Tavistock Pre-School

Tavistock Pre-School Broadacres, Fleet, Hampshire, GU51 4EB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 06/05/2014 01/07/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Well-trained staff make frequent observations and robust assessments of children's learning and development. This supports the planning and delivery of high quality teaching so that all children make the best possible progress given their starting points.  Managers monitor the delivery of the education programmes, planning, and assessment extremely effectively. As a result, children's needs are quickly indentified and well met through highly effective partnership working and timely interventions.  Staff place a high priority on helping children develop exceptional skills in listening and speaking, investigation and discovery and as a result, children become confident communicators who enjoy learning.  An excellent range of initiatives engage, support and build on parent's interest in their children's development and provide children with continuity in their learning and care.  Staff give the highest priority to the safety of children in their care and nurture their

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This provision is outstanding

growing understanding of how to keep themselves safe and healthy.

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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 a wide range of activities across all areas of the nursery and talked with staff and children about what they were doing.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed documents and procedures relating to safeguarding, staffing, supervision, risk assessment, equal opportunities and health and safety, and checked a selection of other policies.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of children's records, the nursery's systems for planning, evaluation and exchanging information with parents and external professionals.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day and reviewed written communication from parents.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector met with the leadership team and conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Information about the setting

Tavistock Pre-School registered in 1992. It is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is a committee run pre-school, which operates from a new purpose designed building within the grounds of Tavistock Infants School in Fleet, Hampshire. Both the indoor and two outdoor teaching areas are on one level, with wheel chair access to all areas at the front of the building. The pre-school serves the local community and the surrounding area. There are currently 54 children on roll, all are within the early years age range.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school is open each week day during school terms only. It operates from 8.45am to 3.15pm and children may attend for a variety of full-time or part-time sessions. The pre-school is in receipt of funding for the provision of early education for two, three and four-year-old children. Staff currently support children who are learning English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about the setting

There are currently eight members of teaching staff, six of whom hold relevant qualifications at level 3, one has completed a Foundation degree in Childhood Studies and one is training for a level 3 qualification. The pre-school also employs two Healthy Living Coordinators who take responsibility for mealtimes and nutrition.

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

 design an induction programme for members of the committee, which links the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage with the pre-school's systems of accountability, monitoring education programmes and quality teaching.

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who attend

Strong leadership and high quality teaching ensure children make excellent levels of progress in their learning and development in this inspiring, community focused pre- school. Staff know the children in their care well. They observe what children enjoy doing and skilfully build on this to develop children's curiosity and learning. For example, staff note children's interest in dinosaurs and use this as a theme for activities the following week. They design projects that engage and challenge children across all areas of learning and development. Staff prepare carefully and make 'dinosaur bones' from salt dough. These capture children's imagination as they match and compare them with skeletons found in reference books, toy models and labelled pictures. Children learn to refine their observations as they examine lengths of tails and sizes of bodies. Staff emphasise the rhythm as they tap out the number of syllables in lengthy dinosaur names. Strategies such

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who attend

as this provide children with excellent opportunities to hear and practise new vocabulary including unusual words, to develop their communication and language skills.

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who attend

Staff arrange areas of the learning environment to support children's independence as they pursue their own ideas. Resources are ready and on hand for children to weigh and measure, find suitable ingredients, paints and tools. Children know exactly where to locate pipettes to drop food dye into their mix and ask staff to add more food colours and flavourings to the weekly shopping list. Initially staff monitor accurate measurement to ensure children end up with the appropriate consistency of dough. Having successfully studied and shaped their own dinosaur bones, children's interests turn to making another batch of dough through estimation, trial and error. Good quality teaching extends children's understanding about mixing solids and liquids. Staff model new words as children evaluate the texture of their dough. Together they compare the formation and feel of the dough with other textures. Some children then choose to model dinosaur eggs

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who attend

with clay as this has a cold, smooth, feel, which they reason is more like eggs. Children are eager to learn and investigate, create and imagine and are ably supported by staff with experience, energy and enthusiasm.

