Chesterton Playgroup

Chesterton Playgroup The Village Hall, Alchester Road, Chesterton, BICESTER, Oxfordshire, OX26 1UN

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19/06/2014 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Effective partnerships with parents are in place and they are pleased with their children's care in the playgroup.  Staff create a relaxed and caring atmosphere and build warm relationships with children.  There is a strong emphasis on supporting children's personal, social and emotional skills to help them to settle quickly and feel confident.

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It is not yet good because

 Assessments are not used effectively to plan sufficiently challenging experiences for all children in both one-to-one situations and larger group activities.  Children have limited access to resources, which inhibits their independence and free choice as to what they want to play with.  Opportunities to further develop children's understanding of nature and the environment are missed.  Staff do not always provide sufficient opportunities for children to develop their independence skills at mealtimes.

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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 children and staff playing in the indoor and outside learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled the playgroup's documentation and children's developmental records.  The inspector engaged in a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took into account the view of parents spoken to on the day of the inspection and those recorded on the setting's website.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to the manager, other staff members, a member of the board of Trustees and some of the children.

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Information about the setting

Chesterton playgroup opened 30 years ago and was re-registered due to change of ownership in 2013. It operates from the village church hall in Chesterton near Bicester, Oxfordshire. There is access to a hall and an outdoor play area. The playgroup provides a service for children from the local community. The playgroup is open Monday to Friday 9am to 12am. On a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday there is a lunch club from 12pm to 1pm. On Monday and Tuesday afternoons sessions operate from 1pm to 3pm, on Wednesday the session runs from 9am till 3pm, term-time only. The playgroup is registered on the Early Years Register, and the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 34 children attending who are in the early years age range. The playgroup receives funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three and four years old. It supports children with special educational needs

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Information about the setting

and/or disabilities, and children who are learning to speak English as an additional language. The playgroup employs four staff, three of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications and one is currently unqualified.

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must:

 develop the use of assessments to identify children's current stages of learning in order to plan activities and experiences which offer all children suitable challenges

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must:

 provide a greater range of resources which are available and accessible to children to enable them to make independent choices in their play

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

 further develop mealtime routines to support children's independence skills

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

 develop opportunities outside for children to learn about nature and the natural world.

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who attend

The staff have a sound knowledge of how young children learn and they offer children a daily range of activities and experiences which enable them to learn through play. Staff provide resources on tables and mats within the indoor environment and children are able to request further resources from the cupboard. Staff are skilled at noticing children interests and suggesting further items to support learning which they select from the cupboard. However, this does not allow sufficient opportunity for children to choose freely from a wide range of resources to extend their own play. Children have opportunities to learn about and experience the changing seasons and watch trees and plants growing in the garden area. However, staff miss opportunities to extend children's understanding about the wildlife and birds that visit the garden. They develop their physical skills as they climb and slide, use large construction apparatus and engage happily in sand and water

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who attend

Staff use appropriate mathematical language as they work with children in the sand and water tray and capitalise on opportunities for children to recognise numbers when they land on a numbered mat at the bottom of the slide. Staff support children's developing communication skills as they ask questions about the characters during story time and pretend to have telephone conversations with younger children. The use of some signing by staff further supports younger children to understand the routines of the setting. They request words from parents in additional languages to further support children's language skills. Staff support children's developing literacy skills through reading stories and sharing books individually and in larger groups. They also draw children's attention to words in the environment and plan focus activities to develop older children's awareness of sounds and letters.

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who attend

Staff observe and record children's observations in their learning journals. However, they do not make full use of assessments to plan suitably challenging activities and experiences for the children. As a result, planned activities and experiences do not always provide sufficient interest for all children. This means that some activities are too simple for some children, who quickly lose interest. Therefore, particularly for older and more able children, activities do not meet all children's needs. Generally, during child initiated activities, staff interact well with children, making suggestions and joining in to extend children's play. This has a positive effect on their learning. Larger group activities, however, are less well planned and do not fully take into account the range of needs and abilities of the children. As a result, some children quickly lose interest and begin to play with nearby resources or talk to each other. The resulting noise distracts those children

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who attend

who remain interested in the activity and consequently these children are less able to benefit from the experience. This means that not all children are able to make consistent progress in relation to their learning and development.

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who attend

Staff work well with parents who are welcomed into the playgroup. They gather suitable information to use as they make initial assessments about children's development and their interests. They provide further regular opportunities to share information with parents about their child's learning. Progress checks for two year olds are completed and provide information about what children are interested in and what they can do. Parent's contributions are sought and highly valued.

