St John's Pre-school Nursery

St John's Pre-School Nursery Newland St John's C of E Primary School, Beresford Avenue, Beverley Road, HULL, HU6 7LS

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 01/04/2014 04/06/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 2 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

 Staff are extremely confident and competent in their role. They support children's learning through the provision of a very wide range of rich, varied and imaginative experiences.  Teaching is consistently of a very high quality and, as a result, children make exceptional progress in their learning.  The robust key person system helps children to form secure, emotional attachments and develop self-control providing a strong base to help them speedily develop in confidence and independence.  The well-qualified pre-school nursery team are very well supported by the highly effective manager who works alongside them to supervise, monitor and assess their already first-rate professional performance.  Partnerships with parents are strong. They are kept exceptionally well informed and highly involved.

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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 looked at areas children use, inside and outdoors.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with children, staff, parents, volunteers and a representative of the pre-school nursery's board of trustees.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed staff and children during a varied range of indoor and outdoor activities.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector accompanied children, staff and volunteer parent helpers on a planned outing to a local garden as part of a themed learning event.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a range of documents, including evidence of the suitability of staff to work with children, the settings self-evaluation record, a sample of children's files, policies, procedures and other records.

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Information about the setting

St John's Pre-School Nursery registered in June 2007 and is on the Early Years Register. The setting has a strong Christian ethos and is run by a board of trustees made up of parents and members of the community. The pre-school operates from a classroom in Newland St John's Church of England Primary School in the Newlands area of Kingston- upon-Hull and serves children from the local and wider community. There is an enclosed area for children's outdoor play. Children attend the pre-school for a variety of sessions. There are currently 34 children on roll, all of whom are in the early years age range. The pre-school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. It provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children. The setting is open from 8.50am to 11.50am, Monday to Friday, term time only. There are additional sessions each Tuesday and Wednesday

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Information about the setting

afternoons from 12.30pm until 3.30pm. There are four members of staff employed at the setting. The manager and her deputy both hold Qualified Teacher Status. One member of staff is qualified at level 2 and the other at level 3. Volunteers work at the pre-school on a regular basis. The pre-school has achieved step one of the Steps to Quality assurance scheme and receives support from the local authority.

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

 enhance the already excellent range of resources that are available for children to extend their learning about the multi-cultural and diverse society in which we live.

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who attend

Staff have very high expectations of themselves and the children. They are extremely confident about how children learn and are fully competent in their role to support children's learning through the provision of a very wide range of rich, varied and imaginative experiences. This includes activities that take place inside as well as outdoors and in the community. Staff have a clear and expert knowledge of the seven areas of learning and they fully understand and skilfully implement the Early Years Foundation Stage learning and development requirements. They are very knowledgeable about child development and so recognise when some children require additional support. Assessment of children's progress is timely, precise and sharply focussed. Information is gathered systematically commencing when staff make a home visit to each child and their family. This promotes effective relationship building with parents. It also contributes towards an

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who attend

accurate assessment of the child's starting points or baseline assessment to enable individualised support to be immediately provided once they arrive at the new setting. The quality of teaching is consistently of a very high level delivered through an exciting programme for children's learning that includes a good balance of adult-led activities and those children initiate for themselves. As a result, children make excellent progress in their learning.

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who attend

Parents and each child's special, key person together complete an 'All about me' document. This collaboration means that each child's key person is provided with the information they need in order to help them meet children's individual needs. Each child is provided with a folder to store evidence of the detailed, written observations that staff make to check and track children's progress across all areas of learning and which they also use to identify future learning goals. Children's folders contain many photographs with clear, written captions staff make to explain the learning that is taking place. This helps to inform parents and provides pictorial, meaningful evidence of their child's learning journey. Parents willingly add their own comments about their child's learning experiences helping the key person to build a clear picture about the child. Parents are also invited to share children's achievements from home so that staff can build upon this in the pre-

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who attend

school nursery. The variety of ways in which staff engage with parents contributes very effectively towards children's learning. This is because information is shared and successfully continued between the home and the pre-school nursery. For example, a clearly visible whiteboard provides parents with excellent ideas about how they can continue children's learning at home.

