Cliffe Preschool

Cliffe Pre School Main Street, Cliffe, SELBY, North Yorkshire, YO8 6NN

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/03/2014 11/11/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: Requires Improvement 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 There are a number of breaches of the safeguarding and welfare requirements, as a result, the setting is disorganised, required paperwork is not available and procedures for the induction of staff have not always been followed by the nominated person or committee. This significantly compromises children's safety and well-being.  Staff are not secure in their teaching or understanding of the learning and development requirements. Arrangements are not in place to provide them with effective supervision, which includes support and coaching to help them improve their practice.  Observations and assessments are not used well enough to plan a wide range of learning experiences, which reflect children's individual interests and stage of development. As a result, they are not effectively challenged to make good progress in their learning and development.  The key person system is not well-embedded. It does not support engagement with

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This provision is inadequate

parents to ensure the individual learning needs of all children are known and met.  Risk assessments for all areas of the setting are not undertaken and clear guidance of how staff should monitor outdoor areas that not always easily visible are not available.  Children are not able to access the well-resourced outdoor area freely, this does not fully support children who learn best outdoors.

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It has the following strengths

 Staff are kind, warm and caring, which helps children to settle in the nursery.

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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 children playing in the play room and the outdoor play area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with the manager, the early years advisory team, the staff and the children throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's records and the systems for the monitoring of children's progress.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff, the supervision and appraisal documentation, the policies and procedures and the risk assessments.

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Information about the setting

Cliffe Pre-School registered in 2010 on the Early Years Register. It is located in the village of Cliffe, on the outskirts of Selby, North Yorkshire. The pre-school serves the immediate locality and also the surrounding areas. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The committee run pre-school operates from a purpose built cabin, which provides a main playroom, an office, a kitchen area, disabled toilet facilities and children's toilets. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The pre-school is accessed by the front door via a small ramp.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school opens five days a week from 9am until 3.15pm, term time only. There are currently 25 children attending in the early years age range. The pre-school receives funding for the provision of free early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The pre-school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about the setting

There are currently six staff working directly with the children, four of whom have an appropriate early years qualification. One member of staff holds Early Years Teacher status, two of the staff have qualifications at foundation degree level, one is qualified at level 3 and two are unqualified. The pre-school receives support from the local authority.

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must:

 ensure the nominated person and committee follow procedures appropriately, so all staff working with children are subject to a rigorous induction procedure to enable them to understand their roles and responsibilities

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must:

 implement effective supervision and performance management arrangements to monitor staff practice and to support them to improve their teaching skills to promote children's welfare and their learning and development

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must:

 improve the arrangements for observation, assessment and planning so that the individual needs, interests and stage of development of each child are considered and use this information to plan a challenging and enjoyable experience for each child in all areas of learning and development

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must:

 implement a more effective key person system so that parents are aware of who their child's key person is so they can share information to ensure every child's learning and development is tailored to meet their individual needs and parents are fully engaged and supported in guiding their child's development at home

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must:

 ensure information and records for the safe and efficient management of the setting are kept on the premises and are maintained and readily available for inspection, to ensure the needs of all children at met, with particular reference to first aid certificates, attendance registers and medication records

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must:

 improve the risk assessment of the outdoor space and provide guidance for staff to ensure areas that are not easily visible are monitored at all times.

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

 implement the 'open door' policy effectively to enable children to access the outdoor area freely.

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who attend

Since the last inspection there has been a high turnover of staff and the newly appointed manager came into post the day prior to the inspection. The provision for children's learning and development is inadequate because, observations and assessments do not show a clear and accurate picture of what children are able to do across the seven areas of learning. This means children's next steps are not clearly or consistently identified and results in activities lacking a good level of challenge. This results in weak teaching, activities that do not enthuse and engage children and staff who are not secure in their knowledge of how well children are progressing. Therefore, children do not make sufficient progress and are not adequately prepared for their next stage in learning, such as starting school. Although, children are happy and mainly appear to enjoy their time at the setting, staff do not always support younger children to join in with activities or

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who attend

encourage them to choose their own activities, as they often wonder aimlessly and without purpose. This does not always ensure young children are involved in or challenged in their own learning.

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who attend

Staff provide a suitable range of resources to help children learn about everyday technology. For example, children enjoy playing with a variety of interactive toys. They know how to make toys work by pressing buttons to make sounds and lights flash. Older children complete simple programmes on the computer independently, and with support are able to operate the compact disc player to play their favourite music and rhymes. Children enjoy exploring paint and have fun making marks with their hands and fingers. This helps to develop young children's early writing skills in a fun way. They are encouraged to play picture lotto and staff support children to count the number of objects on each of the cards and help each other to work out whose board it matches. This enables children to use number names in their play. Older children show a great interest in mini-beasts and staff mostly support their interests by encouraging them to talk about

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who attend

the different characteristics of the different beasts. However, opportunities are missed to extend children's learning and thinking. For example, opportunities to search for mini- beasts in the outdoor area are not provided, this does not fully support or extend children's interests or challenge them to uses their senses to fully explore the world around them.

