Courtney Ladybirds Preschool

Courtney Ladybirds Courtney Primary School, Courtney Road, Bristol, Avon, BS15 9RD

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 24/03/2014 23/09/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 3 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

 Effective monitoring and tracking of children's progress by staff ensure they receive prompt support , to help them to reach their full learning potential.  Children benefit from a range of play experiences and effective teaching practices, which facilitate them to explore, investigate and learn during play.  Staff are caring, welcoming and warm, resulting in children quickly settling down on arrival and separating from their parents and carers with ease.  The manager and staff are highly driven to make continuous improvements through their well-focused action plans and changes made since the previous inspection.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 During large group story sessions, some children are less focused, which leads to behaviour concerns and staff do not always consistently manage this effectively.  There are fewer visual teaching aids outdoors to promote children's learning experiences including the use of numerals, letter and images; children do not fully benefit from continuous learning in all environments.

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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 part 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 viewed all areas used by children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the manager, staff, parents and children throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed the interaction of staff and children during a range of activities.  The inspector undertook a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed a selection of documentation including children's development records, policies and procedures including staff suitability checks.

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Information about the setting

Courtney Ladybirds is a voluntary organisation run by a committee of parents. It is based on the grounds of Courtney Primary School, which provides a large play space, toilet facilities, kitchen and small office. Outside, children have access to an enclosed playground. There are 58 children on roll and the pre-school is in receipt of government funding for early years education. The children come from the local community in Kingswood, on the outskirts of Bristol. The pre-school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The setting opens from Monday to Friday, during school term. It offers a choice of full day, morning and afternoon sessions including lunch club. There are 12 members of staff, all of whom hold recognised childcare qualifications at levels 2, 3, 4 or 5.. The group is affiliated to the Pre-School Learning Alliance and is included in South Gloucestershire Education Authority's Early Years Development Plan. The

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Information about the setting

pre-school is on the Early Years Register and voluntary part of the Childcare Register.

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

 review the arrangements for story time by introducing smaller groups, to effectively manage behaviour and support children with varying ages, interest and abilities so they fully benefit from the learning experience

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

 extend the use of visual teaching aids outdoors including numerals and letters, to provide continuous learning opportunities in all environments.

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who attend

Children are making good progress in their learning and development. Staff closely monitor and assess children's learning needs when they first start. They gather detailed information about children's interests and preferences from parents. Staff use children's initial assessments to effectively plan for their ongoing learning needs and stages of development. Staff are knowledgeable in planning for the learning and development requirements based on the Early Years Foundation Stage. They recognise the importance of following children's interests and preferences, while ensuring they are making good progress in all seven areas of learning. Staff provide challenging learning experiences for those children who are gifted and talented, by setting suitable targets to enhance their learning. Staff show a good understanding of the needs of all children including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They effectively use 'play plans' to record,

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who attend

identify and set specific targets, in conjunction with parents, in order to support their needs. Staff have in place individual learning diaries to gather children's ongoing assessments and record termly 'learning and development summary' forms. Staff share and discuss children's progress with parents during formal meetings and through informal daily discussions. They complete detailed progress checks for children aged two years. This helps staff to identify earlier on, the needs of younger children and to work closely with parents to meet individual learning requirements. Gaps in learning are rapidly closing as staff keep a close track on children's progress. Such effective practices ensure that children do receive the necessary support they need earlier on, thus helping them to reach their full learning potential. Furthermore, it prepares children for the next stage of learning when they start school.

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who attend

Children benefit from a range of play experiences. Effective teaching practices facilitate children to explore, investigate and learn during play. Staff provide opportunities for group learning and discussions throughout children's daily routines. This helps to promote children's language, communication and social skills. Staff are effective in using open- ended questions to encourage children to think and plan what to do next. For example, staff engage with children outdoors as they play at the sand pit. Staff discuss mathematical concepts such as heavy and light as the children hold a large tree log, which they use to press onto the sand. Staff further introduce new vocabulary such as 'bark' and ask children suitable questions including 'where did the log come from?' This teaches children to name and recognise the different parts of a tree. However, there is are fewer visual teaching aids outdoors to promote children's learning experiences including the use

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who attend

of numerals, letter and images. As a result, children do not fully benefit from the continuous learning provision in all environments.