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who attend

The inspector joined the morning group of three and four year-old-children on a planned visit to a nearby vicarage garden as part of the current range of activities linked to a 'new life' theme. Parents and volunteers complement the already high adult-to-child ratio to ensure children are safe and provide high levels of interaction and engagement to support their learning. Children have visited this spectacular garden before and are able to recall what they have previously seen. They listen attentively to the safety warnings provided by staff despite being very enthusiastic and eager to commence the short journey to their destination. En-route children behave very well remembering to hold the hand of an adult. The garden provides a wealth of learning experiences for the children. They are extremely active and deeply involved as they, for example, smell and touch the spring bulbs, hunt for small insects, look at and talk about frogspawn, search for frogs, newts and other

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who attend

pond life and collect daisies and feathers. They are particularly interested in the chickens, their eggs and the grain they eat. They show compassion as they remind each other not to shout so they 'don't frighten the chickens'. Some children compare the chicken's feet to dinosaur's feet while others think about why they can see the number five labelled on one bee hive yet can only count four bee hives. This shows children are aware of what is happening around them. They are extremely active, highly enthusiastic and tremendously motivated to find out, explore, debate and think critically about their ideas. They consider and compare the growth and foliage of the trees and shrubs to what they remember seeing at their previous visit during the autumn. They talk about how their contribution of fruit waste from their snack in the pre-school nursery contributes towards the compost heap they find in the corner of the garden. Children are eager, excited and challenged to

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who attend

ask lots of questions. This demonstrates that they are developing highly positive attitudes towards learning that they will need for their future learning and in preparation for school.

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

When children arrive at the pre-school nursery they are warmly greeted and immediately go with their parents to find their name cards to record their attendance. This helps children to read and recognise their names. They understand the routine very well and go to the book area to replace books and select new ones that they borrow to take home to read. The routine is explained to children, including those with English as an additional language and those with special educational needs, in photographic format so that they know what to expect. Children are provided with clearly labelled places to put their coats and personal items. This helps them to feel valued and to develop a strong sense of belonging and emotional well-being. The environment is highly stimulating, extremely well-resourced, warm, inviting and very welcoming. Wall displays and table top exhibitions are extremely attractive. Displays include children's contributions and exhibitions invite

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

children to look closely at and handle the various items on display. The 'special friends' display acknowledges the importance that relationships offer children when formed with other children. High quality furniture is skilfully used to create defined, comfortable areas for children to focus and make links in their learning. There are posters and key words in the language that some children use and hear at home with the opportunity for everyone to learn and use simple words, such as 'hello', 'goodbye' and 'thank you'. Parents are asked to share their home language with everyone at the pre-school nursery and a translator is available to ensure that language is not a barrier to relationship building or communication. Toys and resources are provided at child height so that children can make their own choices and decisions. The environment is very well prepared before children arrive and each child's key person is ready and waiting to greet them. This shows that

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

staff recognise the value of children entering a well-organised environment that helps them to feel emotionally secure and the benefits this has towards their learning and well- being.

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

The outdoor environment is used regularly by the children. This means they have the opportunity to be physical and active in the fresh air which supports their health and well- being. They can choose to play inside or outdoors which helps to meet the different learning needs of some groups of children and enhances and expands that which takes place indoors. There is a wide range of resources and experiences for children including a large piece of climbing equipment that provides endless opportunities for fun, play and learning alongside the challenge it brings for children to take and manage risks. Children take part in walks in the community, such as to a local wind farm, the church or wooded area. This helps them to understand the community in which they live. The pre-school nursery has very strong links with the church and the Christian faith. Experiences for children include learning about other cultures and celebrations, such as Chinese New Year.

