Bollinbrook Pre-School

Bollinbrook Pre School Bollinbrook C of E Primary School, Abbey Road, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK10 3AT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/06/2014 04/11/2008

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early years provision

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

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This provision is outstanding

 Children are enthusiastic about learning because staff engage and motivate them through constant, meaningful interactions, due to their expert knowledge of the children's needs. As a result, children are making excellent progress.  Staff enable children to become independent in their learning, thinking and self-care skills. This means that children are extremely well prepared for the next steps in learning, such as school.  The caring and welcoming ethos of the pre-school ensures that children quickly settle in and develop excellent relationships with staff and one another. Therefore, their personal, social and emotional needs are extremely well met.  Excellent safeguarding policies and procedures are well known and implemented by the staff, who place the utmost importance on ensuring children are extremely safe and secure at all times.  The inspirational and highly motivated manager and staff continually reflect and review

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This provision is outstanding

all areas of practice and provision, driving improvements forward in pursuit of excellence, in order to enhance the extremely good outcomes for children further.  Partnerships with parents, other settings and professionals are superb. This ensures that children's needs are quickly identified and that they receive targeted support appropriate to their individual needs.

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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 playroom and the outside learning environment.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager of the provision, and spoke with staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation and a selection of policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with children, the provider'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 on the day, and from information included in the setting's own parent survey.

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Information about the setting

Bollinbrook Pre-school was registered in 1989 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated within the grounds of Bollinbrook Primary School in the Macclesfield area of Cheshire. It is managed by a registered charity. The pre-school serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from a mobile classroom within the school grounds and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. Access to the building is via a ramp. The pre-school employs four members of childcare staff. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications at levels 2 to level 6, including the manager, who holds Early Years Teacher Status. The pre- school opens Monday to Friday, during term time. Sessions are from 9 am until 3 pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 36 children attending who are in the early years age group. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-,

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Information about the setting

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

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

 enhance children's excellent communication and social skills further still, through the creation of a quiet, communication friendly space outdoors, where children can look at books and share conversations, away from more physical activities.

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who attend

The quality of teaching is outstanding. The experienced and highly skilled staff have an excellent knowledge of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Staff are highly dedicated and enthusiastic, and this is reflected in the very high expectations they have of themselves and the children. They use their superb understanding of how children learn, to support children of all ages and abilities to achieve the best they possibly can in their learning and development. Consequently, children are highly motivated and engaged, thoroughly enjoying their time in the pre-school, exploring the wide variety of high quality resources and activities provided by the staff, both indoors and outdoors. Staff gather information about each child's interests and individual learning needs from their parents when they first start attending. From this information and their own observations of the children during play, they ensure that excellent activities and

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who attend

learning opportunities are made available, based on the children's individual interests. Staff identify and assess children's starting points and ongoing developmental stages extremely well. They undertake regular observations and precise assessments of the children and use this information to plan for the individual next steps in their learning. Staff also complete a highly comprehensive progress check for children between the ages of two and three years, fully involving parents. As assessments are thorough and ongoing, any identified gaps in learning or delay in children's development are therefore identified and addressed, through early intervention and support from the staff and other agencies, to progress children's learning. Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language receive outstanding levels of support from the highly experienced staff at this pre-school.

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who attend

Staff have an excellent ability to engage and enthusiastically interact with children, which results in them being highly motivated and eager to learn. Children of all ages enjoy opportunities to take part in activities that cover all of their learning needs extremely well. All staff understand the importance of supporting children's communication and language skills at all times, especially for those children learning English as an additional language. Staff use words from children's home language to reassure and reinforce their understanding, learning key words from parents in order to support the child's needs. Staff provide excellent commentary and open questions to children during their play, to engage children in practising their language skills. Children are not hurried to give a response and are clearly given time to think about what they want to say. Children demonstrate excellent communication and language skills, as staff ask them appropriately

