ButtonsnBows Pre School

Buttons & Bows Playgroup Asby Close, Middleton, MANCHESTER, Lancashire, M24 4JF

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 04/03/2014 06/07/2009

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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

 Children's good communication and language skills are developing well because staff use a variety of techniques effectively to support the children's learning.  Children who speak English as an additional language and those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified quickly and supported well by staff. Targeted learning programmes support individual needs which ensures children are making good progress in their learning.  Parent partnership is exceptionally strong as staff use highly effective methods to support the engagement with them. Parents are encouraged to support and share information of their child's learning at home.  Leadership is good, there is strong focus on monitoring, evaluation and reflective practice which ensures that staff, parents and children are fully involved in the setting's continual improvement.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 There are missed opportunities for children's learning to be extended through the use of open-ended questioning and allowing children time to think and digest information they have been given.  There is scope to enhance the environment indoors and outdoors to offer better learning opportunities for children.

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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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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed staff and children participating in activities inside the setting and in the outside learning environment.  The inspector held a meeting with the manager of the setting.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector discussed children's assessment records and planning documentation with individual key persons and looked at evidence files.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of practitioners working with children, the provider's self-evaluation form and improvement plan.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to at the beginning and the end of the session.

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Information about the setting

Buttons and Bows playgroup was registered in 1993 and is on the Early Years Register. Buttons and Bows Playgroup operates from Demesne Community Centre in the Middleton area of Manchester and is managed by the pre-school manager. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs six members of childcare staff, of these; four hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3. The nursery opens Monday to Friday term time only. Sessions are from 9.30am until 12.30pm. There are currently 21 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four- year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 enhance staff skills in using more open-ended questioning to ensure children's thinking and learning is further extended

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

 enhance the learning environment to provide a more challenging and flexible approach across all areas of provision so children make even better progress in their learning and development.

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who attend

Children make good progress in their learning and development because staff have a secure knowledge of children's prior skills upon entry to the setting. Staff use this information as a starting point for their observation and assessment of their key children. Staff undertake sensitive observations of individual children and use these to plan and support their individual needs. They plan stimulating and challenging activities to help children progress further. However, staff do not always incorporate these into the learning environment meaning some learning opportunities are occasionally missed. A particular strength is the promotion of children's speech and language. This means their skills are rapidly improving due to staff using specialist learning programmes, such as 'Blast' to develop their speaking and listening skills. Children with English as an additional language and children with a special educational need and/or disabilities have made significant

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who attend

progress after taking part in the programme. Staff quickly identify children needing extra support with communication and language development and support them in using the learning programme. Children participate in small groups confidently giving them the skills needed to develop their personal, social and emotional development. Assessments show they are improving consistently over a sustained period and the gap is closing. Some staff use good open-ended questions with children to encourage further learning whilst participating in activities in the learning areas indoors and outdoors. However there are some inconsistencies in the way good questioning skills are being used. Some practitioner's do not allow children sufficient time to digest the given question and process an answer, therefore, learning opportunities are not always maximised.

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who attend

The quality of teaching is good as staff demonstrate a good knowledge of their key children and they plan targeted learning opportunities to enhance children's learning. However, these are not consistently used effectively to enhance the learning environment to ensure children have scope to be creative and imaginative in their play. The learning environment has a range of good quality resources but these are sometimes underused due to learning areas being overcrowded. That said, children are engaged and use the areas in a calm manner and confidently make choices about the activities they want to take part in. For example, in the messy play areas children choose to play with the gloopy mixture made from cornflour, using various tools to create marks in the glitter. They access the water tray and use the jugs, boats or foam letters developing their imagination. Children delight in using the painting easel to create their very own picture. Outside they

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who attend

access a variety of push along and pedal bikes as they actively develop their large motor skills. Children access a variety of activities under the canopy area, including hairdressers, a large ball pool and activities to express their creative arts and design, such as, pencils, glue and sticking and paint.

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who attend

The teaching practice is good resulting in children being very well supported in their development across all seven areas of learning. Parents are encouraged to be fully involved in their child's learning and development. The key person system supports engagement with parents, including those who may be more reluctant to contribute. Consequently, parents are involved in their child's first initial assessments by providing their key person with vital information of what their child can already do. Staff provide parents with weekly sheets to share what children have been learning throughout the week. Additionally, parents are asked to comment and to share information between their home and the setting to provide a consistent approach to their child's learning. Parents are given a weekend book every Friday to take home and record what their child does over the weekend. This creates a strong link between home learning and the setting,

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who attend

giving staff vital information regarding what families have engaged in over the weekend to help aid their individual planning. The setting creates a newsletter to keep parents informed of any activities taking place in the setting, for example, recently was book week and children are invited to wear fancy dress to celebrate book week together. The newsletter also informs parents of new key groups, of their child's key group and how parents can access their child's weekly planning. Parents are also encouraged to use the settings home library service allowing children to choose their favourite book to take home and read over the weekend. Children's progress check at age two is completed and parents are involved in this process. This helps staff identify at an early stage any intervention that a child may need to maximise their learning and ensure they are making at least good progress in readiness for school and their future learning.

