Rainbows End Pre-School

Rainbows End Pre-School Pope John Paul Centre, Brownedge Lane, Bamber Bridge, PRESTON, PR5 6TA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/05/2014 03/02/2010

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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

 Teaching is good. All staff are skilled in providing for the children's individual needs and particularly for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.  All children make good progress. They demonstrate a high level of independence and show that they enjoy playing and learning through using a wide range of interesting resources and activities provided by the staff.  An extremely effective partnership with parents and outside agencies enables children's needs to be quickly identified and addressed.  The leadership and management of the nursery is good, children are safeguarded and a culture of continuous improvement is fostered.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 There is scope to further develop the already good teaching skills of staff through enhancing the supervision and monitoring systems, by embedding peer observations to share good practice.  There is scope to maximise learning opportunities for all children through the consistent use of more open questioning and discussion techniques.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities undertaken by the children and staff in the two play areas and outside area.  The inspector discussed practice with staff and the manager of the provision.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager in the toddler room.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation and checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of parents' views through discussion and evaluation of feedback from questionnaires.  The inspector took account of the pre-school's self-evaluation.

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Information about the setting

Rainbows End Pre-School was registered in 2009 and is on the Early Years Register. It is situated in Bamber Bridge, Preston, Lancashire and is managed by the proprietor. It is accessible to all children aged from two to five years. It operates from two main playrooms. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The pre-school employs six members of child care staff. Of these, three hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and two at level 2. The pre-school opens Monday to Friday, for five morning and three afternoon sessions each week, term time only. Sessions are from 9.15am to 11.45am and 12.45pm to 3pm. There are no sessions on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 32 children attending who are in the early years age group. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three and four- year old children. It supports children with special

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Information about the setting

educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language.

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

 extend opportunities to fully embed peer observation into supervision and monitoring systems so best practice can be shared across all staff, in order to enhance children's learning further

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

 develop the use of more open questioning and discussion techniques to maximise learning opportunities for all children.

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who attend

The quality of teaching that children receive in the pre-school is of a good standard. This is because staff are well qualified and have a good knowledge of the children. For example, during an outdoor play activity a small group of children developed their understanding of builders and building through the use of story books, role play and construction materials. The children chose the story and then, through the skilful questioning of some staff, are able to select builders' tools and uniforms and work cooperatively to build a structure. Staff encourage the children to select resources related to the story and explain their use and importance. This helps to develop the children's thinking skills and to identify connections between the different types of activity. Children engage in sand and water play, exploring the different materials, experimenting with pouring and filling containers. They learn that sand and water can be transferred between

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who attend

containers and this helps to develop their mathematical knowledge and understanding. However, there are missed opportunities to maximise children's learning through the use of more open questioning and explorative techniques to encourage the children to formulate their own ideas and test their knowledge and understanding. However, children are being prepared in readiness for school.

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who attend

Children's communication and language development is very well supported by staff throughout the day. Language is modelled well by staff that speak clearly and engage the children in conversation at all times. Staff have taught themselves a range of hand signs from British Sign Language and uses these signs to support their questions, discussions and directions. Additionally, children are also encouraged to use British Sign Language when talking to staff and each other. For example, during snack time in the toddler room staff talk to the children using hand signs for toast, milk and sitting down. Staff provide a print rich environment where resources and displays are labelled with words. Children are encouraged to recognise their name during registration when they arrive for their session and place it on the notice board. Resources for writing and mark making are evident, to enable all children to develop their early writing skills. For example, the children contribute

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who attend

to a large group mark making activity, which is included in the floor book for their topic on Space.

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who attend

Staff and parents work in partnership extremely well and parents speak highly of the excellent relationships that they have with the staff. These relationships are considered a strength by the pre-school staff, who fully understand the importance of working together to promote consistency of care for each child. At the end of every term, staff meet with each child's parents to share their child's progress and agree the next steps in their learning and development. Consequently, providing the children with targeted support, both in the pre-school and at home. Excellent systems for daily communication through the use of daily diaries ensure that parents are kept informed about their child's achievements and activities that they have enjoyed during their session at the pre-school. Parents are encouraged to contribute information about their child's learning at home through sharing observations, which staff incorporate in the child's learning journals. This

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who attend

ensures that children's needs are continually assessed and planned for and that children who require additional support receive this at the earliest opportunity. The pre-school sends home two teddy bears, which the children are encouraged to take on trips and to special events and the resulting activities are displayed on the wall in the pre-school room. Parents share that they are highly satisfied with the support that they receive from the pre-school and the progress that their children are making in their social skills, learning, communication and literacy. They value the willingness of staff to arrange appointments that fit in with their personal and work commitments.

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

Children benefit from gradual settling-in sessions, where time is spent getting to know them, their families and their individual needs. This is repeated when children make the transition move from the toddler room to the pre-school room. Parents provide information about their child's likes and dislikes and current interests through 'All about Me' documents. These are shared with a key staff member through the established key person system, enabling close relationships to be formed between staff, parents and their children. As a result, the move from home to pre-school is relaxed and supportive of the child's needs from the outset. This promotes children's sense of security and enables them to become confident in exploring their new environment. Time is spent sharing information between parents and staff at the start and end of each day to ensure any changing needs are known and addressed. The use of daily diaries aids this further.

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

Similarly, moves on to school are equally well supported, in partnership with parents and new teachers. Copies of all the children's progress records are made available to parents for passing on to their child's receiving school, to support their continued development.