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who attend

challenging questions to make them think and find out more. For example, during circle time, staff ask the children to name the three dimensional shapes depicted on picture cards. They enthusiastically identify these, naming for example, 'triangular prism', 'cuboid' and 'cylinder'. This is extended further by staff, asking the children to identify and select the shape from a basket within the circle. When all of the children have had a turn to identify and select a shape, they are asked to build these into a rocket in the centre of the circle. There is lots of speculation as to how high they can build it, 'as high as the ceiling' they suggest. When a child with a large cube adds this to the top of the rocket and it tumbles to the ground, they all laugh, enjoying the excitement and fun of this shared activity. Throughout these activities, children clearly show their enjoyment in trying new experiences and they beam with delight when they receive regular praise for their efforts

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who attend

and achievements. This builds upon their confidence and they successfully develop a 'can do' attitude. However, there is scope to enhance children's excellent communication and social skills further still, through the creation of a quiet, communication friendly space outdoors, where children can look at books and share conversations, away from more physical activities. Staff provide an excellent balance between adult-led and child-initiated activities. This enables children to learn about new concepts and ideas, applying this in their play. For example, while using different shaped building blocks to build towers on their own, they name the three dimensional shapes that they are using and join shapes together to make different ones. This is clear evidence that the excellent teaching they receive from staff has a positive impact upon their learning, preparing them extremely well for their future learning in school.

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who attend

Children enjoy listening to their favourite story books being read by the staff and become engrossed in these. Staff skilfully support children's interest in literacy and language, by sensitively using letters and sounds activities to help them to identify the letters in their names, and helping them to spell out the letters and recognise the sounds. Staff ensure they are using consistent teaching methods with the on-site school in phonics and letter formation, in order to fully support children in their learning when they make the transition to school. Opportunities for children to draw, write and practise making marks are available both indoors and outdoors, with children making full use of these. Some children skilfully write their names, correctly forming the letters and getting these in the correct order. Others write numbers and when asked if number eleven is before or after number ten, they confidently share their knowledge that it is after. Children are very well

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who attend

supported when they attend other settings in addition to the pre-school. This is because staff maintain telephone contact and share progress summaries with other providers, to ensure continuity of care for the children. This support is also in place in preparation for children moving on to school. Staff engage parents, carers and others in children's learning and development, providing regular opportunities to discuss children's needs and progress. Staff have highly successful methods of engaging parents in their children's learning when they first attend and thereafter, on an ongoing basis. Parents provide regular information on their children's changing interests and abilities at home, through updating 'all about me' sheets to add to their learning journals. These are used to provide a complete picture of children's overall development. These positive partnerships and relationships ensure that there is effective information sharing and consistency for the

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who attend

child, and that those in need of additional support receive this, to ensure that their needs are fully met. This joint approach supports the children extremely well to make very rapid and exceptional progress in their learning towards the early learning goals.

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

The pre-school has a very strong caring and nurturing ethos; staff place a high level of importance upon children being happy and emotionally secure. Children quickly and happily settle into the pre-school, through carefully planned open days and settling-in sessions. All children have their own key person who takes great care to make sure they forge close working relationships and excellent communication with parents. Key persons have an extremely good understanding of all children's individual care needs and routines; children form exceptionally close bonds with them, supporting their emotional well-being exceedingly well. Consequently, children are exceptionally happy in their care, resulting in them being extremely confident, independent and self-assured individuals. Parents comment that they have excellent relationships with all staff. They feel reassured that the staff know their children remarkably well, enhancing their sense of trust and security in

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

the quality of their child's care. As a result, children have strong and secure emotional attachments with the staff. This enables them to enjoy their time and make excellent progress in all areas of their development and learning, in a safe environment.

