Little Heath Nursery Playgroup

Little Heath Nursery Playgroup Parish Hall, Thornton Road, POTTERS BAR, EN6 1JJ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 29/04/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Staff help children develop their confidence as they engage in conversations, welcome visitors and move around the different areas of the playgroup with a sense of security.  Staff provide a variety of interesting and stimulating activities for children in the challenging and exciting outdoor area. Children have valuable opportunities to develop their senses and refine their physical skills.  Staff demonstrate a sound understanding of safeguarding policies, procedures and working in partnership with other professionals.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff do not always fully inform parents of their child's day, including incidents, in order for them to fully plan appropriate support for their child's well-being.  On occasions, children are less well engaged during circle, toileting and snack time routines because staff are not so focused on teaching at these times to fully promote children's learning.  Staff do not always build on children's preferences to help introduce new tastes and experiences.

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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 compulsory part 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 and the interactions between children and staff in the playroom and the garden.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a joint observation and held meetings with the registered provider.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a sample of children's records and the planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with children and the provider's improvement plan.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Little Heath Nursery Playgroup registered in 2013 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. It operates from the parish hall in Little Heath, Hertfordshire. The playgroup serves the local and wider area and is accessible to all children. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The playgroup opens Monday to Friday during term time only. Sessions are from 9am until 12 noon. There is an optional lunch club, which operates Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 12 noon until 1pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 26 children attending who are in the early years age group. The playgroup is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early years education for three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language. The playgroup employs four members of childcare staff; two hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3,

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Information about the setting

and one member of staff holds a qualification at level 2.

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must:

 improve the regular two-way flow of information with parents and/or carers to ensure they are fully informed of their child's day, including any incidents, so that parents are able to fully support their children's well-being

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must:

 improve the quality of teaching during routine activities, to fully promote children's learning and provide consistent challenge.

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

 take account of children's preferences at snack time to encourage them to enjoy their food and make healthy choices.

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who attend

Overall, children enjoy their time in the playgroup. Staff provide a useful range of activities and resources to promote children's learning. They gain some basic details of the children's starting points through discussions with the parents and through their early observations of children playing. This ensures that resources that are of interest to the children are easily available as soon as they arrive. Children enjoy the computer and staff support them to independently load the disc and use the mouse to enter the game. Staff regularly undertake useful observations and assessments of children's progress. They identify the next steps in the children's learning and develop appropriate activities to help children make suitable progress. For example, children quickly develop their physical skills when encouraged to try the slide.

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who attend

Children's language development is very well supported. Staff employ a range of teaching strategies. They have relaxed, enjoyable dialogue with children and the use of open-ended questions creates meaningful interactions from which children learn. Staff and children discuss the similarities and differences in the toy dumper trucks while playing quietly together on the mat. Staff introduce technical vocabulary to the children when supporting them to use the computer. They are readily available to read favourite stories to the children on demand. Staff encourage the children to join in with the refrains and freely express their thoughts about what is going to happen next. Children learning English as an additional language are very well supported as staff collect a few words in their home language. Staff spend time building children's skills using a puppet theatre. They speak clearly, use facial expressions and gestures to help children make up stories. Staff support

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who attend

children to join in imaginative play and role play, encouraging them to engage in imaginative role-play based on own first-hand experiences. Children talk about why and how we take someone's temperature and they express their own ideas. This helps them to be ready for the next stage of their development and eventually for school. However, the organisation and quality of teaching during circle time, along with the routine for toileting and snack time, occasionally leaves children distracted and not fully involved in their learning. This sometimes limits their otherwise positive attitude to learning.

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who attend

Staff have developed an adequate partnership with the parents. They give parents some helpful information on their child's progress through the verbal feedback at the end of the day. Parents are given the opportunity to come in and see their child's learning journal and occasionally parents can take them home to show other family members. Staff display notices and provide termly newsletters to give ideas to help parents extend their child's learning at home. Parents commented that their children enjoy learning about the baby animals and they enthusiastically talk about this at home.

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

The playgroup is inviting to children and well-presented resources in sufficient quantities help children to become quickly involved in their play. Generally, children settle well and develop close relationships with their key person and the other staff. Children are supported to gain their independence, as they are gently encouraged to hang up their own artwork to dry. They are gently encouraged to put on their own coats and wash their hands to learn the important self-care skills they will need in readiness for school. Parents share information about potty training and daily routines. However, occasionally parents are not given the full picture of their children's day in order to fully assess the impact for their children on attending playgroup and to make suitable plans for their children's diverse needs.