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who attend

Planning for the day includes opportunities to foster all areas of learning. Staff encourage children to enjoy fresh air in the woodland area and gather leaves for dinosaurs to eat. They add old toothbrushes and a small heap of orange sand to a dinosaur habitat. This prompts children to gather for a dinosaur teeth-cleaning exercise and encourages children to discuss the best brushing techniques. Children develop excellent skills as active and inquisitive learners as staff create, facilitate and extend these open-ended play opportunities. As children wallow in their own creativity and investigations, staff again jot down ideas related to their interests. For example, making and rolling dinosaurs in rough muddy dough made from bicarbonate of soda, then spraying on vinegar rain would further enhance children's learning. Such inspired teaching excites and motivates children who make excellent progress towards their early learning goals.

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who attend

Each child's key person documents the consistently high levels of progress children make across all areas of learning and development. Systems for gathering baseline and routine observations, targeting next areas of focus and evaluating progress are precise and include all those involved in each child's learning. Clear tracking and monitoring by the manager and key person quickly identify any gaps and difficulties in children's learning. Highly effective relationships with external agencies and families lead to the swift implementation of effective strategies to help meet individual needs. The extremely sharp focus on helping all children acquire communication and language skills strengthens the impact of other techniques to support children who are learning English as an additional language. All children experience the rich diversity of languages across the pre-school. Children marvel at their friend's ability to understand more than one language as they help

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who attend

use pens, programmed to translate bilingual script in bright familiar storybooks. This is a rich and stimulating learning environment where all children flourish.

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

Senior staff offer to carry out home visits before every new child joins the pre-school. This clarifies the importance the pre-school places on developing powerful and effective working relationships with families from the start. Together, parents and staff establish children's achievements, likes and dislikes. A wealth of shared information underpins the role of the key person who provides a secure, reassuring presence, as each child settles in to pre-school life. Parents say they appreciate how staff let them know when they anticipate changes to children's routines and link them with another member of the team who also knows their child well. Children make secure emotional attachments to staff, settle quickly and soon gain confidence to explore their new environment.

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

Children enjoy abundant, rich and imaginative learning experiences indoors and outside. For much of their day they choose freely between playing inside or in one of the two large enclosed outdoor play areas. The courtyard area contains a wealth of resources covering all areas of learning and development. It also includes greater opportunities for developing physical skills through pedalling, scooting, balancing, climbing and sliding. The second outdoor area provides a mix of wooded landscape and planting areas. This is the last area for development following the pre-school's move to purpose built premises. The team of staff and their families have worked creatively to install a superb mud kitchen. Children find the range of resources and every day kitchen tools inspiring as they discover their potential. Children adapt tools traditionally used to baste a piece of meat, to transfer water from one puddle to another. As they learn to squeeze, manipulate and control the

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

power of suction and release, they are also strengthening muscles to support writing skills. Natural opportunities to develop precision and fine handling skills are promoted as children discover insect homes, dig for worms and plant tiny seeds. Next to the woodland garden is an enclosed pond and wildlife area. Development plans include attracting a greater diversity of wildlife, ducks and garden birds to this area. Staff are already compiling ideas for topics based around ice and freezing to develop further, the most enquiring minds within the pre-school.

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

Children's safety and safeguarding is central to all the activities planned and unplanned across the pre-school. Working practices help to protect and support all children as they play outside in the relative safety of secure play areas with low-level equipment. Children develop a sense of personal safety as they learn to wash their hands having spent many minutes analysing how slugs move. They enjoy hours in the fresh air as they work out the difference between snails and slugs and measure the length of the worms they have found. Older children count legs to determine if a grub is a caterpillar or a pupa. Staff prompt them to recall how they fed and watched caterpillars grow last year and the mix of joy and sadness as they their butterflies flew away.