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

A secure key person system means children are very secure and settled. Staff demonstrate good care practices which ensures all children make secure emotional attachments with staff, adapting activities to suit individual needs. For example, a staff member adapted an activity using plastic strawberries for a child with difficulties in communicating by clapping out a rhythm pattern. This enables the child to be able to respond by repeating the rhythm back to the staff member. Children show confidence and trust the adults around them because staff respond promptly to any emerging needs and identify ways in which to offer support. Parents provide staff with words and phrases from their home language. Children access the word cards around the learning environment, this helps children feel comfortable within the setting and gives them the confidence to develop their communication skills further. A multicultural display ensures children feel

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

welcome and provides vital information for parents.

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

The setting have attained a 'Golden Grin' award in recognition for their healthy eating initiatives to promote healthy lifestyles. Children delight in mixing the pancake ingredients together and enjoy tasting what they have made for their snack. Staff demonstrate good behaviour by encouraging participation in everyday routines, for example, at registration, two children are chosen to sit at the front with a clip board, and they say each child's name aloud and mark them on their register. This action promotes an understanding of the rules and children are gaining confidence to speak in groups. A visual timetable wall and book, shows the daily routine in photographs and captions and enables children to understand what is happening now and what will be happening next. Children enjoy singing their 'good morning' and 'what's the weather' song as they engage in a group discussion about positive behaviour. Therefore, children are reminded and given clear

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

boundaries to follow. The outdoor canopy area allows for continuous outdoor play in all weathers. Children make use of the large climbing apparatus and slide in which they develop their physical skills, such as, balance, climbing and sliding. Children have access to a large cycle path a short distance from the playground which they use to pedal their bikes around the track. Children are learning to become independent learners as they are able to self-select a wide range of activities in the playground. Children learn how to stay safe and staff model how to use equipment safely, such as, scissor safety and how to use the outdoor equipment in a safe manner. Additionally, they learn to manage risk in a safe and supportive nursery.

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

Parents comment their children enjoy their time at the setting. They have progressed in speech and language development. Some children had very little spoken language before joining the setting, this is rapidly developing. Parents are overall very happy with the setting and the effect it has had on their children's development. As a result, all children in the setting are emotionally secure. All staff have a clear understanding of their responsibility to safeguard the children in their care. Staff are fully aware of and sensitive to, potential and actual harm to children. Children's behaviour within the setting shows they feel safe and secure with the adults around them. Children are confident when seeking help and support from staff, they are able to share concerns or problems with their key person or any of the adults around them. For example, a child showed no concerns or difficulties in gaining the adults attention; the staff member quickly noticed

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

the child's need and attended to the child immediately.

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provision

Children are effectively safeguarded because there are robust safety measures in place and staff understand these well. All staff have undergone safeguarding training and as a result, they know what to do should they have a concern about a child in their care. Recruitment, supervision and training have a very strong focus on safeguarding and child protection and policies and procedures are implemented consistently. Recruitment and vetting procedures are rigorous to ensure all staff are suitable to care for children. Staff receive an induction pack on their first day and receive induction training from the management team. Staff benefit from peer observations and yearly appraisals. This ensures a consistent high standard of quality teaching can be achieved. Staff receive on- going training and support from the management team along with training from the local authority early years teacher team.

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provision

Educational programmes ensure a broad range of experiences help children make good progress towards the early learning goals. This is due to good parent partnership, staff having a clear understanding of how children learn and develop and good monitoring from management. The management team fully understands their responsibility to monitor planning and assessments made for each child. Management team have identified the need for extra support for children with communication difficulties, they have developed support for these children and in doing so the gap in learning is beginning to close. The management team monitor the quality of teaching and learning skills by taking regular peer observations of staff during practice. The manager holds a relevant and in date first- aid certificate and is the named person for safeguarding. The setting has good partnerships with multi-professional agencies which ensures children accessing the setting

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provision

receive any interventions as early as possible. Staff are able to seek advice from other professionals, which helps them use appropriate strategies to effectively meet the needs of all children. Staff have a weekly team meeting to discuss improvements, training requirements and to ensure staff understand the Statutory framework; this takes place whilst children are not present.

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provision

Leadership and management practices in the setting are good, resulting in the setting working together as an effective team which meets the full needs of all the children and families. Staff make regular risk assessments to help identify any potential risks or hazards, they work together to identify areas for improvement and put action plans in place to achieve their goals. The setting is currently part of the 'High 5' quality assurance scheme. There is a clear focus on improvement and self-evaluation which involves all staff, parents and children. Staff use parental questionnaires to form part of the settings improvement plans. The setting have worked on improving parent partnership and feel this is now a main strength of the setting. Partnership with parents is very strong and as a result, children's needs are met well.

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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 316397 Local authority Rochdale Inspection number 865092

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 21 Number of children on roll 21 Name of provider Demesne Community Association Date of previous inspection 06/07/2009 Telephone number 0161 653 2902

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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

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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