Oxenhope Under Fives Pre-school

Oxenhope Under Fives Pre-School Community Centre, Oxenhope, Keighley, West Yorkshire, BD22 9LY

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 23/05/2014 23/06/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 3 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 quality of teaching is inadequate because staff do not make accurate assessments of children's development or plan activities to meet the needs of individual children.  Staff do not help children persevere because they do not plan activities that match children's abilities and staff complete more challenging tasks for them.  Staff are not well deployed and frequently miss opportunities to extend children's learning as they play because they do not have an adequate understanding of the characteristics of effective teaching.  Staff do not consistently encourage children to think about risky behaviour and the consequences for themselves and for others.  The management does not ensure the premises are hygienic, which means children's health is not adequately safeguarded.  Ofsted is not informed of all changes to committee membership. This is a breach of legal requirements.  Management and leadership is ineffective because self-assessment procedures do not

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This provision is inadequate

have sufficient impact on children's progress.

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It has the following strengths

 Parents value the pre-school setting and links with the local primary school are strong. This helps support children and their transitions to school.

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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 in both indoor rooms and the outdoor area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager and with the chair and treasurer of the management committee.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with children and of committee members, and reviewed the manager's self-evaluation form and improvement plan.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to during the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Oxenhope Under Fives Pre-School was established in 1973 and is on the Early Years Register. It is situated in the community centre in Oxenhope, near Keighley, West Yorkshire, and is jointly managed by the staff and a committee. The pre-school serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from the large hall and also has the use of a small room, kitchen and toilet facilities. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery employs seven members of childcare staff. A volunteer also works with the group. Of these, most hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3. The pre-school opens Monday to Friday during term time only. Sessions are from 9am until 12pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 39 children on roll who are in the early years age group. The pre-school receives funding for the provision of free early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. It supports children

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Information about the setting

with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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must:

 ensure staff make accurate assessments of children's development and use this information to plan future learning opportunities to meet the needs of individual children

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must:

 ensure staff help children persevere and succeed by planning activities that match children's abilities, breaking down more difficult tasks into simpler steps if necessary, and by supporting children as they perform challenging tasks

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must:

 ensure staff consistently take into account the characteristics of effective teaching and learning as they support children's play

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must:

 ensure the premises are hygienic and children's health is adequately safeguarded.

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

 ensure staff consistently encourage children to think about the consequences of risky behaviour for themselves and for others.

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who attend

The quality of teaching and learning is inadequate because staff do not have a sufficient knowledge and understanding of the characteristics of effective learning. For example, staff plan age-appropriate topics, rather than activities to promote individual children's learning. These activities do not necessarily capture children's interest and are frequently not well designed to support their learning. For example, the current topic is 'bears'. Staff set up a table with bear-shaped pieces of felt, wool, scissors and hole punches. Children punch some holes around the edge of the shapes before being encouraged to cut pieces of wool, thread a large needle and thread the wool through the holes. Teaching is poor and does not encourage children to engage in the activity. For example, children try to thread the needles but cannot do this difficult task. Staff thread the needles and knot the wool for them, instead of supporting children to succeed by breaking the task into simpler,

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who attend

more manageable stages. Some children lose interest and wander off, others successfully thread the needle through the holes in the felt, but the thread pulls straight through, because the knot is too small. Children give up threading and try to punch more holes in the shapes, but they find it too difficult to punch the holes in the material. This activity is not well thought out from the children's viewpoint. There is no clear purpose to the activity and the children find it very difficult. Children are not supported to succeed in any aspect of the task. This means they leave the activity with a feeling of failure and do not learn that they can succeed if they persevere. They are not encouraged to have a good approach to challenging activities and it does not help them prepare for their next stage in their education. However, there are some activities which are effective. For example, staff know which children have had snack because they take their name card and stick it to the

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who attend

initial letter of their name on a large alphabet. This encourages children to recognise letters and develops their understanding that print has purpose.

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who attend

Staff do not always support children's learning effectively. Sometimes staff miss opportunities to extend children's understanding, and children frequently spend long periods of time without staff help and support. For example, a member of staff puts a counting game on the computer but leaves them to play independently. The children click on the wrong part of the screen. The member of staff returns and puts the program back on, but does not explain the problem to the children. The children repeatedly lose the game they are trying to play. At other times activities are too adult controlled and are frequently aimed at the whole group. They do not take into account individual children's interests or needs. For example, staff instruct the children to go into their key-person groups to look at their development files. Most children do not understand why they are looking at the files and are not engaged in the activity. They sit at the tables looking

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who attend

uninterested or confused. Some files contain only one photograph because the children have attended the pre-school for a short period of time. This means most children do not get a positive learning experience from this activity, because of the way it is organised. However, there are a good range of resources that address all areas of learning, and children play happily with these for most of the session.

