Ladybirds Playschool LTD

Ladybirds Playschool LTD Community Centre, Poole Road, Upton, BH16 5JA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/03/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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 come into the pre-school with enthusiasm and keen to learn, quickly settle into a chosen activity.  Staff make use of effective systems of observation, assessment and planning to support children well, to move on successfully to the next stage of learning.  Children's physical development is promoted well; the outdoor environment offers children rich and challenging learning experiences.  Strong partnerships with parents mean that parents receive regular information about their child's care, learning and development.  The management and staff have a clear drive for continuous improvement, effectively evaluating all aspects of the pre-school provision, which benefits children.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not always vary the planned activities during second part of the day, such as art and craft experiences, which means children become less interested.  Staff do not make the most of opportunities to develop children's understanding of writing for a purpose, for example, by providing writing materials in role-play activities.

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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 the children's play and staff interaction, both indoors and outdoors.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documentation including a sample of children's records, planning and records to check staff suitability.  The inspector spoke to staff, the manager and a committee member.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to parents and carers on the day of the inspection and had discussions with the manager about the self-evaluation systems.

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Information about the setting

Ladybirds, has been running at the present address since 1992. It was re-registered in 2013 under a Limited company. Ladybirds operates from two rooms in the community centre in Upton, Poole, Dorset. The pre-school has access to cloakrooms, a kitchen and a fully enclosed outside area. Children attend from the local and surrounding areas, and part-time creche facilities are provided in partnership with the nearby Children's Centre. The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register, and provides care for children from the age of two to five years. The pre-school is open Monday to Thursday from 9.15am to 2.45pm. On Fridays, the session runs from 9.15am to 1.15pm. The pre-school is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged three and four. They support children who learn English as an additional language and those who have special educational needs/disabilities. The pre-school employs nine members of staff

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Information about the setting

who work with the children. The manager holds a level 6 qualification in childcare and of the remaining staff three hold level 3 qualifications; two hold a level 2 qualification and three are unqualified.

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

 review organisation of the play and learning experiences in the second part of the day to provide children with a wider range of choices, for example in creative play activities

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

 increase children's access to mark making resources to provide them with opportunities to experiment with writing, such as during role-play activities.

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who attend

Children enjoy coming to the pre-school, they settle quickly and happily engage in the play activities. As they arrive, they are able to choose whether to play indoors or outdoors. Many choose to go outside immediately and enjoy being active and exuberant as they explore larger play equipment. The wide range of stimulating play activities motivate children to get involved and are organised to enable children to follow their interests. For example, children have great fun outdoors as they walk along wooden planks on crates, showing care and control in their balancing skills. Staff supervise children closely and remind more confident children to be patient as younger children take longer. As younger children manage to walk along the planks without help, they proudly shout to others 'look at me'. A wide range of flexible materials encourages the children to build and construct using their own ideas. Children work together well as they find new ways to extend the

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who attend

track and staff encourage open-ended thinking by asking 'what else can you use'. Children eagerly select items from the 'loose play resources' to create an obstacle course and test out their ideas with excitement. This develops children's critical thinking and promotes their physical development.

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who attend

Staff make regular observations of children in their play and record this in the children's individual learning journeys. They use the information effectively to plan activities through individual play plans. This means children acquire the skills to learn and helps them move onto the next stage in their learning. As a result, children are making good progress in their learning. Parents receive regular feedback about their child's care and learning through effective two-way exchange of information. Parents are fully aware of the records the pre-school keep to monitor and support each child's learning. Staff encourage parents to take their child's 'learning journey' records home so they can see their child's achievements. This helps parents to feel fully involved in their child's learning. Staff give parents ideas on ways they can further support their child's learning at home. For example, to help children learn to recognise shapes through their play or by cutting

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who attend

children's sandwiches into different shapes. Staff organise specific events for parents, such as 'Dad's day' and 'Open days' to encourage parents to become actively involved in the pre-school.

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who attend

Children show confidence as they learn to do things for themselves, such as washing their hands and pouring their own drinks at snack time. This helps children become independent in readiness for school. Staff promote children's communication skills well. They follow the 'book week' theme organising specific activities to encourage children to develop a love of books and stories. This captures children's interest and imagination as staff make skilful use of props to bring stories to life and involve children in discussion. Children join in, repeating familiar phrases, and suggest what will happen next. This develops children's listening skills and extends their thinking. Children who learn English as an additional language are encouraged to communicate through using expressions. Staff introduce some simple sign language to aid communication. Children have some access to tools to help develop their emerging writing skills. However, staff do not maximise

