St Lawrence Pre-school (North Wingfield)

St Lawrence Pre-school (North Wingfield) The Rectory, St. Lawrence Road, North Wingfield, CHESTERFIELD, Derbyshire, S42 5HX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 22/01/2014 04/12/2008

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early years provision

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

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This provision is good

 Staff provide an imaginative range of activities based on children's interests and suggestions. This results in children being interested and highly motivated in their learning, which helps them to make good progress.  Staff undertake observations of children when they first start to gain a thorough baseline assessment, which gives them a clear picture of the child's starting point for their learning and development. This is supported by comprehensive information gained from parents about their child.  There are robust policies and procedures in place with staff being fully aware of their roles and responsibilities to help children to keep safe.  Children are well-prepared for their next stage of learning because staff provide appropriate support and focus on activities that best prepare children for their transitions to school.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 In a minority of cases, staff have not consistently shared children's learning and development folders with parents, enabling them to keep up to date with their child's learning.

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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 undertook a tour of the pre-school with the manager, including the outdoor environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children during activities in the pre-school room and outdoor environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the manager and staff at appropriate times throughout the inspection.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at the pre-schools policies and procedures and documentation relating to children's development.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documentation regarding staff suitability and qualifications of staff working with children.

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Information about the setting

St Lawrence Pre-school (North Wingfield) was previously registered in 2001. In 2008 it was re-registered as St Lawrence Pre-school (North Wingfield) as a charitable company limited by guarantee. It operates from the rectory school rooms within a refurbished church hall, which has level access from the car park. An enclosed outdoor play area is also available. The pre-school serves the local community and surrounding areas.

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Information about the setting

St Lawrence Pre-school (North Wingfield) is registered on the Early Years register and the compulsory and voluntary part of the Childcare Register. There are currently 78 children on roll within the early years age range. The group opens five days a week, during school term only. Sessions are from 8.30am until 4pm, Monday to Friday. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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Information about the setting

There are 12 staff who work directly with children over various sessions throughout the week. All have relevant early years qualifications at level 2 or above and the manager has achieved Early Years Professional Status. The pre-school provides support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and they receive support from the local authority.

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

 improve the information shared with all parents, so that they can be fully involved in their child's learning and development, for example, by consistently sharing children's development folders.

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who attend

Staff demonstrate a good knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage and understand how young children learn. Children enjoy and take part in a broad range of interesting experiences, which cover all areas of learning. Staff provide an imaginative range of activities based on children's interests and suggestions. This results in children being highly motivated in their learning and consequently, children make good progress towards the early learning goals. For example, a post office has been developed following children's interests in posting letters. Children work together to seal and weigh parcels, talking to the inspector about the box being 'full of sandwiches' and 'going to feed a leopard'.

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who attend

Staff have a wide range of good teaching skills. Children's communication and language abilities are developing well. This is because staff engage in a wide range of conversations with children and use open-ended questions to support them to develop their vocabulary. Children initiate their own play, as well as actively taking part in small group activities with an adult. Staff challenge children during these group times and extend their skills, such as singing songs to incorporate numeracy. Older children enjoy focused activities with staff that support their knowledge of letters and sounds and subsequently support their readiness for school and their next stage of learning. The knowledge gained from these groups becomes part of children's everyday language. For example, a child explains to the inspector that the play dough present they have made is 'a gift for my friend' and continues by identifying the initial sound of their friend's name. The pre-school

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who attend

environment supports children to be creative very well. Children have many resources, both indoors and outside, that they freely access. For example, outside children enjoy mixing food colouring with water and deciding which colour to paint the outside stone wall using large painting brushes. Children have access to a range of mark making equipment that supports their emergent writing. Staff encourage children to scribe their names on lists, for example, when taking turns to access the outdoor bikes. A member of staff supports children's physical skills as they learn to throw bean bags into numbered buckets, praising children for their attempts. The outdoor environment is developed to support both large and fine motor skills. Children enjoy planting in the garden area and this activity is echoed indoors as children proudly show the beans they have planted. They develop their knowledge of the living world as they know that the beans need watering everyday and

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who attend

take measurements of how much they have grown.

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who attend

Staff undertake observations of children when they first start to gain a thorough baseline assessment, which gives them a clear picture of the child's starting point for their learning and development. This is supported by comprehensive information gained from parents about their child. Ongoing observations and assessments support children's development folders and their individual plans, which are formed consistently each half term by key persons with next steps for learning identified for each area of learning. These focused targets support children to make good progress in their learning and development. Children's individual plans are shared with parents and activities that support children's learning at home are discussed. However, in a minority of cases, staff have not consistently shared children's learning and development folders with all parents, enabling them to become fully involved and up to date with their child's learning and development.