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

There is a strong focus on supporting children's wellbeing and enabling them to settle quickly and feel safe within the playgroup. The key person system is well established. Kind and caring relationships between staff and children helps them to separate quickly from their parents. Parents speak enthusiastically about their child's introduction to the setting. They appreciate the thoughtfulness of staff who contact them during the morning for reassurance if their child has been unsettled at the start of the session. Staff have a warm and welcoming approach and work hard to develop secure attachments with children. As a result even very young children are confident as they explore and learn within the environment. Staff model appropriate behaviour and offer guidance to help children to keep themselves safe and play happily alongside each other. For example, they remind children how to behave when using larger resources such as the slide and construction

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

materials in the outdoor area. Children are confident to seek reassurance from staff if they are upset or worried. Young children learn to consider each other and older children demonstrate interest in and empathy for children who are new to the setting. Staff use praise and encouragement to promote children's self-esteem, well-being and to develop their sense of achievement. A 'proud' board displays information about individual children's achievements and this supports children to celebrate their own achievements and develop respect for others.

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

Staff show a good understanding of safeguarding. They demonstrate that they are able to respond appropriately and act on concerns about children's well-being. They are vigilant in checking that the front door is kept closed and that children are unable to enter the kitchen area. Consideration is given to how staff are deployed to ensure that children are adequately supervised. The outdoor area is fully enclosed and there is some protection from the weather in the form of fences and trees. When the wet weather makes to grass in this area unsafe for children to use, the staff make use of an enclosed area at the front of the building for using other resources including bikes and wheeled toys. In this way they provide opportunities for children to experience a different outdoor environment and make the most of the available space.

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

Children are provided with a healthy snack including a choice of milk or water. Snack time is a social occasion as staff sit with children and discuss healthy eating options and describe where some of the fruit is grown. This, together with opportunities for fresh air and exercise in the outdoor environment, supports children to develop their understanding of leading healthy lifestyles. Some children are still dependent on staff for personal care and others are learning to manage their own personal hygiene. Steps are provided so that children are able to more easily use toilets and wash basins and easy to use soap dispensers further support children's independence. Staff remind children wash their hands at appropriate times and have provided a poster above the wash basin to emphasise the importance of washing hands. This supports children well as they develop their understanding of hygienic practices.

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provision

Overall, the management understand their responsibilities in meeting the safeguarding, welfare and learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. However, some weaknesses within learning and development have not been fully addressed. There are systems in place for each key person to monitor individual children's learning and development and their progress over time. However, this is not rigorously monitored by the manager. Consequently, as assessments are not used effectively to plan suitable educational programmes to meet all children's needs. As a result the planned activities do not always provide sufficient interest and challenge. This means that children are not able to make consistent progress towards the early learning goals.

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provision

Management and accountability arrangements are clear. The Trustees meet regularly to consider management issues of the playgroup including policies, health and safety issues and staffing. The supervisor regularly contributes information and attends when appropriate. Policies and documentation are well organised and regularly reviewed. The leadership and management team aspire to Improve. All staff are provided with an opportunity to share their views regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the playgroup. Plans are in place for information from a recent parents' questionnaire to be used to inform developments within the setting. Consequently all parents and staff have an opportunity to influence the future development of the playgroup. Overall, the self- evaluation document provides a broad overview of the playgroup's strengths and identifies some appropriate areas for development. However, this is not rigorous enough to identify

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provision

the learning and development weaknesses. For example, the weaknesses in the assessment systems to plan appropriate and challenging activities for all children.

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provision

Safeguarding is given high priority by the leadership and management. Robust vetting systems are in place to determine staff's suitability to work with children and risk assessments are conducted. The performance management process has recently been reviewed and yearly appraisals are due to take place in the near future. Staff have attended some training courses, including safeguarding. However, there are plans are in place to consider how to access further training courses.

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provision

Partnership with parents is a real strength of the setting. Parents speak enthusiastically about the care their child receives in the setting and are impressed by the information they are given about their child's learning and development. Parents are happy with the range of information they receive about the setting, for example, through newsletters and use of social networking. They describe the staff as very friendly, approachable and relaxed and comment on how happy their child is. Strong links are in place with staff from the local school. This has a positive influence on children's move on to their next stage of learning.

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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 EY467410 Local authority Oxfordshire Inspection number 948336 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 21 Number of children on roll 34 Name of provider Chesterton Playgroup Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 07525935476

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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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