Fiveways Playcentre

Fiveways Playcentre Between 8 &10 Florence Road (Rear), Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 6DJ

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17/01/2014 13/07/2011

p.1

early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 1 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

p.1

This provision is inadequate

 The management team has not ensured that every person who works with children in the playgroup is suitable and has not met their responsibility to notify Ofsted of significant information that affects the suitability of an individual.  Staff do not consistently meet the individual needs of all children equally well. Some children do not always receive the support that they need during independent play to make good progress.  Some staff are inconsistent in the way that they manage children's behaviour. Therefore, some children do not always understand and respond to staff expectations.  Staff and the management team do not always follow the playgroup's policies and procedures which leads to confusion about how to deal with complaints appropriately.

p.1

It has the following strengths

 Staff motivate children to learn and play imaginatively because they provide a wide range of exciting activities which engage children's interest and attention.

p.1

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

p.2

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.

p.2

Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children in all areas of the playgroup, including the outside area.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a joint observation of practice with the playgroup team leader.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the registered person, the playcentre manager, the playcentre deputy manager and the playgroup team leader and also spoke to staff about their safeguarding responsibilities.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of documentation including children's records, staff records, minutes from staff and committee meetings and the setting's policies and procedures concerning behaviour management, complaints and safeguarding.  The inspector spoke to several parents and considered their views.

p.2

Information about the setting

Fiveways Play centre opened in 1975 and re-registered in 2011. It is run by a management committee. It operates from purpose-built premises which include the Gateway Children's Centre in Brighton, East Sussex. Children are accommodated within an open-plan building and have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The setting receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The play centre is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The play centre is open each weekday from 8am to 6pm term time only. Some play schemes operate throughout the year from 8.30am to 5pm. There are 111 children on roll aged from two to five years. In addition, there are 111 school age children on roll. The play centre supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The play centre employs 36 staff, who work a variety of

p.3

Information about the setting

sessions. Of these, 31 hold relevant qualifications.

p.3

must:

 ensure that any person disqualified to work in early years provision is no longer employed unless a waiver is granted

p.3

must:

 ensure that planning to meet children's individual needs is fully in place and takes into account individual children's age and stage of development, and is shared with parents and all staff

p.3

must:

 ensure that all staff manage all children's behaviour in a consistent way so that children understand what is expected of them

p.3

must:

 ensure that all policies and procedures, including the procedure for dealing with complaints are understood and implemented by all staff at all times.

p.3

who attend

Staff provide interesting and imaginative activities for children to enjoy; these excite and motivate children to learn. Resources are easily accessible and children are able to move items easily between the indoors and outside area. This freedom of movement supports children's emerging independence effectively. Children move with confidence throughout the playgroup and show independence. For example, they find aprons to put on when they want to do a 'messy activity' and organise their own boots and coats when they want to go outside. This independence shows that they feel comfortable and at ease in their surroundings.

p.3

who attend

Staff make regular observations of children as they play and note down 'wow!' moments when a child does particularly well. They collate the observations in children's records and discuss them with group leaders and with the team leader. However, key people do not always use what they learn from their observations to plan what individual children should do next to support their progress. They do not consistently share what they know about children with parents and systems to share information between themselves are variable. This means that on occasion staff miss opportunities to provide encouragement for some children who need additional support to develop their play and social skills during child-led activities to help them to make the best progress possible from their starting points.

p.4

who attend

Children are able to develop good physical skills because staff provide opportunities for them to run, jump, balance, climb, throw and catch. Staff challenge children to further develop these skills by inventing running and jumping games for the children to play.

p.4

who attend

Staff promote children's thinking skills by reminding them to think about what clothing is appropriate to wear when they play outside and to remember to have drinks to ensure that they are not thirsty throughout the session. They challenge children to think about interesting things and play fun games which help children learn to listen for a purpose. During an outdoor game of 'What's the time Mr Wolf?', children listen carefully to each other so that they do not miss the numbers that are being called out. Most children speak with confidence and so are able to express their wishes clearly. Those who find communication more difficult receive some good one to one support. Staff use sign language to assist children's communication and are responsive to children's gestures and non-verbal communication. This practice, together with adaptations to the environment helps to ensure that children are included in activities. Overall the support for most

p.4

who attend

children with special educational needs is sound.