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who attend

Children enjoy participating in role-play activities, which helps them develop imaginative skills. For instance, they pretend they are visiting the library and sit on empty crates under their 'tent', which they have created using a tarpaulin. They look through books together that they have collected. Staff join in with their role play and extend their play further by suggesting 'tickets' to check-in/out books from their 'library'. Staff have taken children to the local library for visits before. In addition, the local librarian visits to read stories to children. It is evident that children are benefiting from such hands-on experiences, which they are encouraged to recreate in their play. This demonstrates that staff are providing children with rich learning experiences that motivates them to learn and thrive.

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who attend

Staff plan and provide a balance of adult-led activities and child-initiated experiences. For example, children extend their creative skills as they make Mother's Day cards with staff. Staff provide a range of creative material and encourage children to create their own unique cards. Staff sit alongside the children and teach them how to hold scissors correctly when cutting out the card. They teach children how to write their names, at times using dot-to-dot, which helps to develop their early writing skills. Children show good hand-eye coordination and some older children are confident to write the first few letters of their name independently. Children show good focus and concentration as they draw, including one child who creates a lovely 'rainbow' drawing, which she spends a great deal of time and effort on. Staff recognise this and show they value all children's endeavours by offering warm praise and continuous encouragement. Consequently, this

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who attend

encourages children, builds on their self-confidence, and helps them to achieve and do well. Children further benefit from a computer workstation, which is located in the quiet room where they can access suitable educational games. This helps children to learn and acquire the skills to use everyday technology. The quiet room offers access to a range of books where children can sit comfortably on soft furnishings. They listen to stories, read with staff or look through books alone, thus developing their interest in early reading and exploring books in general.

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

Children show they are happy as they freely explore their environment. Staff are caring, welcoming and warm. As a result, children quickly settle down on arrival and separate from their parents with ease. Staff promote opportunities for children to be independent by encouraging them to make free choices in selecting their own play items. For instance, most resources are stored at suitable heights and staff use low-level storage boxes to facilitate children to select toys. Children learn about keeping safe and staff promote this through daily discussions and effective role modelling. For example, staff remind children to use their 'walking feet' when indoors and not to run. Younger children are at the earlier stages of understanding acceptable behaviour and staff sensitively reinforce this. Staff teach children how to use scissors correctly to prevent any injury. Children show kindness to one another and share resources and toys well, which are plentiful. Children are

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

generally polite and considerate towards the feelings of others and show empathy if another child falls down or gets hurt. Staff teach younger children how to negotiate and take turns, which prevents disagreements from escalating. However, during larger group story sessions, some children become easily distracted, which leads to behaviour concerns and staff do not always consistently manage this effectively.

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

The role of the key person is effective in meeting the individual needs of children. Children thrive from a secure base of a loving and caring relationship with their assigned key person. For example, the key person conducts prior home visits to meet new children and their families. This planned opportunity is effective in helping children to build secure relationships. Furthermore, it provides emotional support and reassurance for new children in preparation for their first day. Staff work in partnership with parents to ensure all key information about children is gathered during settling in, to help smooth the process. For example, children's favourite toys from home, comforters and photographs of family members, provide emotional reassurance during the transition period.

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

The pre-school effectively promotes children's health and well-being. Staff work with parents to ensure children eat healthy and nutritional snacks as they bring in their own fruit and packed lunches from home. Staff sit beside children and encourage them to eat their lunch. Children have access to milk and water, which staff provide throughout the day. Staff encourage children to pour their own drinks as well as wash and dry their empty containers using the wash bowl provided. This promotes children's self-care and independence skills, which helps them to prepare for the next stage of starting school. Children show a good understanding of hygiene practices such as washing their hands before meals and after using the bathroom. Staff encourage children to use anti-bacterial hand gel throughout the day, when necessary, to prevent the spread of germs. The manager is currently developing visual cards to help children to understand daily routines

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

and practices including hand-washing routines. Children benefit from daily fresh air and regular exercise as the pre-school promotes free-flow access to the outdoors. Children are active in their play as they run, climb and balance on beams, which helps them develop good coordination skills. Staff ensure the environment is safe through daily risk checks. The pre-school has cordoned off a section of the grass area, which is undergoing maintenance. The children show an awareness of this safety issue and understand not to go beyond the barrier.

