St Peter's Preschool

St Peter's Preschool St. Peters Church, Kingstown Road, CARLISLE, Cumbria, CA3 0BB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 04/03/2014 15/03/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 The quality of teaching is inspirational. Staff use a wide range of techniques that successfully encourage, challenge and inspire children. This has a significant and highly positive effect on children's learning and development.  Leadership is exceptionally strong and as a result, practice is of a considerably high standard. Staff provide extremely rich and varied experiences for children of all ages, which ensures they make rapid progress in their learning from their starting points.  Excellent partnerships with parents, carers and others means that children's individual needs are met very effectively.  All staff have a full and thorough understanding of their role in safeguarding children and follow the strict procedures and policies in place.

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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 met with the manager of the setting and reviewed information, including suitability and qualifications of staff, safeguarding, monitoring practice and self-evaluation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector made observations during play in the dedicated play room, during outdoor play and at snack time.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed documentation, including children's assessment and planning records.  The inspector spoke to staff, children and parents and took account of their views.

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Information about the setting

St Peter's Pre-School registered in 1968 and is privately owned. The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register and both parts of the Childcare Register and operates from within St. Peter's Church hall on the northern outskirts of Carlisle. Children have access to the large church hall, dedicated pre-school room, a small adjoining room, the garden and enclosed outdoor play areas.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 28 children in the early years age group on roll. The setting supports children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery links with other professional agencies and early years settings. The pre-school is open each weekday from 9am to 12 noon, during term time only. The pre-school employs six members of staff, of whom, five hold appropriate early years qualifications. The pre-school is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance and National Day Nurseries Association.

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

 maximise the already excellent organisation of group sessions to make even better use of the session time available.

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who attend

The staff working throughout the setting have an exceptional knowledge of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They use this effectively and consistently to fully support children through all aspects of their learning and development. The quality of teaching is outstanding. Staff use a wide range of techniques to inspire, encourage and challenge children. Staff use what they know about individual children to tailor their interactions with them, supporting their individual needs exceptionally well. For example, during snack where children enjoy pancakes, staff ask particular children to recall what ingredients they used during role play that morning. Children are encouraged to think, recall and communicate what they remember from their earlier play. Staff are highly skilful in planning spontaneously for children. For example, one child excitedly tells a member of staff she visited a zoo over the weekend. The member of staff suggests she tries to find

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who attend

some of the animals within the role play items so they can look at them together. This quality interaction from the staff member invited the child to extend upon her individual experience and created a powerful learning opportunity. The environment is vibrant, interesting and highly engaging. There is a wealth of high quality resources available. The setting is explicitly organised with children in mind. For example, everything is stored at low level and presented to invite and intrigue children to be independent and active learners. Staff capture observations of children and use what they know to plan for each individual child. Furthermore, staff have fully embedded planning for the characteristics of effective learning. As a result, children become confident, keen learners who make rapid progress. Regular progress checks that are precise and informed from all involved in the care of the children, enable staff to monitor children's progress. This results in staff

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who attend

promptly accessing support and necessary interventions to ensure children's needs are continuously met.

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who attend

Children have a wonderful time engaging in a range of interesting and exciting play experiences that support learning across all areas. They have great fun exploring music and rhythm on a large African drum. They each have a traditional drum stick and have a delightful time taking turns banging the drum and noticing the different sounds they can make. Staff encourage children to think about beats as they suggest saying their name and counting the beats, supporting children's understanding of language and how words are formed. The dedicated, widely equipped writing corner, encourages children to make marks, draw and begin to write. They independently find materials to stick their work to the display wall, demonstrating a wonderful sense of achievement and belonging. Outside children have great opportunities to continue learning across all areas. Children work together collecting leaves, they use a range of tools to dig, fill, pour and make marks in

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who attend

the sand pits and use their imagination in the different play houses and dens. These are filled with interesting items to engage children's interest and promote leaning exceptionally well. Children join in with the routine of the day well and enjoy group times where they explore different things together, supporting children to learn together and from one another. There is scope to further enhance the organisation of group times so to ensure all children remain thoroughly engaged throughout.

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who attend

Children are independent at every opportunity. They prepare and serve their own snack; cutting up their fruit, spreading toppings on their pancakes and pouring their own drinks. They attend to their toileting needs independently, self-register and hang their coats on low level pegs. This strong emphasis on children's independence supports their smooth transition to school. Staff act promptly on identified gaps in children's learning, establishing links with appropriate professionals where necessary. Staff then work alongside those involved to ensure information is shared and a commitment is made to support learning. For example, staff implement individual plans for children based on the advice and guidance from specialists. Parents are highly involved in their children's learning. Information from parents contributes to children's starting points and regular updates from parents helps staff to make ongoing assessments of their key children. Staff

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who attend

encourage parents to continue learning at home through providing individual and targeted ideas for activities or interactions. For example, the setting has a borrowing library allowing staff to suggest particular books parents can share with their children. Furthermore, parents receive weekly information about activities children have enjoyed and future planning, enabling parents to share with their children what they enjoyed and have been learning about.