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

On the whole, staff are skilled in helping children to behave well by sensitively supporting them to negotiate, share and play together. They provide extra equipment, such as sand timers, to help children share and take turns. Staff introduce further resources to reduce conflict so young children can play alongside each other with the similar toys. Children grow in confidence through the sensitive support of their key person. They are introduced to visitors and are confident to ask the inspector to join in their play. This helps most children to separate from their parents, to be emotionally ready for the next stage of learning and eventually for their entry into school. Staff are fully aware of, and sensitive to, keeping the children in their care safe. The provider organises extra staff to appropriately support children that find managing feelings and behaviour more difficult. Suitable behaviour management strategies that concentrate on positive reinforcement are

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

effective in helping the majority of children to manage their behaviour. Staff gently teach children to think about the risk of accidents when rolling the cars over the floor. They support children to be confident to take small manageable risks as they move around the premises. Children are encouraged to use the steps in the outdoor area by holding the fence rather than an adult's hand. This helps children develop their independence and a positive sense of self as they succeed.

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

Children are learning about a healthy lifestyle as they greatly enjoy exploring the exciting outdoor area. Staff encourage them to use the challenging climbing equipment. Young children show a great deal of satisfaction as they achieve their aim of using the steps to get to the top. Older children extend the challenge and learn by trial and error to pull themselves up the slope. This encourages them to persevere in order to achieve their self- chosen goal. Children mostly have good opportunities to learn about healthy eating at snack time. They are encouraged to bring a piece of fruit to share with their friends. Staff keenly observe the children's preferences. However, some children are less confident to try new tastes because they are not introduced with foods that they do like. This does not fully encourage children to make healthy choices in their diet. Social mealtimes effectively encourage children to develop their conversational skills, particularly about their

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provision

The playgroup implements suitable and up-to-date safeguarding and behaviour management policies that are in place to help keep children secure and safe from harm. Visitors to the playgroup are asked to sign the visitors' book and the staff appropriately record the times children arrive and leave, in the register of attendance. There is a range of written risk assessments in place and daily safety checks are completed by staff to make sure the environment is safe and suitable for children. Staff suitably assess and adapt the premises to allow the children to find a calm space away from others when necessary. Security of the premises is well organised with high latches on the doors within the premises to prevent anyone entering the building uninvited. Staff demonstrate a satisfactory understanding of their role and responsibilities to safeguard children in their care. They know the procedures to follow if they have any concerns about a child, liaising

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provision

with the appropriate agencies and helping to protect the children who attend. Robust recruitment, vetting and induction procedures help to ensure adults working with children are suitable to do so.

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provision

This inspection took place due to a concern being raised about meeting the needs of all children and information for parents. Occasionally, children do not easily cope with being at the playgroup and staff work closely with other professionals to develop a joint approach. Generally, staff have a very good relationship with parents. They regularly make themselves available to speak to parents about the care and education the children receive. Parents spoken to on the day of the inspection, report that they are extremely pleased with the service they receive. Their children have formed strong bonds with the staff and have made progress in their learning. However, parents are not always informed promptly of incidents that happen at the playgroup and that adversely affect the care of the other children. The lack of information leads to parents not being able to fully support their children's well-being and make contingency plans to develop dependable care for

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provision

their children. This is a breach of legal requirements.

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provision

There is a suitable emphasis on the professional development within the playgroup. Staff attend regular team meetings and training to update their knowledge and skills. They use their knowledge gained on courses to reflect on the practice within the setting. For example, staff improve the way they communicate with the children and help them develop their thinking skills. This helps support children to make positive progress in their learning. Staff are enthusiastic and demonstrate a sound understanding of their responsibilities for implementing the welfare, and learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. The playgroup regularly uses the advisory services from the local authority to develop a clear and successful improvement plan. Staff are working on improving the children's learning record so that they can more efficiently link their observations and assessments to the planning in order to narrow the gaps in

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provision

children's learning even further. Staff regularly discuss children's progress to monitor their learning and development and to inform the progress check at age two. This means that the provider is able to ensure that staff are correctly supporting children's learning so they make sound progress.

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provision

The provider ensures that there are suitable relationships with the local children's centre and other professionals to ensure that children's needs are targeted so that appropriate interventions are carried out. Staff give parents the names and numbers of other agencies to help families access relevant services as appropriate. Staff have some links with the other providers that also care for the children at playgroup and this gives some consistency of care and education to promote children's progress. Staff visit the local school with all the children in the summer term before the older children move up. They invite local teachers to see the children in the playgroup and this helps a smooth move for the older children, and younger children to begin to relate to going to school.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory 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 EY469837 Local authority Hertfordshire Inspection number 971485 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 20 Number of children on roll 26 Name of provider Hajnalka Michael Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 07737 857990

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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

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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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