p.4

who attend

Staff foster a positive attitude to reading by offering creative and imaginative ways to enjoy stories. They delight children with a story-time session sitting in a darkened room, reading a woodland tale by torch light. Such activities encourage children to develop a love of books. Staff provide a well- resourced writing area where children develop their early writing skills. Staff value children's efforts and as a result they enjoy writing notes which they post them in a post box or display on a low-level display board.

p.4

who attend

Staff teach children to use their counting skills in activities that are useful and relevant, for example counting ticks on the register and matching the ticks to the number of children present. This helps them to see numbers in context and prepares them appropriately for their future learning. Staff challenge children to think about the natural world by drawing their attention to nature around them. Sorting pictures of animals that live above ground and below ground as part of a creative activity supports children to think about the earth under their feet. Staff help children to collect rain in pots and buckets during a rain storm and encourage them to listen and talk about the heavy rain falling on the roof above them. Such activities reinforce children's understanding about the power of the weather. Staff encourage parents to give ideas for the playgroup themes, which helps to involve them in their child's learning. Parents' ideas are included on mind maps, which staff use to

p.4

who attend

plan activities that will interest and motivate the group. Children benefit from their parents knowing about the themes they are working on at playgroup.

p.5

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

Children's well-being is not assured due to the provider's continued employment of a member of staff who became disqualified and does not have a waiver. Staff are kind and welcoming to all children and take their time getting to know individuals and their families. Staff arrange flexible settling-in sessions for children and their families and parents praise the ways in which the staff team make them feel welcome. A suitable key person system is in place which means that families know which staff members are directly responsible for their child.

p.5

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

Most children generally behave well because they are busy and interested in the activities staff provide for them. They play well together overall and staff manage any disagreements that occur appropriately. For example, they make time to listen and explain what has gone wrong, such as, gently discussing how the action of one child might cause another child to be upset. This helps children learn how to have empathy and to see another point of view in a situation. Staff praise and reward children with 'tidy-up time' medals, which boosts their self-esteem as they proudly show their medals to their friends. Most children enjoy carrying out small jobs such as helping to tidy toys away. However, there are occasions during the routines of the day when some children do not cooperate with staff requests to help tidy up or to take noisy games out of the quiet area into the garden. Staff are inconsistent in the way that they manage this response. In some

p.5

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

instances they insist that children do as they are told and at other times they ignore the response of children who choose not to do what they have been asked. This gives mixed messages to children and does not help them all to understand staff expectations or respond to requests which contribute to a safe and positive learning environment.

p.5

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

Staff encourage children to learn to manage their own physical safety and to take appropriate risks by supporting them during challenging opportunities for climbing and jumping. All staff encourage children to be independent. They arrange activities so that children can practise what they can do by themselves. Staff give appropriate support to children using tools such as scissors on the table with recycled modelling materials and assist children using toy screwdrivers to 'fix' a broken vacuum cleaner. This enables children to learn how to use tools safely on their own. Staff are vigilant during the sessions when children move freely between indoors and outside, and are careful to remind children which clothing they need to keep warm and dry. This attention helps children to develop their own self-care skills. Stall encourage children to look after themselves and adopt a healthy lifestyle, for example asking children to respond to

p.5

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

questions such as, 'If we were a bit hungry or a bit thirsty we could...?' and encouraging them to identify their drinks and the snack table for later in the morning.

p.5

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

Staff prepare children well for their transfer to school. They borrow school uniforms from the reception classes to enable children to practise 'dressing up' for school. Staff liaise closely with teachers to ensure that methods they use in the playgroup for teaching literacy skills match what the schools are doing. Staff attend meetings with teachers to discuss the children and their individual needs and they invite teachers to visit children during their playgroup session. As a consequence, children feel confident and are ready for school when they leave the playgroup. Parents praise the lengths that the staff go to, ensuring that schools maintain friendship groups if children need particular support.

p.5

provision

The inspection took place following concerns about how children's individual learning and development needs are met, behaviour management and the implementation of the complaints procedure. The inspection found that there are some inconsistencies in how staff assess and plan to meet children's individual needs and therefore some children do not make consistently good progress. Staff manage disagreements between most children well and with sensitivity. However, at times they manage non-cooperation from some children less well, and as a result some children do not effectively learn how to cooperate and follow instructions. This means that the associated requirement for behaviour management within the Childcare Register is not met. The inspection found that the trustees do not follow their complaints procedure consistently and they acknowledge that their mishandling of a complaint created a situation which could have been avoided.