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

Staff are warm, friendly and sensitive to children's needs. Children's emotional well-being is extremely well supported as a result of the very positive relationships they share with staff. Staff seek much information about the children when they first start at the setting. Formal registration and 'all about me' forms and early discussions with parents supports key persons in getting to know their children well, helping to embed early attachments to ensure children feel secure. Children's behaviour is exemplary. They show consistent control over their behaviour and play in harmony together. This is a result of staff's consistent approach in reinforcing positive behaviour and the superb role models they are. Children support their peers in developing good manners, for example, at snack time one child reminds her friend, 'Now you say, Can I have milk please?' Children are seen offering each other cuddles, sharing and patiently waiting for their turn.

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

Innovative and stimulating activities support children in leading healthy lifestyles. For example, children have great fun exploring the effects of ingredients found in some fruit juices. This involved children experimenting with pouring juices on fabric and noticing the different stains they made, helping children understand the effects of what we eat and drink on our bodies. This novel way of helping children understand the importance of a healthy diet means children enjoy their learning and understand themselves, how to lead healthy lifestyles. Furthermore, children enjoy trips to the local orchard where they pick apples. They enjoying comparing the different tastes, learning how some are more bitter and sweet. Children make fruit ice lollies from the apples, helping to secure their understanding of where our foods come from and the importance of a healthy diet. Children develop an excellent understanding of the importance of fresh air and physical

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

exercise through a wide variety of activities. The free flow environment means children have daily access to the extremely well resourced outdoor area. They benefit from fresh air and engaging in much physical play. They use a range of movements as they crawl, climb and stretch all around the garden area on the wide range of equipment. Children take risks and learn how to keep themselves safe through staff's effective activity planning and high emphasis placed on children learning to be independent. For example, children learn to use tools safely as they cut up fruit for snack using plastic knives.

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provision

Staff prioritise children's safety and have a comprehensive awareness of safeguarding issues. They are competent in the procedures to follow in the event of any concerns about children or colleagues. The setting's designated safeguarding person takes the lead role in dealing with concerns. She has received specific training to support her in this role. All staff receive regular safeguarding training and are highly confident in how to use their skills and knowledge sensitively and appropriately. Robust recruitment and vetting systems ensure all adults working with children are suitable to do so. Extensive risk assessments for all areas of the building, the outdoor area and outings helps to ensure children are kept safe at all times. Furthermore, staff visit planned outing venues beforehand to ensure an accurate risk assessment can be completed and potential risks can be minimised.

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provision

The manager of the setting has a wealth of knowledge and experience. She is highly skilled and acts as a superb role model for the staff team. She employs a hands on approach and works directly with the children and staff on a daily basis. This affords her a realistic and accurate view of the setting, staff's performance and children's progress. Formal supervisions and appraisals encourage staff to be self-reflective as well providing an opportunity to discuss any concerns they may have. A targeted programme of professional development is in place to ensure staff have regular access to training that is linked to their individual needs. Staff use meetings to cascade training to each other, offer their views and discuss ways of implementing ideas for improving the setting. This results in the whole staff having exceptional knowledge and skills that are kept up to date. The entire staff team are passionate, fully invested in the setting and share a vision for

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provision

providing an outstanding service for the children and families. They show a clear drive for improvement. For example, staff immediately actioned areas for improvement set by the local authority early years advisor. Highly effective, ongoing self-evaluation, that incorporates the views of staff, children and parents, means the setting is entirely able to maintain continuous improvement.

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provision

Excellent partnerships between parents, external agencies and other providers are evident and well established. These contribute to meeting children's individual needs effectively. Staff have excellent relationships with parents. Effective communication systems ensure that parents are kept fully informed of their children's progress. Photographs and informative displays are used all around the learning environment. These illustrate the extensive range of activities that children are actively involved in during their time at the setting. Parents speak very positively of the setting and staff, commenting on the wealth of information they receive and how up-to-date they are kept on their children's development. A large proportion of parents have used the setting for many years, sending each of their children to attend. This demonstrates parents' continuous faith and confidence in the setting. Excellent links with other professionals support continuity in

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provision

children's learning and development tremendously well. The setting works highly effectively with other early years settings the children attend. For example, staff very regularly meet with childminder's children also attend. They meet for development discussions and share planning. This wonderfully promotes continuity of care and learning for the children in each of the settings they attend. Interventions are sought at the early stages to identify any gaps in learning and partnerships with relevant professional are immediately established. Staff ensure all relevant parties are involved and host meetings with parents, other early years providers and allocated professionals. This priority placed on sharing or information and joint working has great impact of the care and development of the children concerned.

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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 317607 Local authority Cumbria Inspection number 847729

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 28 Name of provider Margaret Emma Bravo Date of previous inspection 15/03/2011 Telephone number 01228 548156

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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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