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

There is scope to enhance and extend the resources already in place to support learning of a multi-cultural and diverse society. Children are given roles of responsibility, such as being a 'helper' who assists a member of staff at snack time. Children use the toilet independently and understand the importance of regular hand washing. Their behaviour is exemplary because they learn how to work with each other and understand about sharing and taking turns. They are confident to make choices, including healthy options at snack time and can select and competently pour their own drinks. Children listen to safety precautions and follow this advice successfully. For instance, remembering to be very careful and cautious as they look at the plants and wildlife when standing close to the edge of the pond as part of their trip to the garden. This demonstrates that children show increasingly high levels of self-control during a wide range of social situations which will

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

There is a robust key person system established helping children to form firm, emotional attachments providing a strong base to help them develop in confidence and independence. The majority of the children will attend the adjacent school when they leave the pre-school nursery. Staff help prepare children for this by regularly taking them across to the school for visits and to attend a varied range of school events. This helps children to be emotionally well prepared for the next stage in their learning. There are close links formed with other providers of settings that children attend and staff recognise the importance of effective information sharing to support consistency and continuity of care and learning.

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provision

The pre-school nursery is safe and secure. During times when parents and their children are arriving and departing from the pre-school nursery, staff are extremely vigilant to ensure that any unauthorised person is unable to enter the premises or that any child is able to leave unsupervised. Highly effective safeguarding arrangements are in place, including the checking of staff and volunteers to ensure they are suitable to work with children. Staff discuss with parents any injuries or accidents that children have sustained when they are away from the pre-school nursery. All staff attend safeguarding training and have access to written policies and procedures pertinent to the protection of children. This means they know the action to take and whom to contact if they have any concerns about a child's welfare or well-being. In addition, strict rules regarding the authorised collection of children, a complaints procedure, safe recruitment procedures and risk

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provision

assessment routines help keep children safe. A comprehensive range of policies and procedures are established, shared well with parents and regularly reviewed to ensure they remain fully effective. This helps to ensure a safe environment for children to play and reduces risks and hazards. The safeguarding and welfare, learning and development requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage are clearly understood by all adults and are fully met.

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provision

The strong, supportive and well-qualified staff team have excellent access to support from the trustees of the pre-school nursery, each other and from the competent and capable manager. She regularly works alongside them to supervise, monitor and assess their already first-rate professional working practice. Staff access training and share their experiences with each other contributing to keeping everyone well informed and updated. Frequent staff meetings means that information is regularly shared resulting in a well- organised, efficient and highly effective pre-school nursery for children. The inspirational pre-school nursery manager frequently reviews and monitors the provision for children. On a termly basis the whole team reviews the results of their monitoring of children's progress and learning. The results are analysed and used to highlight areas where more focussed teaching is required to ensure children's learning is equal across the seven areas

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provision

of learning in depth and breadth. Staff use what they know about the children's individual learning needs and their interests to guide their planning and shape events and learning experiences. They are competent and knowledgeable in fully understanding their responsibilities in meeting the learning and development, safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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provision

Partnerships with parents, outside agencies, community members and other providers are strong. Parents are kept exceptionally well informed and involved. They are provided with clear information about the Early Years Foundation Stage commencing with the 'Making a Start' booklet each one receives when their child begins at the pre-school nursery. The pre-school nursery manager seeks the opinions of her team, parents and children who all contribute towards setting achievable targets and identifying priorities for further development and improvement. Following the visit to the garden children were asked their opinions of what they liked helping staff with their planning and organisation of future learning events. Reflective practice is a key strength in the continuous pursuit of excellence. Parents are highly satisfied with the service they and their children receive. Discussions held with the inspector confirm that they feel they are kept very well informed

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provision

and involved in their children's learning. They add that their older children, who have attended and since left the pre-school nursery, were very well prepared and ready for school. Parents express their feelings by making written comments as part of a parent survey saying the pre-school nursery is a 'fantastic place', with a 'wonderful atmosphere' and 'this is just the best nursery'.

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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 EY350023 Local authority Kingston upon Hull Inspection number 857441

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 24 Number of children on roll 34 Name of provider St John's Pre-School Nursery Date of previous inspection 04/06/2009 Telephone number 01482 305 740

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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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