Playdays Opportunity Group

Playdays Opportunity Group Chellaston Community Centre, Barley Croft, Derby, Derbyshire, DE73 1TU

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 15/05/2014 15/11/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 4 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

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This provision is inadequate

 The provider fails to implement effective procedures for the recruitment of new staff, to establish their ability to fulfil the requirements of the role.  The designated lead for child protection has not attended the required training for the role. Consequently, they are not sufficiently skilled to give the appropriate guidance and advice to other staff.  Staff do not always know when to stand back and allow children enough time to explore and think for themselves. This means that teaching methods do not always support each child to develop the skills needed to lead their own play.  The pre-school's procedures for the management of behaviour are not always fully promoted. As a result, not all children learn to behave appropriately.

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It has the following strengths

 Children are appropriately supported to develop close bonds and friendships with the staff and their peers. This means that they are generally happy and enjoy their time at the pre-school.  Partnerships with parents are strong. Information is shared effectively, which helps to promote the learning and development of the children. This benefits the children as learning is supported at home.

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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, side rooms and outdoor area of the pre-school.  The inspector spoke with staff, children and their parents throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a joint observation and held meetings with the pre-school manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed a selection of documentation including suitability checks and the policies and procedures of the pre-school.

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Information about the setting

Playdays Opportunity Group was registered in 1994 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a community centre in the Chellaston area of Derby, and is privately owned. The pre-school serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from the main community hall and side rooms, and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The pre-school employs 10 members of childcare staff. Of these, nine hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3, including three with an early years degree. The pre-school opens Monday to Friday during school term times. Sessions are from 9am until 12.30pm on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and from 9am until 3pm on Wednesday and Friday. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 76 children on roll who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three-

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Information about the setting

and four-year-olds. It supports children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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must:

 implement the policies and procedures for the recruitment of new staff to ensure that their ability to fulfil the requirements of the role has been suitably established

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must:

 ensure that the designated lead for child protection has attended the required training to improve the skills and knowledge required for the role

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must:

 implement the behaviour management policy to ensure that staff are provided with the advice and support needed to enable them to effectively manage children's behaviour.

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

 develop teaching methods so that staff support children to enhance their skills, for example, by allowing them time to explore so that they can lead their own play and think for themselves.

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who attend

The pre-school is well resourced with a good selection of equipment covering the seven areas of learning, which staff use effectively to provide a welcoming and visually stimulating learning environment. A wide variety of interesting and challenging activities and experiences are presented in an attractive and considerate way to encourage children to participate. This means that children arrive enthusiastically at the pre-school and are eager to engage in play. Staff generally have a reasonable understanding of how children learn best and demonstrate suitable teaching skills which help to support children as they learn. For example, some staff ask questions which encourage the children to think critically. However, staff do not always know when to stand back and allow children enough time to explore and think for themselves as they play. This means that, on occasions, learning is disrupted when staff intervene to question children. As a

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who attend

consequence of this, not all children develop the good skills needed to lead their own play.

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who attend

Children develop an appropriate range of skills which help to prepare them for their next stage of learning. Staff support the children to use numbers and other mathematical concepts, such as bigger and smaller, as they participate in activities including filling and pouring. Children express themselves freely as they explore a variety of media, such as shaving foam, and they create pictures and choose from an assortment of paints. Children learn how to care for animals as they play in the vets and work together to negotiate how to build a wall with large bricks when playing in the builders' yard. Free access to the outdoor play area means that children are well supported to make choices about where and what they want to play with. They learn to understand more about the world around them as they enthusiastically fill buckets at the outdoor tap to water their plants and use magnifying glasses to hunt for bugs. Children ride in cars, climb on frames and participate

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who attend

in games, which encourages them to develop good physical skills, such as throwing balls into boxes. Children are presented with a good selection of fiction and non-fiction books and enjoy sharing stories with a familiar adult and in small groups. Children develop suitable writing skills as they write in books and on walls with chalks.

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who attend

The pre-school has an effective key-person system in place, which means that staff have a reasonable understanding of children's developmental needs. They regularly observe their key children as they play and make appropriate assessments of each child's developmental progress. When children first start at the pre-school, staff use information from parents and children to ensure that the children's initial needs are met. Ongoing development is supported through suitable planning, which incorporates the interests of the children and their next stages of learning. Subsequently, children make steady progress. Since the last inspection, improvements have been made to the planning and teaching of adult-led activities. As a result, individual learning is reasonably well planned for and learning outcomes are taught effectively during key group activities. Staff share relevant, useful information with parents about their child's learning and development on a daily basis.

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who attend

Parents are invited to attend parents' evenings, where key persons share written assessments and discuss any emerging needs. They also take this opportunity to discuss any learning that takes place outside of the pre-school. This helps to ensure that learning and development is complemented between environments, in order to provide an appropriate degree of consistency for children's learning between home and pre-school.