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who attend

Staff have established sound relationships with parents to help meet children's individual care needs. Since the last inspection parents' stay and play sessions have been held so parents can come and see an example of what activities their children take part in. Parents have also been invited to parents' evenings to discuss children's progress with their previous key person. However, since the changes to staff, in the recent months, the key person system and links with parents are no longer effective or robust. This does not ensure parents are fully involved in their child's learning.

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

Children are happy and settle easily in the setting because staff help children to make the transition from home into setting by making sure they gather information from parents about their children's individual care needs. However, since the recent changes to staff, the key person for each child has changed and as yet this system has not been fully implemented. Parents have not been informed of changes and are no longer aware of their child's key person. This does not ensure learning is tailored to children's individual needs or that parents are fully engaged or supported in guiding their child's development at home. The children behave well and are encouraged to share and take turns with younger children. For example, older children tend to dominate the bicycles in the outdoor area and staff talk to children about the importance of making sure all children have a turn. They are encouraged not to run indoors and staff give gentle reminders of expected

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

behaviour. The children are, therefore, aware of boundaries and know what acceptable behaviour is.

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

Children are able to mostly make choices about their play and freely access the sufficient range of resources indoors. Although, the new manager has recently implemented an 'open door' policy, to encourage children to access the outdoor area freely. Staff are not yet consistently following this policy by encouraging children to access the outdoors freely and still, on the whole, stick to designated outdoor play times. This does not fully support children who learn best outdoors. However, when they do access this area they enjoy riding bicycles, making dens and 'camp fires' in the well-resourced outdoor area. The children learn about and talk confidently about good road safety practice when in the outdoor area. Older children confidently talk about using 'the zebra crossing as the cars have stopped' and indicate to staff and other children it is 'now safe to cross the road.' This demonstrates their understanding of safe practices. There is a first aid kit available at

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

all times and through discussion the majority of staff have completed first aid training. Accidents are recorded and parents are informed. However, certificates to demonstrate staff have completed relevant first aid training and records recording administration of medication are not readily available for inspection.

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

Staff suitably promotes children's self-help skills and emerging independence. For example, children are encouraged to feed themselves, manage their personal care, such as, washing their hands before meals and snacks and putting their coats and wellington boots on before outdoor play.

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provision

The leadership and management of the nursery is inadequate due to a number of breaches of statutory requirements of the Early Year Register. This inspection was brought forward by Ofsted when they received information that the setting was not adhering to adult to child ratios. Concerns were also raised regarding the role of the nominated person and the committee in general. At inspection, it was found that although the new manager now has clear procedures in place for recording the attendance of staff and children, records are only available from 24th February 2014, which demonstrate that ratios are met for this time. However, there was no evidence of attendance available on the premises before this date, therefore, it is not possible to ascertain if ratios were met or not met prior to this time. Staff recruitment procedures are in place and followed, for example, staff undertake an interview, suitability checks are also completed and two references are

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provision

sought for all new employees. Most staff have relevant qualifications and, although, induction procedures are in place, these are not rigorously followed by the nominated person, pervious manager or committee, this demonstrates that staff or committee members do not fully understand their roles and responsibilities. Furthermore, not all records are effectively maintained or available for inspection. The existing arrangements for the monitoring and evaluation of the provision are poor and there has been failure to identify where legal requirements are not met and where there are areas for improvement in staff practice. Supervision and appraisal sessions have not been completed. As a result, the management team have missed opportunities to foster a culture of mutual support, teamwork and continuous improvement to support staff and fully identify their training needs. This has an impact on the motivation of staff, which does not benefit children. The

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provision

inspection also found that there is a failure to meet the learning and development requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. There is ineffective monitoring of the delivery of the educational programmes. This does not help children to make good progress towards the early learning goals.

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provision

Staff have a mostly sound understanding of their responsibilities for protecting children and many have completed safeguarding training. A written policy is in place, which includes contact numbers for the relevant authorities, so staff know who to pass concerns onto. The premises are secure and a record is kept of all visitors to the setting. Risk assessments and daily checks are completed for most areas of the setting. However, some areas of the outdoor area are not always visible for staff to easily monitor at all times, particularly with regard to the large climbing equipment. Risk assessments have not been completed for this area and clear guidance is not available for staff to ensure the area is monitored. This does not ensure children's safety at all times.

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provision

The registered providers have recently put in place a new manager. This person is aware that the quality of the provision needs to improve and is starting to identify and prioritise tasks to ensure this occurs. Staff feel that in the past there has been a lack of support and sharing of information to help them in their role. However, they are feeling more positive since the appointment of the new manager. This indicates there is a willingness and a capacity to improve.

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provision

Parents spoken to on the day of the inspection seem to be satisfied with the care their children receive, although they did have concerns about the changes in staff and the lack of sharing information about children's learning and development. They describe the staff as being 'friendly' and feel their children have made progress, particularly developing their confidence and social skills, since starting at the setting. Effective partnerships with schools are in place and the staff work well with other agencies, such as, speech and language therapist to ensure children get the help and support they need.

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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 EY412145 Local authority North Yorkshire Inspection number 954560

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 14 Number of children on roll 25 Name of provider Cliffe Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 11/11/2013 Telephone number 01757630930

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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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