p.6

provision

In addition, concerns were raised regarding safeguarding policy and practice, the suitability of staff, their deployment and the supervision of children. Staff fully understand their roles and responsibilities with regards to reporting concerns about children and all staff are vetted. However, although the provider liaises with the Local Safeguarding Children Board, they have continued to employ a member of staff who became disqualified during her employment without having been granted a waiver. This shows a lack of understanding of the requirements regarding staff suitability and puts children at potential risk. The provider has not notified Ofsted of the grounds for the member of staff's disqualification. This is a breach of requirements of the Early Years register and Childcare Register and Ofsted intends to issue a warning letter.

p.6

provision

Managers monitor staff performance appropriately, and as a result, they identify training needs to help improve the quality of their staff team. Following a complaint, the committee of trustees have arranged full staff training to improve practice across the playgroup. Staff supervision meetings and appraisals are held and enable staff to discuss their roles and responsibilities, and to plan for their future development to help to improve the quality of the provision.

p.6

provision

Managers recognise good teaching and are able to develop staff appropriately to improve outcomes for children. Staff are suitably deployed and children are appropriately supervised. The team leader sets high standards for the staff and demonstrates good practice when she is working with groups. She has creative ideas for activities and knows what interests the children as a group, using information she collects from them during 'mind-mapping' sessions. This means that activities for children are generally suitable and enable many to make good progress. The team leader realises that because children are constantly moving between indoors and outside and between activities it is hard for all staff to keep a track of information about all children. She understands that this is a challenge that must be overcome in order to consistently meet the needs of all children. As a result of the inconsistent planning of next steps for all children and occasional lapses

p.6

provision

in staff using what they know about children to support their interactions it means that good progress for some children is not assured. This affects how well they develop their social skills or respond appropriately to acceptable behaviour boundaries. The team leader monitors the observations of what children do and learn and discusses their progress with group leaders. However, systems for feeding the results of discussions about individuals to the rest of the staff are not always effective which leads to gaps in promoting some children's learning consistently. The team leader knows how to encourage staff to improve and is supportive of her team. This means that there is a good working atmosphere between the staff.

p.7

provision

Regular meetings enable staff to discuss which aspects of the playgroup provision need to be better. Staff are reflective and are keen to improve the playgroup. Parents contribute to improvement plans through regular questionnaires and staff take on these ideas readily. Termly parents' evenings and afternoon tea sessions to discuss the Early Years Foundation Stage are now in place following a request from parents. All staff, managers and committee trustees are open and honest when something does not go as it should do. They make every effort to improve what they do and learn from their mistakes so that outcomes for children can improve.

p.7

provision

Staff work well with parents and encourage them to contribute to the play centre community. This means that there is a friendly family atmosphere in the building. Parents speak very highly of the staff and comment favourably on the efforts they make. Staff liaise with other providers and other professionals willingly, sharing ideas and information to help support the children in their care.

p.7

The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

p.7

actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

p.7

To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 implement effective systems to ensure that any person caring for, or in regular contact with, children is suitable to work with children (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that children's behaviour is managed in a suitable manner (compulsory part of the Childcare Register).  inform Ofsted of any significant event which is likely to affect the suitability of any person caring for children on the premises, such as any offences or orders that may disqualify them (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  implement effective systems to ensure that any person caring for, or in regular contact with, children is suitable to work with children (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that children's behaviour is managed in a suitable manner (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).  inform Ofsted of any significant event which is likely to affect the suitability of any person caring for children on the premises, such as any offences or orders that may

p.7

To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

disqualify them (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)

p.8

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

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.10

Setting details

Unique reference number EY422545 Local authority Brighton & Hove Inspection number 945727 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 52 Number of children on roll 222 Name of provider Fiveways Playcentre Date of previous inspection 13/07/2011 Telephone number 01273500257

p.10

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.

p.10

Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

p.10

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.

p.10

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.

p.10

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.

p.11

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,

p.11

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’.

p.12

Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.12