Bunyan Playgroup

Bunyan Playgroup Kempton West Methodist Church, High Street, Kempston, BEDFORD, Bedfordshire, MK42 7BT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 14/03/2014 28/01/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 The staff understand the importance of developing children's small muscles in their hands in preparation for early writing. They provide a seamless range of activities to help children to achieve good pencil control as they grow in age and ability.  The finely tuned key person approach helps children to feel happy and secure, as a result, they have high self-esteem and confidence in their learning.  The staff talk through children's development files with parents, explaining areas of the curriculum and how assessments about learning are made. This helps parents to know and understand about the progress children make and how to support their learning at home.  The staff take their responsibility to keep children safe seriously, and have a depth of knowledge which means they are able to recognise when there is a risk to children's welfare.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 There is scope to develop the role play area further to make it more appealing for children.  The written policies and procedures which underpin the work of the pre-school lack organisation, meaning that information is not all in one place and easy to read for those who might want to see it.

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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 and compulsory parts 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 observed activities in the main hall and garden.  The inspector had discussions with parents, staff and children.  The inspector undertook a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of documentation including children's records, safeguarding procedures and self-evaluation.  The inspector had a meeting with the manager of the pre-school.

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Information about the setting

Bunyan Playgroup was registered in 1996 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is managed by a committee of parents. The pre-school operates from the church rooms of the Kempston West Methodist Church, Kempston and serves the local area. The pre-school serves the local area and is accessible to all children. There is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play. The pre-school employs six members of childcare staff. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and above. Sessions are from 9.15am to 11.45am with a lunch club from 11.45am to 12.30pm. The pre-school also opens Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 12.30pm to 3pm, term time only. There are currently 48 children attending who are within the early years age range. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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

 enhance the role play area by introducing a wider range of resources to ignite children's interest, such as natural resources, real life items and dolls

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

 review the organisation of written policies and procedures to make them more user friendly for those who might want to read them, such as parents.

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who attend

The pre-school staff plan well for children's learning through a wide range of interesting activities. Consequently, children sustain their interest and are eager to attend the pre- school. The good quality teaching of staff gives children a desire to learn and prepares them well for their eventual entry to school. Staff guide children, building upon their developing skills and abilities and providing a balance of child-led and adult-initiated activities. The teaching of literacy is particularly good. Staff understand how to develop children's small muscles in their hands in readiness for being able hold and use pencils. Children play with shaving foam, searching for hidden plastic animals and dinosaurs inside and exploring the foam on their fingers. When children are capable of making marks, staff provide them with different ways for them to do this. They use chalks to draw on blackboards and pencils and pens to draw and write on paper. As children master this, the

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who attend

staff guide their early letter formation by providing them with letter and name cards. Staff support children's attempts at writing and praise their efforts. This helps children to learn how to write their names and other familiar words. Children have equally good opportunities to develop their larger muscles. They play with enthusiasm on a climbing frame indoors where they climb, slide and crawl beneath. Staff utilise the space available in the garden to support children's learning. Children dig in the mud looking for mini beasts and bounce on a trampoline strengthening their leg muscles and coordination.

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who attend

Staff understand the benefit of promoting children's speech and language and talk purposefully with children. During activities, staff ask children open-ended questions and encourage them to predict what might happen. This requires children to think and share their ideas, which in turn helps them to develop thinking and listening skills. Children are keen to talk with each other and adults, to share their ideas and ask questions to find out more. They use their imagination in play and talk through ideas as they negotiate roles. Children role play superhero style games and enjoy pretending to be shop keepers who serve plastic fruit and vegetables to staff. Children show less interest in the home corner. There is scope to make this more appealing for children, for example, by providing more real life and natural resources and introducing dolls to ignite their interest and increase their imaginative play. Staff respond to children's changing ideas and interests and

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who attend

introduce new activities at children's request. This helps children to lead their learning and remain keen to try new things.

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who attend

Staff keep accurate and detailed records about children's learning. They observe children closely when they first begin at the pre-school and along with information parents share, use this to identify their starting points. The key people build upon children's knowledge and abilities through planning for their next steps in learning. They identify what children need to learn next because they plot children's progress against expected development bands. This enables staff to identify quickly when children do not meet expectations and refer children to the local children's development centre for further support. Staff develop individual plans for children's learning which helps them to make continually good progress. Staff are aware that the records they keep on children's learning are important for parents to be able to support children's learning at home. They maximise the effectiveness of this information sharing by talking parents through the observations and

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who attend

assessments they make. This enables parents to see the consistently good progress children make, appreciate the differing areas of the curriculum and know what they can do to move children forward in their development.

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

The key person relationships at the pre-school are strong. Staff are warm and affectionate with children who check in regularly with them for a cuddle and reassurance when they are settling in at the pre-school. Staff give children time and attention if they are unsettled when parents leave and this helps them to quickly become content and calm. All staff, including those who are students, demonstrate a caring, nurturing attitude towards the children they care for. They are considerate and respectful of children, this teaches children to be considerate of others. Therefore, the pre-school is an environment where children feel secure and display high levels of self-esteem with the emotional readiness they need for learning. Staff welcome parents into the pre-school, encouraging them to stay while children settle, and reassuring them. Staff build close relationships with parents by talking with them when they drop off and collect children at the end of each session.