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who attend

opportunities to model writing for a purpose, such as providing children with a good selection of writing materials in role-play activities. Children use their senses to explore the world around them. They are fascinated to discover the 'wiggly worms' as they dig in the soil and staff provide tools, such as magnifying glasses to allow children to look at the worms more closely. This generates lots of excitement and discussion. Children enjoy feeling the texture of the oats and concentrate carefully to spoon, scoop and transfer oats into various containers. Staff join in children's play to effectively extend children's learning by introducing mathematical language. For example, they talk about the containers being 'full' and 'empty' and encourage children to count how many spoonfuls they put it. Children become increasingly aware of number and capacity as they try to fit more oats into the containers and feel the difference between an empty and full container. This

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

Children build trusting relationships with staff and other children. Each child is allocated a key person whose role is to focus on meeting the child's care needs, liaising with parents and completing children's progress folders. Good partnerships established with parents means that information is regularly shared helping staff support children's emotional well- being. All children are valued. Staff make sure that all children are able to join in activities and feel included. They work closely with parents to support children who have specific needs to help children feel comfortable at the pre-school. Caring and friendly staff interact positively with the children, giving clear and consistent messages so that children learn the importance to show consideration for others. As a result, children learn to manage their behaviour and understand about sharing and taking turns. They know that they use the

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

timer when waiting for a turn on a specific piece of equipment being used by another child. Staff make good use of praise and encouragement to build children's confidence and self-esteem.

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

Staff carry out ongoing risks assessments of all areas children use, and for any outings to help them identify and minimise risks to children. Action is taken to address any issues, such as fixing a barrier when gaps identified in a broken piece of fencing outside. This means that children can move about freely and safely in their play. The staff member for health and safety monitors the accident reports to help identify any issues, enabling action to be taken to reduce risks in future. Staff supervise children well and teach them how to use equipment safely as they play. For example, staff talk to children about being careful with the scissors, asking children 'why do we have to be careful' and children reply 'because they're sharp'. This helps children gain an understanding of how to keep themselves and others safe. Good practices followed by staff support children's health. Children enjoy nutritional snacks of fresh fruit. Staff sit with children and talk to them

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

about healthy foods, helping raise children's awareness about eating healthily. Parents provide packed lunches for the children and staff are pro-active in encouraging parents to provide healthy options to promote children's good health. Most staff have a first aid qualification. This means they are confident of what to do in an emergency and they take prompt action to make sure that children receive the required care and treatment.

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

Overall, staff organise the pre-school effectively. They set up equipment daily and work hard to provide an inviting and enabling environment for children. As a result, children enjoy a well-resourced play and learning environment. However, at times, staff do not always vary planned activities in the second part of the day, such as creative play activities. This reduces the play experiences offered to children to enrich their learning. Children are able to make independent choices of how they want to play, such as whether to play indoors or outdoors. This adds to children's enjoyment and all round development. Good use of the outdoor play space and the weekly trips to local parks for forest school activities, mean that children benefit from lots of fresh air and exercise.

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provision

The management and staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They implement detailed recruitment and employment procedures to make sure that staff are suitable to work with children. Clear induction procedures and performance management processes help staff understand their roles and responsibilities. Staff are clear of their responsibilities to promote children's safety. They have recently updated their safeguarding training and this means they know the procedures to follow if they have any concerns about a child. The well-maintained records and documentation are in place to support children's safety and welfare.

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provision

The motivated staff team work together extremely well. They all have specific roles and the manager organises daily rotas, deploying staff effectively to make sure the busy sessions run smoothly. Staff regularly share information about children's individual needs so these can be followed during the day. Staff are positive about continuing to reflect on ways to make changes and to improve the outcomes for children. The manager discusses staff training needs during the supervision meetings and is very supportive of staff increasing their knowledge and learning new skills to benefit children. For example, staff recently attended training on communication and language, and observation and assessment. The manager is clear of her role in monitoring the delivery of the educational programme. She reviews the children's learning journal to check records are up-to-date, recently implementing systems to track children's progress to help identify any gaps in

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provision

their learning. This highlighted more mathematics needed to be included in planning of activities and the manager provided ideas for parents of ways they could introduce mathematics with children at home. The management and staff have effective systems in place to evaluate and review all aspect of the provision. They gain feedback from parents and children, welcoming ideas and suggestions to develop further the pre-school provision. The manager liaises closely with the local authority for advice and ongoing support.

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provision

Good partnerships with parents and others involved in children's care promote continuity for children's care and well-being. Staff liaise closely with other agencies supporting children's needs, such as portage, enabling them to support children's individual needs well. Staff have established strong links with the local schools. Children attend special events at school, such as the open mornings and the nativity play. This contributes towards children achieving a smooth move from pre-school to school. Parents are well informed about the pre-school provision through the parent pack, pre-school webpage, newsletters and a daily information board. The manager has the documentation translated for parents for whom English is not their first language, enabling them to receive information in their home language. Parents comment positively about the pre-school as a 'warm and friendly place' and how their children are 'very happy' at the setting.

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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 EY465769 Local authority Dorset Inspection number 933889 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 4 Total number of places 38 Number of children on roll 61 Name of provider Ladybirds Playschool LTD Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01202621570

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Setting details

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

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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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