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

Children quickly develop their independence in self-help skills. They take care and pride in their environment, as they look after the toys and resources and are fully involved at tidying up times. At snack time, staff choose helpers who assist in preparing this, skilfully buttering the toast and cutting the fruit, which will be shared with all of the children. A child from each table counts the number of children and collects a corresponding number of cups to share with the others on their table. This provokes conversation about the different colours of the cups and who has one the same colour as theirs. When the snack is ready, the children are encouraged to say 'thank you' to those who have helped to prepare it, promoting courtesy and good manners. The children then choose and collect their own snack, pour their own drink and tidy away after themselves when they have finished eating. All children independently use the bathroom and wash their hands,

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

receiving support from staff if this is needed. At lunch time, children have packed lunches from home and staff eat with the children, joining in their conversations and encouraging children to talk socially about their interests, developing their confidence in social situations. Staff support children well in understanding the importance of a healthy diet, through food tasting and discussions about foods which are healthy and those which are not. This supports children in making healthy choices. Children enjoy fresh air and exercise, developing physical skills and confidence as they play on equipment, such as scooters in the outdoor area, and explore the woodland area in the school grounds. A weekly physical education session takes place in the on-site school hall and staff encourage the children to feel how much faster their heart beats after they have exercised. Staff discuss being safe with the children and visits from a police officer support

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

their understanding of stranger danger and road safety, helping to keep them safe. Children are supervised closely by staff at all times but staff also encourage them to use resources, such as scissors, appropriately and to self-assess potential risks, such as what might happen if they build towers of the large wooden blocks too high. These opportunities enable children to take safe risks under adult supervision and support children in understanding how to keep themselves safe.

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

Staff provide exceptional role models in being kind to one another and creating a calm, welcoming and supportive atmosphere. As a result, positive behaviour is highly evident and children happily play together. This is because staff understand the importance of ensuring that children are actively engaged in play, to prevent them from becoming bored, and support children to work together. All children are polite and respectful, and curious to find out by asking questions. The setting has simple rules, such as being kind to one another, and these are reinforced throughout the sessions. Children develop an excellent understanding of how to behave in other settings as they visit the on-site school to watch assemblies and plays. Staff ensure that children are emotionally well prepared when it is time for them to move onto school. Their smooth transitions to school are well supported through regular visits with their key person, visits from the teachers to the pre-school and

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

activities, such as trying on school uniforms and discussions about what will happen in school. The staff fully promote children's understanding of their differences and similarities. For example, they provide pictures and resources that reflect positive images; children learn about different traditions, customs and beliefs. Children's well-being is addressed extremely well and parents are provided with clear details on the setting's practices through policies on safety, illness and accidents. Parents are invited to stay and play sessions, where they can take part in the activities their child participates in and see their children interacting with their friends. Parents who have attended these sessions express their enjoyment of the wide variety of experiences available to the children and the skilful ways that the staff promote learning and development. Children take books and activities home to share learning with their families. This helps parents to understand how

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

to support their child's learning through play at home. Children are encouraged to share their enjoyment of these books through a sheet showing smiley or sad faces. This is used by staff to develop children's interests in specific stories, using them at story times to support their developing interest in favourite books. The excellent partnerships with parents enable the staff to meet children's individual needs very well. The strong link between the setting and the children's homes fully involves parents in their children's care, learning and play. This also means that the continuity of care between them all fully enhances children's well-being.

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provision

The manager of the pre-school is truly inspirational and has a continuous drive for excellence, motivated by a desire to provide each individual child with the best possible outcomes from their time in the pre-school. She provides strong effective leadership, enabling her staff to feel empowered to demonstrate their own high-quality professionalism in supporting children's development. Each staff member is confident and has a thorough understanding of the policies and procedures which underpin the exceptional practice in the setting. Robust recruitment and suitability processes are in place to assess and continually appraise staff suitability. When appointing staff to work at the pre-school, extremely robust vetting procedures are undertaken, including Disclosure and Barring Service checks on all staff to ensure that they are safe to work with young children. Continual monitoring by the manager and effective, frequent supervision ensures

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provision

that staff maintain high standards of professionalism and integrity. All staff have a thorough understanding of their role and responsibility in safeguarding and promoting children's welfare. Staff receive refresher training and policies are frequently updated, so staff members are fully familiar with the child protection procedures in the local area and have confidence to follow these. The safeguarding policies are highly comprehensive and include procedures to be followed if there are allegations made against staff members, and regarding the use of mobile telephones and social network sites. Daily risk assessments of the indoor and outdoor environments are undertaken, with any minor accidents recorded and analysed. All of these measures in place ensure that children's safety and well-being is extremely well promoted at all times.