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

Children are mostly happy and enjoy their time at the pre-school. The staff are caring and affectionate, and provide suitable reassurance and cuddles when children become upset. Staff utilise the flexible settling-in procedures well to ensure that they develop warm bonds and attachments with key children. They spend time gathering meaningful information from parents to enable them to provide appropriate support and familiar activities, which helps to ensure that children are emotionally well supported when they start. In addition, children develop close friendships with each other. For example, they seek out best friends to play games with in the garden. Staff are mostly effective role models as they are polite and respectful, which in turn means that children learn to use suitable manners. Staff praise children's achievements throughout the session and this helps the children to develop generally good self-esteem. The pre-school has procedures

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

in place for the management of behaviour. On occasions, children learn to play cooperatively together as they are encouraged to share and take turns. However, staff do not always intervene effectively to promote good behaviour to make the expectations for children clear. Consequently, not all children behave appropriately.

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

The large play areas are sufficiently well organised and arranged to enable children to use the resources independently. Children explore the environment with confidence using their imagination as they move between the outdoor and indoor areas. Equipment is in good working order and is stored at accessible heights for children, which means they are supported to make choices about what they play with. The majority of staff have an awareness of how to promote the safety of the children and are well deployed to supervise children appropriately. Staff generally support most children to gain an understanding of risk. For example, they encourage children to balance independently on climbing equipment. In addition, staff supervise children as they go down steps in the garden, encouraging them to use the handrail in order to manage risk. These measures help to keep the children safe. However, because recruitment procedures have not been

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

effectively implemented, safeguarding procedures are not sufficiently robust to ensure staff are suitable to fulfil the requirements of their role. This puts children at risk.

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

The pre-school provides the children with a healthy menu of snacks and meals. Children are encouraged to serve their own food and drinks, and mealtimes are a social occasion where children and staff share conversation together. These discussions help to reinforce learning about healthy food choices. Older children use the toilet facilities and wash their hands by themselves, and staff support younger children as they learn how to use the potty. Therefore, children learn appropriate self-care skills, which helps to promote their well-being. Regular opportunities for children to be active are well promoted. Children engage in an appropriate level of physical exercise throughout the session. For example, they move and dance as they sing their favourite songs. As a result, children are generally well supported to be healthy.

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provision

Children's welfare is promoted sufficiently within the pre-school as the management team generally understand their responsibilities under the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Suitable polices and procedures are in place which generally promote the welfare of the children. Staff have a basic understanding of child protection procedures and whom to report any concerns to. This means children are mostly safe and suitably protected while attending the pre-school. However, the designated lead person for child protection within the pre-school does not have sufficient knowledge about the role and it is unclear whether the required training has been attended. Therefore, she is not appropriately skilled to provide guidance and advice to staff. This is a breach of the requirements, and consequently, the welfare of the children is compromised. Since the last inspection, safeguarding practice has been

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provision

developed and all staff have been subject to the relevant Disclosure and Barring Service checks. However, the procedures for the recruitment of new staff have not been sufficiently implemented to ensure that they are suitable to carry out their role, which is a breach of the requirements. This is also a breach of a requirement of the Childcare Register. Risk assessments of the premises, including outings and resources, are implemented and suitable policies and procedures are in place which generally help to support the children's well-being. However, behaviour management procedures are not always implemented effectively. This is also a breach of a requirement of the Childcare Register. Regular relevant safety checks of the building, including the outdoor area, help to ensure that the environment is safe and secure.

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provision

The management team have an acceptable understanding of their role in meeting the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Systems to observe and assess the development of children have been developed since the last inspection to ensure individual learning of children is well planned for. Each key person is responsible for ensuring that the next steps in children's development is incorporated into the process, and regular monitoring by the management team helps to ensure that children in general make steady progress. Arrangements to monitor and appraise staff's practice appropriately have been implemented into the pre-school. As a result, some weaknesses in teaching methods have been addressed to help promote the learning of the children. However, this is still in its early stages of development and has not had a significant impact to ensure rapid progress for all children. Regular opportunities for staff

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provision

to attend additional training to extend their knowledge, understanding and skills are provided. As a consequence, staff are adequately trained and qualified to satisfactorily meet children's needs.

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provision

The staff team are very passionate and are keen to improve the setting. The pre-school works closely with the local authority support worker, who has provided much support and guidance. This has helped the setting to develop its practice adequately. Reasonably detailed plans are in place to support continuous improvement, and most aspects of practice are generally reflective. Relevant evaluation takes place regularly, taking into account the views of the children, parents and staff. This means that most strengths and weaknesses are adequately identified. The pre-school has developed effective partnerships with parents. Parents are generally positive about the setting and feel that staff are very supportive. Staff share relevant information in relation to each child's development regularly with them, which means that learning is suitably complimented at home. Appropriate, well-established partnerships with schools and other professionals, including

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provision

speech and language therapists, help to ensure that children have any emerging needs met.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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

 have effective systems to ensure that any person caring for, or in regular contact with, children is suitable to work with children, which must include obtaining an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check, ensuring the person is of integrity and good character, and has the skills and experience suitable for the work (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that children's behaviour is managed in a suitable manner (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  have effective systems to ensure that any person caring for, or in regular contact with, children is suitable to work with children, which must include obtaining an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check, ensuring the person is of integrity and good character, and has the skills and experience suitable for the work (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that children's behaviour is managed in a suitable manner (voluntary part of

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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 206146 Local authority Derby, City of Inspection number 963114

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 56 Number of children on roll 76 Name of provider Linda Winter Date of previous inspection 15/11/2013 Telephone number 07842097445

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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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