilet and before snack time. This supports their independence and self- help skills.

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

The outdoor space is sufficiently used to support the children's physical development and to promote the children's health and wellbeing. For example, in the garden the children are growing and attending to fruit of their own. The children thoroughly enjoy taking advantage of the outdoor area and this is evident in their eagerness to run and climb in the garden. Staff develop children's understanding of risk taking and staying safe when using the outdoor equipment, consequently encouraging them to become active learners at the same time. Staff provide support and guides them through the tasks, such as climbing, as opposed to doing it for them. This helps to develop their independence and self-confidence and teaches them the importance of keeping themselves safe. However, the outdoor area is not always regularly and consistently used, which means that children are not enjoying these experiences to the full.

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

The pre-school has an array of policies and procedures in place to order make certain that the children are safe and secure. Consequently, health and safety hazards in the indoor and outdoor environment are minimised. For example, risk assessments are carried and regularly reviewed; daily checks supplement the risk assessments in promoting children's safety. The pre-school has an effective key worker system in place and the parents are made fully aware of this. They have regular contact with the families and have been able to build positive and strong relationships throughout. This aspect of the pre-school was positively commented on by the parents.

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provision

The pre-school manager is the designated person for safeguarding. She has completed training and has a sound understanding of how to keep children safe from harm. Staff are able to recognise indicators of abuse and know to take action, if they have a concern. There is a comprehensive safeguarding policy that includes the use of mobile phones and cameras in the pre-school. However, some staff are unclear as to what the reporting procedure is when there is a safeguarding concern and not all staff are aware that they must record concerns. The committee are not fully clear in their understanding, or role in safeguarding. Although staff are confident that they would take action, most appropriate action may not be taken immediately to ensure children's safety. Recruitment procedures are sufficiently robust. All of the teaching staff are suitably qualified and all staff have been subject to the required Disclosure and Barring Service checks. New members of staff

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provision

are provided with an induction process so that they understand what is expected of them. Visitors to the pre-school are met by staff and are fully informed of the appropriate procedure of signing in and not being unsupervised with children.

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provision

The staff are monitored by regular meetings, training sessions and receive appraisals on an annual basis. The manager is in the process of introducing supervisions with each member of staff in order to highlight any training needs or issues in the short term. As a result, the staff are suitably qualified and constantly improving their knowledge and understanding of the early years over time. The current manager has a clear understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage and how the staff can implement this in to the pre-school. The manager has a suitable awareness of how to improve the pre- school and what steps are needed in order to make this happen; the staff work closely with the Local Authority to support improvement. However, the committee are not fully aware of their role in ensuring that requirements are met. They are willing and enthusiastic, but lack the understanding of how to monitor and evaluate the quality of

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provision

teaching and rely on the manager to ensure the welfare requirements continue to be met. Nevertheless, because the manager and staff are skilled, children continue to be appropriately cared for and they make good progress in their learning. The staff team work closely with external support to evaluate the pre-school. A new self-evaluation process is in place and key areas for improvement have been identified. The management of the pre-school, along with the Local Authority, are working towards these objectives.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are effective and ensure the needs of each child is being met. Parents have commented on the progress their child has made whilst attending the pre- school and this positivity was confirmed during discussions with the parents at the inspection. There is a range of information accessible to the parents as they enter the pre- school, such as, policies and procedures and they are also kept informed of upcoming events via newsletters and text messages. Staff understand the importance of building relationships with other professionals and providers. For example, if the child attends another setting they maintain contact in order to ensure continuity in their care and learning.

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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 EY311549 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 862075

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 16 Number of children on roll 24 Name of provider Stonebroom Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 13/05/2009 Telephone number 07971 804936

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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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