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provision

The manager and staff have a superb understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. The outstanding standard of teaching by all staff results in children being animated, highly motivated and enthusiastic learners. Consequently, all children are making excellent progress in their learning and development given their starting points. The quality of teaching is monitored by the manager through regular observations of staff practice. Feedback is provided to the staff, on this and all other areas of their performance, through regular individual supervision sessions and annual appraisals, to discuss their professional roles and future development. The manager also discusses with staff their key children's progress, which she monitors through the children's learning journals. She checks that staff plan for children's next steps in their learning and that these are consistently followed through thoroughly. The

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provision

manager also monitors the progress of all of the children attending, which effectively illustrates exactly what stage of development the children have reached. This also makes it very clear what areas of learning require more focus, in order to close any gaps in their learning. For example, focussing planning on enhancing children's hand and finger control, as this has been identified as an area requiring additional support, in readiness for children moving onto school. Staff continue their professional development by attending training opportunities and sharing what they have learnt with other staff in the pre-school. This motivates and inspires the staff, enhancing the already excellent practice in place. For example, a recent training session entitled 'we don't play with guns' provoked a great deal of discussion regarding the current practice in the pre-school regarding super hero and gun play. As a result, a new policy on this area of play was devised and shared with

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provision

parents, challenging and amending the previous views and practice of the staff. This reflects the openness of staff to new ideas which enhance the pre-school and ultimately, enhance the opportunities and progress of the children.

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provision

Comprehensive self-evaluation systems are in place, demonstrating that staff do not become complacent and constantly strive for improvements. Termly action plans are developed as a result of this continual reflection on practise, putting the needs of the children at the heart of everything that they do. The pre-school actively seeks and welcomes parents' views on the provision, in order to continually review and improve practice. Parent's views are sought through annual questionnaires and suggestions made are implemented wherever possible. For example, a board displaying the session's activities was introduced outside, for parents to read while waiting to collect their children. This demonstrates the value and high regard which staff have for parental involvement. Partnerships between staff and parents are in fact, outstanding. The information obtained from parents on their child's individual care and learning and communication between the

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provision

staff and parents is excellent. Parents highly value the positive relationships they have with the staff and this ensures that they work exceptionally well together to meet the children's needs. Parents' comments are extremely positive and include examples, such as 'all staff are very friendly and welcoming' and 'I have every confidence that staff are able to meet both my child's special educational needs and medical needs'. Many parents' comment on how well their children are progressing and how involved they feel in their children's learning. The reception area has an abundance of useful information for parents to read, relating to the pre-school and to external groups which are available in the local children's centre. This ethos of openness and joint working is exceptionally strong, which greatly benefits the children who attend. Partnership working with external agencies and professionals, such as speech and language therapists, the child development centre and

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provision

staff based in the on-site school is excellent. They are very welcome to visit the children at the nursery and staff follow through with any programmes of support which are identified. This joint working is extremely effective in ensuring that children are receiving the best possible, consistent care and education.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are Met

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Requires improvement The provision is not giving children a good standard of early years education and/or there are minor breaches of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected within twelve months of the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement action. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of

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Grade Judgement Description

the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 304984 Local authority Cheshire East Inspection number 867558

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 16 Number of children on roll 36 Name of provider Bollinbrook Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 04/11/2008 Telephone number 07905 054537

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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

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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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