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

Staff are effective in planning activities to support children's transition to school. For instance, they bring in school uniform and encourage children to dress up and engage in role-play activities. Staff read stories to children about starting school and share photographs of their new school, which helps children to become familiar with their new surroundings. Staff complete detailed transition records and attend planned meetings with reception class teachers to share information; this helps to prepare children for the next stage of learning.

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provision

The management and staff demonstrate a good understanding of meeting the requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Effective systems are in place to safeguard and protect children from harm. Recruitment procedures are robust. The manager carries out thorough vetting checks and obtains references for all new staff prior to their employment, to ensure their suitability to work with children. Induction procedures for new staff are comprehensive and the manager works closely to monitor new staff to ensure they fully understand their role and responsibilities. All staff have undertaken safeguarding training and keep their knowledge up to date through staff meetings and ongoing training. For instance, all staff have undertaken an e-learning course on the 'Awareness of Child Abuse.' Staff are knowledgeable in following the safeguarding procedures and know what to do if they have any concerns about children's

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provision

welfare. The manager maintains the required adult to child ratios at all times to ensure appropriate supervision of the children. Consequently, the manager deploys staff well and uses staff rotas to ensure adequate staffing levels throughout the day. Daily risk checks both indoors and outside help staff to identify any hazards and reduces potential risks to children. Staff regularly check play equipment and ensure resources are suitable for children to use. All staff are qualified in paediatric first aid and have undertaken relevant training. Comprehensive policies and procedures are in place to deal with accidents and emergencies. The manager conducts regular fire drill practises, which helps children to understand about safety.

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provision

The manager works alongside her deputy to oversee and monitor children's learning and development. She regularly samples children's learning records to ensure assessments are consistent and suitable next steps for learning identified. Management monitor children's overall progress by using 'progress tracker' forms. The manager ensures that staff are competent in fulfilling their role in meeting the needs of all children. She conducts regular staff supervision meetings and holds yearly staff appraisals. This provides an opportunity to meet with staff and have a one-to-one discussion about key children so that management can provide ongoing support. The manager has good systems in place to ensure continuous professional development for all her staff team. Staff benefit from ongoing training and often refer to courses in the South Gloucestershire training bulletin. The local authority advisory teacher supports the pre-school; she has delivered training to

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provision

all staff on effective interaction with children. Following this training, the staff team have reflected on how to improve their practice. Consequently, they have embedded what they have learnt with a more clear emphasis on following children's interest.

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provision

The management and staff team are highly driven to make improvements to the current provision. This is evident through the well-focused action plans and effective changes made since the previous inspection. The pre-school's self-evaluation is thorough and comprehensive. Valuable input from staff, parents and children help to identify areas for improvements. The management is currently developing the garden area to make all areas safe and accessible for children to use. The management has successfully addressed recent responses from parent questionnaires. They continue to work in partnership with parents to ensure they receive a good quality provision for their children. Parents spoken to are very positive and complimentary about the pre-school. One parent's written comment includes, 'when I ask my son how was your day, my son says his day has been fantastic.' The pre-school has made good links with other providers. With consent from

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provision

parents, the manager has contacted childminders and other early years settings that children attend, in order to exchange records and assessments. This has helped to foster good relationships and offer continuity of learning and care for children.

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The Childcare Register

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 EY276881 Local authority South Gloucestershire Inspection number 843584 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 28 Number of children on roll 58 Name of provider Courtney Ladybirds Preschool Committee Date of previous inspection 23/09/2008 Telephone number 0117 330 8049

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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

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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