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who attend

Staff obtain basic information about children's likes and dislikes from parents when children join the group. However, staff are not confident in assessing children's stages of development by observing them in play. Recorded assessments of children's developmental stages are sometimes highly inaccurate. This means that although staff write summaries of children's development for parents, including the required progress check at age two, these are not sufficiently reliable to identify children whose development is less than would be expected for their age. This means staff cannot reliably inform parents of any concerns about children's learning and development, put in place activities and opportunities to reduce any gaps in learning, or seek support from other agencies in a timely manner. In some cases, although these assessments indicate children are not making expected progress, no plans have been put in place to address this. This

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who attend

means that some children, especially those with special educational needs and disabilities, are not well prepared for their next stage in learning, for example school.

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

The group operates a key-person system which means each child has a named person who takes responsibility for their day-to-day care needs and who builds partnerships with parents. However, this system is not always effective. For example, some parents are not aware that they can look at their child's development records. However, staff are friendly and most children quickly settle into the pre-school environment. The majority of children enjoy attending the group. Staff provide a good range of resources indoors which are organised in a way that allows children to access them easily. These resources are sufficient to support all areas of learning, and the organisation of the room helps children develop their independence.

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

Staff are not always well deployed and they do not generally use resources and activities effectively to extend children's learning as they play, or promote children's self-esteem and confidence. Staff do not plan activities that match children's abilities, and do more challenging tasks for them instead of helping children find ways to succeed. This means staff do not help children to develop important skills and attitudes to learning, which will help them as they move on to the next stage of their education. This reduces children's sense of well-being and self-esteem. Children generally behave well and know what is expected of them, although staff do not consistently encourage children to think about risky behaviour. For example, a small group of children run very quickly indoors pushing dolls' pushchairs and wheeled vehicles. Staff fail to point out to the children the risks to themselves and to other children. However, staff do frequently praise positive behaviour.

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

Children have frequent access to a small outdoor area, which encourages them to get fresh air and exercise. This helps promote their good health. They also occasionally explore the nearby woods. Staff encourage children to become aware of healthy foods as they talk to them about foods that are good for them. They offer milk or water to drink and each snack includes a choice of three fruits. Staff ensure children understand that they need to wash their hands before eating. However, the hygiene control in the kitchen and other areas of the premises is not sufficient to ensure children are protected from infection.

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provision

The management carry out risk assessments and daily checks, which generally help keep children safe. However, these checks are insufficient to ensure the premises are hygienic. For example, the kitchen and toilets are not clean at the beginning of each session. In addition, up to 30 children gather in a small room for registration and for story times. Children wear outdoor footwear in this room and some children wear wellies. The soft cushions on the floor are dirty and this does not adequately safeguard children's health. Staff have a good awareness of the signs and symptoms of abuse and understand procedures to follow if they have concerns. This helps keep children safe. Recruitment and selection procedures are generally satisfactory and staff and volunteers' suitability to work with children is checked. This helps ensure that those working with children are suitable to do so. However, Ofsted is not informed of all changes to committee membership. This is a

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provision

The pre-school manager is aware of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and conducts a regular programme of staff appraisals. However, this process does not translate into good practice. For example, the appraisal and monitoring systems do not ensure staff understand and consistently use effective teaching strategies or ensure that important roles, such as that of the special educational needs coordinator, are carried out effectively. Self-evaluation and reflective practice are ineffective. Very limited progress has been made since the last inspection. For example, an action was raised at the last inspection to ensure children's next steps are identified and used directly to inform future planned activities. Next steps are beginning to be identified, but are not as yet used effectively to inform future planning. The manager completed a self-evaluation document a year ago that identified similar issues for development. These included improvement of

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provision

staff understanding of the characteristics of effective learning and ensuring individual education plans are in place to support children at risk of delay. However, despite this, these aspects of teaching remain poor. In addition, the manager did not identify problems with cleaning in this document despite it having been an issue for some time. Despite this, the manager shows a commitment to improve the pre-school provision. She has recognised errors in assessment and has requested support from the local authority to address this. Ratios of children to staff are maintained and there is a named deputy to take charge in the absence of the manager.

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provision

Parents value the pre-school setting and are generally happy with the service it provides. The group have an informative website that provides parents with a wide range of useful information. For example, parents can download policies which describe how the setting runs through the website and find out how to become a committee member. The manager seeks the views of parents through questionnaires and daily discussion, and responds to their requests. Links with other agencies to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are beginning to be established, although assessment is not currently reliable enough to identify all children who may benefit from additional support. However, links with the local primary school are strong, and before children move on to the reception class, they make weekly visits to their new school with pre-school staff. This helps to support children's transitions to school.

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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 301974 Local authority Bradford Inspection number 818648

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 39 Name of provider Oxenhope Under Fives Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 23/06/2009 Telephone number 07851 702 283

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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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