The Littletons CofE First School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD Telephone: 0300 123 1231 Fax: 0300 123 3159 Minicom: 0161 618 8524 Email: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk Web: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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The Grange Pre-School The Grange Free Church Circuit Lane, Southcote Reading Berkshire RG30 3HD Our Reference 116829

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Monitoring for provision judged as inadequate

An Ofsted inspector, Louise Bonney, monitored your provision on 05/03/2014 following your inspection where the provision was judged to be inadequate.

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Outcome of monitoring

As a result of our inspection on 06/12/2013, we sent you a notice to improve. The actions you were set are included at the end of this letter.

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Outcome of monitoring

During the monitoring visit the inspector discussed with the manager the steps you had taken to address the actions raised in the notice to improve. The inspector discussed and observed behaviour management and looked at your risk assessment and accident records. She looked at records, observed practice and discussed how you have improved staff knowledge of the learning and development requirements. The inspector discussed your equality of opportunity policy and procedure, observed the activities and resources available and how staff work with the children. She discussed and looked at records of observations and assessment of children's progress and how key persons identify children's starting points and next steps and meet their individual learning and development needs. She looked at records and discussed how you supervise and coach staff, identify and provide training to improve practice.

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Outcome of monitoring

The inspector found that you welcome and are acting on advice from the local authority. You have taken effective steps to meet four of the Early Years Register actions raised, and six actions for both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. She also found that you have begun to effectively address the remaining actions and have an action plan, developed by the local authority, which is leading to improvements. However, this plan is not detailed, updated or evaluated to help you and the manager keep track of the improvements made or necessary, which might adversely affect how well you monitor and implement improvements in future. The manager has identified a system for future self-evaluation, which she Our Reference 116829

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Outcome of monitoring

intends to implement once the current action plan is completed. You held a meeting with parents to share the last inspection report, but have not continued to inform them about the action plan or the improvements being made. This does not involve them in the continuing evaluation and development of the setting, although all those interviewed by the inspector are happy with the provision.

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Outcome of monitoring

The inspector found that you are now recording accidents in detail as well as in a summary. This summary is used to support the review of your risk assessment, as it helps you to identify when and where accidents occur, and whether there is a pattern or hazard that can be minimised or removed. This improves children's safety.

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Outcome of monitoring

All staff have read the behaviour management policy and received in-house training that has led to consistent behaviour management strategies being used. Two staff, including the member with designated responsibility for behaviour management, are currently attending external training and adapting their training materials to provide staff with a useful tool for identifying and sharing strategies for managing different types of behaviour. The inspector observed children's behaviour and found they are polite, well-behaved and share well. Staff are consistent and children take notice when asked to adapt their behaviour. This has led to improvement in children's personal, social and emotional development.

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Outcome of monitoring

You have improved staff's understanding of learning and development requirements by providing training from an external professional, which has helped to improve practice, particularly in aspects of personal, social and emotional, and communication and language development. Improvements in observation, assessment and planning and the key person systems mean that staff more rigorously evaluate their observations, identify children's progress and next possible steps in learning and development, and use this information to inform planning. They summarise children's progress termly and share this with parents. The manager identifies that further training in observation, assessment and planning is required and intends to book this as soon as it becomes available through the local authority. Meanwhile, staff still lack understanding of how to effectively organise the environment and activities to stimulate and extend children's learning and development as much as possible,

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Outcome of monitoring

The inspector checked your new policy and procedure, and found this sufficiently sets out how you support equality of opportunity. New resources have been provided to reflect children's individual backgrounds. Systems for monitoring different groups of children, as well as individuals, have been developed to ensure any gaps in provision or progress are quickly identified and acted on. Children with English as an additional language benefit from support from staff who speak a similar language. However, although staff are aware of the prime areas of learning, these children have little interaction with adults during activities to enable them to develop communication and language skills. Neither has it been recognised that outdoor provision is too narrow and does not enable boys, who particularly love the wheeled toys and spend much of their time outside, to extend other areas of their learning and development while participating in their favourite activity. The manager is ready

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Outcome of monitoring

to evaluate how effectively the setting supports equality of opportunity, as she has just received a tool for auditing inclusive practice from the local authority.

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Outcome of monitoring

The inspector found the manager has introduced effective systems for the supervision of staff and takes action to meet staff's training needs. Each staff member now attends a supervision meeting once a term to discuss practice issues. The manager observes practice twice a week and provides staff with feedback and coaching, which is recorded in the staff member's supervision record book. Senior staff closely monitor children's learning journeys, to ensure observations and assessments are effectively carried out and used to inform planning, and provide staff with support and coaching. Staff now carry out peer-on-peer observations to identify and share strengths and weaknesses, helping them to develop awareness of effective practice. The development of the key person buddy system means children have better opportunities to become familiar with their key persons. This also encourages collaborative working as buddies provide each other with support and

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Outcome of monitoring

share knowledge about the children allocated to them. Staff are very happy with the increased supervision and opportunities to discuss practice issues. They feel this has already led to improved practice and show they are well motivated and prepared to continue developing their knowledge and skills.

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Outcome of monitoring

Having considered all the evidence, the inspector is of the opinion that the setting has taken prompt and effective action to address the points for improvement.

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Next steps

The next step will be a full inspection.

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Next steps

I hope that you have found the visit helpful in promoting improvement in your setting. If you have any further queries please contact us on the number at the top of this letter.

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Next steps

Nick Hudson National Director, Early Education Our Reference 116829

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Action Due date Closed date

ensure there are appropriate arrangements in place for the supervision of staff who have contact with children and families, which includes opportunities for staff to discuss any issues - particularly concerning children's development or well-being; identify solutions to address issues as they arise; and receive coaching to improve their personal effectiveness 06/01/2014 05/03/2014

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Action Due date Closed date

implement the behaviour management policy and procedures to promote consistency in behaviour management amongst staff 06/01/2014 05/03/2014

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Action Due date Closed date

improve staff's knowledge of the learning and development requirements in order to consider the individual needs, interests, and stage of development of each child and use this information to identify their starting points and next steps, and plan a challenging and enjoyable experience for each child in all of the areas of learning and development 06/01/2014

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Action Due date Closed date

ensure the written record of accidents or injuries contains all necessary detail, such as a full description of the accident and full details of the action taken 06/01/2014 05/03/2014

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Action Due date Closed date

implement a policy and procedures to promote equality of opportunity for all children; include how the individual needs of all children will be met; arrangements for reviewing, monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of inclusive practices; how inappropriate attitudes and practices will be challenged; and how the provision will encourage children to value and respect others 06/01/2014

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Action Due date Closed date

implement a clear and well-understood policy, and procedures, for assessing any risks to children's safety, and review risk assessments regularly, to ensure the risk is removed or minimised 06/01/2014 05/03/2014 Our Reference 116829

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Action Due date Closed date

improve self-evaluation systems and use this to drive future improvements by identifying the settings strengths and weaknesses accurately and taking appropriate action to address these 06/01/2014

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Action Due date Closed date

implement an effective key person system which ensures that every child's learning and care is tailored to meet their individual needs 06/01/2014

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Action Due date Closed date

review the training and development needs of all staff members to ensure they offer a quality learning experience for children that continually improves. 06/01/2014

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