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

Children learn to manage risks as they move crates around to make a gardening table, they learn not to spill garden seeds and know they must wash fresh vegetables prior to eating them. Staff use children's enthusiasm for digging, planting and watering to build team-working skills. Children learn to communicate, negotiate and cooperate with each other in order to get a job done. They learn to take pride in nurturing their environment as they participate in a community project and competition. Their imaginations light up as they discover the potential of their tiny seeds and become enraptured by the story of Jack and the beanstalk. Children's behaviour is generally very good, because there is so much of interest to keep their attention occupied and because they rise to staff's expectations for positive behaviour across the pre-school.

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

Staff work closely with parents and local teaching staff to ensure children make smooth moves to new schools when the time occurs. Visits are exchanged well in advance of transfers to ensure that all parties have a good knowledge of how to meet children's needs across different settings. The pre-school shares the same site as one local infant school and children delight as they see their siblings and teachers over the adjoining fence. Close working between the pre-school and school early years staff support parents and children during this momentous change. Children are socially and emotionally ready for school, having also made extremely good progress towards their early learning goals.

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provision

The new manager is clearly extremely capable and well organised having led the move to new premises while extending her own training in leadership and management. The teaching skills of her deputy manager, who is also a qualified nurse, inspire children to new heights of thinking and investigation. Supporting them is a wealth of experience, expertise, and dedication in a staff team striving for excellence. Parents speak very highly of the staff individually and as a team. They recount one example after another of how staff meet their children's needs, the commitment staff show to them and the ease with which they are welcomed into the pre-school. Children thrive in this well thought through pocket of love, challenge, and enthusiasm.

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provision

A current challenge for this community-based nursery is to link the skills of the new committee with the learning and development requirements of the pre-school. The manager was once the chair of the committee so she and her deputy are in an excellent position to help the committee grow in knowledge and confidence. All committee members are trained in practices to support children's welfare and safekeeping. They are also parents of children at the pre-school who share the commitment and the ethos of the setting to work within this strong, local community. Parents comment very favourably on the community feel to the pre-school. Many noted how children's needs were always central to decision making rather than lost in business or funding issues. Extensive and varied communication systems effectively offer all parents an opportunity to make important decisions about the nursery.

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provision

Parents are also welcome to contribute to the observations and monitoring of their children's progress. Some parents choose to co-write progress checks and reports with the senior staff, or observe and record children's development with their child's key person. Parent partnerships are highly effective in addressing all children's needs quickly and effectively within the family context. Discussion with parents highlights how extremely happy they are with the care their children receive.

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provision

The staff team have clear systems for evaluating all aspects of their practice, identifying areas for improvement and monitoring progress in those areas. A move to employing Healthy Living Coordinators has driven up the quality of nutrition, lunchtime care and awareness of healthy eating across the pre-school. Children benefit from shared meal times where they learn table manners, independence in washing up and making sociable conversation around the table. The one drawback is the acoustic environment when all children congregate together. Staff are clearly aware of this issue and limit the number of children attending the pre-school at any one time in order to maintain an environment suitable for young children learning to listen, speak, and acquire pre-literacy skills.

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provision

All mandatory documentation on the safe management of the pre-school is in place and staff work consistently to maintain it. Systems for vetting and recruiting staff are robust. There are clear procedures for ensuring the suitability of those who work at the nursery and to ensure they remain fit to do so through a thorough system of induction training, appraisals and supervision. Staff regularly update their training in safeguarding children and the subject is included on the agenda of every staff meeting. This keeps all staff clearly focused on making every effort to keep children safe and feeling secure at all times. The nursery has a clear and well-understood policy and procedure for assessing any risks to children's safety. Most staff have recent training in first aid and procedures for administering medicines and logging and reporting any accidents are tight. Staff work consistently to create an environment that is welcoming, safe and stimulating. Children

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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 110049 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 779138 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 54 Name of provider Tavistock Pre-School Group Committee Date of previous inspection 01/07/2009 Telephone number 01252 616902

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Setting details

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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Type of provision

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

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