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

Parents discuss how staff share their knowledge and experience to help support them, for example when toilet training children. The good relationships between families and the pre-school help children to experience a smooth move between home and the pre-school. The pre-school helps children to become ready for moving on to school. They work closely with local schools and staff and attend some schools with children to help them to become familiar with the surroundings.

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

Children experience good levels of risk and challenge in their play. They enjoy finding ways to slide down the climbing frame slide. Some children want to slide backwards head first. Staff explain ways that they can do this safely, such as by holding on to the sides with their hands and moving more slowly, with better control. Children understand that they can only bounce on the trampoline one at a time in case they bump into each other. This helps children to begin to manage risks for themselves while also learning about safety. The children practise fire evacuation with staff on a regular basis to help them to understand what to do in the case of emergency. Children are beginning to understand how to manage their own behaviour and feelings. They play active, physical games but moderate their own behaviour. They build weapons out of construction cogs and bricks but use these to hunt together, rather than towards each other. Staff give children ample

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

choices about what they play, when they eat and whether to go outside or stay inside. This gives children power and control over their day which helps them to behave well. Staff provide a consistent routine and have high expectations for what children can do. This helps children to know what to expect and they happily cooperate as a result.

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

Staff know that children need to be well nourished in order to be ready for learning. They provide food which is filling and nutritious for children during snack time. Children choose how much they want to eat and drink and serve themselves. This increases children's independence and helps them to understand about the needs of their bodies. Children wash their hands at a pump sink and put their plates into a bowl to wash up. In this way children take responsibility for themselves and reduce the likely spread of infection through hand washing. Children play in the outdoor area every day and enjoy fresh air and exercise as part of their usual routine. This helps them to begin to understand the components of a healthy lifestyle.

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provision

The pre-school staff have a good understanding about how to keep children safe. Staff undertake regular risk assessments and put measures in place to reduce risks, such as safety barriers in the garden to close off areas which are not in use. Staff also implement risk assessments relating to fire safety to review measures in place. The pre-school has measures in place for fire and smoke detection and ensure that fire exits are kept clear from obstacles. All equipment is checked on a regular basis to confirm its suitability. The staff undertake regular training in safeguarding to ensure that they are fully familiar with the signs and symptoms that might cause them concern about children's welfare. The manager, who is the designated officer, has thorough understanding about child protection issues and remains up to date and aware of changes which affect her work. She understands the needs of the local community and how to work with other

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provision

professionals to help maintain children's well-being. Staff undergo a rigorous induction which follows a consistent procedure for ensuring they are aware of the policies and procedures which underpin their work. The manager makes sure that all required checks are carried out to confirm that staff are suitable to work with children.

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provision

The pre-school is led by a strong and experienced manager who leads a stable and happy staff team who enjoy their work. There is close supervision, with peer-to-peer observations and regular monitoring and appraisals. This helps staff to feel confident in their role and identifies any training needs staff have. The staff team have recently enhanced their qualifications, with all staff achieving a qualification at level three. Staff explain that they feel that this enables them to think in more detail about children's learning. The manager notices that the rising standards in qualifications amongst the staff team are beneficial for children, especially two-year-0lds. Staff possess the knowledge and skills they need to differentiate activities to meet children's differing needs and abilities and are more able to recognise opportunities to extend upon children's learning. The pre- school uses self-evaluation to review the quality of care they provide and draw up plans to

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provision

enhance the provision further. The pre-school has addressed recommendations from the previous inspection further demonstrating their commitment to raising the quality of care for children. Staff monitor children's progress well and share information consistently with parents. Staff complete the progress check for children at age two and track children's development to inform planning. This enables all children to make good progress.

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provision

The pre-school is run by a parent committee who have active involvement in shaping the pre-school and developing policies and procedures. The pre-school have all required documentation in place, however this lacks good organisation. Some policies and procedures are kept on memory sticks and some in hard copies and filed in differing areas. This means that they are not user friendly for parents who may want to read them. There are currently no children with identified special educational needs and/or disabilities attending the pre-school. Minor concerns about children's progress are recognised and the pre-school establishes close links with other professionals. They are proactive in seeking support for children and work in partnership with local speech and language therapists and staff from the children's development centre. The manager of the pre-school attends meetings with local schools where she monitors the achievement of children who

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provision

previously attended the pre-school. This helps to shape teaching at the pre-school and prepares children well for school. Parents speak highly about the staff at the pre-school. They find them friendly and approachable and value the pre-school as an important part of the community.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met 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 219101 Local authority Bedford Borough Inspection number 956843

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 48 Name of provider Bunyan Playgroup Committee Date of previous inspection 28/01/2011 Telephone number 01234 300532 & 07944 630369

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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

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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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