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

Independent thinking and working skills are a strength of the pre-school. All children are involved in the planning of their work programme and contribute to the overall planning of the pre-school. In the pre-school room, children are encouraged to have their snack at a time of their choosing and to play indoors or outdoors as they wish. The pre-school children demonstrate a high level of self-confidence and independence. For example, one child chose to come indoors to eat alone even when the child's friends were actively engaged outdoors. Children are confident in selecting activities, resources and equipment that meets the needs of their chosen activity. For example, one child, trying to complete a threading exercise realised that the string was unsuitable because the holes were the wrong shape. The correct thickness of string was located from the well-organised resources and the child completed the task successfully. In the toddler room children are

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

encouraged to pour their own drinks and decide how much food they wish to eat from the prepared plates of food. At the end of snack time in the toddler room children take it in turns to wash and dry the plates and cups that have been used that session. This encourages children to take responsibility for their daily care routines as well as giving them an opportunity to work in partnership and develop their social and language skills. An understanding of the importance of hygiene is fostered with all children, through hand washing being incorporated into the daily routine after using the bathroom, going outside or before snacks.

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

Staff create an inspiring and enabling indoor and outdoor environment, where the children are able to use a range of different activities and resources as they choose. All areas of the premises are clean, safe and secure, with staff attentive in promoting a safe environment. Displays celebrate children's creativity and the photographs in their learning journals show them engaged in activities, celebrating the skills they have used and the learning gained from these experiences. Positive behaviour is highly evident and children happily play together in this calm and caring environment. This is because staff understand the importance of ensuring that children are stimulated and actively engaged in play, to prevent them from becoming bored and support the children in working together. Children's confidence and self-esteem is continually nurtured through the praise and encouragement they receive from staff. Children are polite and kind to each other and

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

manners are encouraged at all times. Staff provide very good role models in being kind and respectful to one another and actively encourage children to be sensitive towards others. This results in children being polite, respectful and confident to communicate their ideas with others. These personal skills in managing their emotions and developing positive relationships support children well towards the next stage of their learning, and transitions, such as school. Children have opportunities for outdoor play and fresh air throughout their session, developing physical skills and confidence as they enthusiastically play in the well-planned outdoor area. Outdoors, children freely explore sand and water and learn about how to mix substances together to create interesting consistencies in the mud garden. Riding along the road track they develop skills, such as negotiating obstacles and other children. Awareness of how to keep themselves safe is also promoted during outdoor activities

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

through reminders about not going too fast, staying on the road track and closing doors carefully. Snacks are provided mid-morning and mid-afternoon and are freshly prepared on the premises. They are nutritionally balanced to ensure that children benefit from a healthy diet. Staff monitor children's food and drink intake and share what their child has eaten with parents verbally and through daily diaries.

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provision

The manager has a very good understanding of her role and responsibilities in ensuring that the pre-school is effectively organised and the requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage are effectively implemented. Comprehensive policies and procedures, risk assessments and safety measures are all in place to ensure that risks and hazards are minimised. Visual checks of the indoor and outdoor environments are carried out by the staff daily, to ensure that all areas used by the children are safe. Access to the building is secure and all parents, children and visitors are admitted personally by staff who vet identification of visitors before admission. This ensures that staff are fully aware of who is on the premises, safeguarding the children at all times. Parents are made aware of all policies and procedures when first joining the pre- school and through the regular newsletters when these are updated or new policies are

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provision

implemented. Staff are effectively deployed throughout the pre-school to ensure children are well supervised and staffing ratios are adhered to at all times. All of which ensure that appropriate steps are taken to minimise risk and to keep the children safe and secure.

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provision

A thorough recruitment and induction process ensures that new staff are suitable and fully understand their role and responsibilities. All staff contribute to the supervision and appraisal processes, which are used to develop their personal practices and to identify their training and development needs. The manager effectively monitors the quality of all aspects of practice. This includes spending time within the pre-school observing practice, reviewing staff's observations and assessments of the children and being actively involved in the planning of learning opportunities. This ensures children's individual learning needs are being correctly identified and met effectively. The manager also liaises with outside agencies to secure appropriate support and intervention for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, children progress well across all areas of learning. Staff's knowledge of good practice is enhanced through their ongoing

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provision

professional development. However, the manager has not yet fully considered opportunities to further develop and share staffs' good practice through the development and implementation of peer observation, as part of the already good supervision practices. Training is accessed through the local authority. Regular staff meetings are used to update staff on current best practice and any changes to legislation. The high levels of experience and teaching expertise of the staff is evident through their knowledge of planning, which is differentiated to meet the needs of each child attending the pre-school and their teaching.

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provision

Evaluation of the pre-school's strengths and areas for development is ongoing and actively involves contributions from the whole staff team and parents through the use of questionnaires and verbal discussions. An ongoing improvement plan is in place, which all staff contribute to in their aspiration to continuously improve the quality of the provision. This reflects the enthusiasm and commitment of the staff team, to provide the best possible provision for the children in their care. Parents are extremely happy with the level of care that their children receive and the evident progress that they are making in their learning and development. They feel involved, well informed and that the staff are very friendly, caring and approachable. They appreciate the time that the staff take each day to share written and verbal feedback with them about their child's day. This ensures that a two-way flow of information is encouraged between parents and staff on a daily basis,

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provision

keeping everyone informed and up-to-date about the children's needs. Parents receive newsletters and have a range of information available through notice boards. They are welcome to share their children's learning journal at any time and are updated termly on their child's progress. Effective partnerships with external agencies and local schools are also well established and contribute securely to meeting children's needs. Staff work well with the teacher for the deaf, to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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provision

Teachers are invited to meet those pre-school children who will be transferring to school, enabling information to be shared about individual children's development and needs. In addition, staff and children attend special events, such as Christmas productions, at the adjacent primary school. These opportunities support the transition for children who would be moving on to the local school extremely well and help to maintain the pre-school as part of the local community.

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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 EY400075 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 860124

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 32 Name of provider Theresa Anne Jackson Date of previous inspection 03/02/2010 Telephone number 07742744344

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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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