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

Children arrive with great enthusiasm and clearly enjoy being at the pre-school. They show confidence in staff, who demonstrate a very friendly and inclusive approach, helping everyone to feel valued and included. The warm and welcoming environment supports children to become confident and independent learners through a range of activities they can select from in their play areas. Children can rest in quieter spaces or engage in more physically, active play. Each child has a key person and excellent attachments are formed. Key persons know their children very well. There is a supportive settling-in procedure and detailed information gained from parents enables the provision to be tailored to support children's individual well-being. The designated special educational needs co-ordinators work with the key person to provide good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They act promptly and efficiently on advice from parents and

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

other specialists. The effective processes that are in place mean that management and staff can adapt, improve and provide activities to meet children's varying needs. Children are well-prepared for school as there are good links with the local schools and teachers who come in to meet children. The pre-school also encourages information sharing as children move on to their next stage in learning, to help provide children with continuity of care and learning.

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

Children demonstrate excellent behaviour throughout the pre-school. Staff are good role models and support children to understanding appropriate behaviour and respect for their friends. A designated behaviour management coordinator ensures a consistent approach and a positive environment is implemented throughout the pre-school. Children understand about sharing and taking turns and receive praise stickers for kindness and achievements, which are shared with parents. Children are encouraged to take measured risks, learning about keeping themselves safe, while challenging themselves to develop further skills. For example, a young child practises riding a bicycle in the outside environment without stabilisers, encouraged and praised by a member of staff for their newly developed pedalling skills.

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

Children gain an understanding of healthy practices as staff ensure they wash their hands before mealtimes and after using the toilet. Children sit together and enjoy a healthy snack of fruit, vegetables and cereals with a choice or water or milk to drink. They are encouraged in their independent skills as they help themselves to the snacks using the spoons and tongs available to put fruit onto their plates and pour their own drinks. Staff provide effective support at lunchtime, so that children are relaxed and confident while having their packed lunch. Children dress independently, putting on shoes and coats when preparing to go outside, which promotes their confidence and self-esteem. All children and staff practise regular fire drills to ensure everyone knows how to evacuate the building and remain safe in the event of an emergency.

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provision

The board of directors, manager and staff have a good understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and appropriate records are kept. Staff are clear about the procedures to follow if they have a concern about a child in their care and who the designated safeguarding officer for the pre-school is. Children's safety is a priority for all working in the pre-school and the setting has a strong security system in place to prevent unknown persons arriving to collect children. Robust systems, policies and procedures are in place and these are regularly reviewed to ensure they meet the current legal requirements and underpin children's safety and well-being at all times. Full risk assessments are in place for all indoor and outdoor areas and staff also undertake thorough daily checks to ensure that toys and equipment remain fit for use. Staff have first aid training, ensuring that children are kept safe. Accident and medication forms are

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provision

completed appropriately. The pre-school implements child monitoring forms when staff have a concern about a child's well-being or a parent has expressed concerns about their child's health. This means that regular observations are made during the session, which are shared with parents on collection of the child.

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provision

The pre-school ensures that all staff have a Disclosure and Barring Service check. Robust recruitment processes are in place and the manager oversees the induction process for new staff, who are allocated a mentor to support them during their probationary period. Annual performance appraisals ensure that training needs are identified and supervisions are held regularly. The manager works closely with the local authority to provide a programme of training, which supports staff in their continual professional development. The pre-school manager maintains a good overview of the educational programmes through an effective tracking and monitoring system. This ensures that children make good progress in accordance with typical expectations for their age and given their starting points. This system effectively highlights children who may be a risk of delay or groups of children who may need further support in a specific area, enabling relevant

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provision

interventions to be implemented. The pre-school work closely with the local authority improvement officer and carry out audits of the quality of the provision. This process supports the identification of improvements, which feeds into the pre-school's self- evaluation and improvement plan. The views of parents are important and the pre-school encourages feedback through meetings with board members. Regular management and staff meetings provide opportunity for everyone to contribute ideas and thoughts to decision making.

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provision

Effective partnerships with parents, external agencies and other providers are well- established and make a strong contribution to meeting children's needs. The manager and staff work closely with external professionals to support children, who may need additional interventions to support their learning and development. Good relationships are built with parents and key policies and procedures are shared to ensure that they are aware of the standards to which the pre-school operates and they are provided with details of how to make a complaint if they need to. Parents comment positively about the pre-school and how impressed they are with the provision offered. They remark on the links with the library service, which enables their children to share books at home and the experiences children have, for example, when the local police visited to talk about stranger danger with children.

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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 EY367191 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 948799

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 35 Number of children on roll 78 Name of provider St Lawrence Pre-school (North Wingfield) Date of previous inspection 04/12/2008 Telephone number 01246 852 281

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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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