St Georges Pre-School Ltd

St Georges Pre-School St.Georges Church Hall, Boundary Gardens, HIGH HEATON, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE7 7AA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 25/06/2014 15/06/2010

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Children learn in a well-organised environment, indoors and outdoors. This effectively supports their developing independence.  Children are happy in the pre-school. They settle in quickly and form effective relationships with their key person.  The staff work well with local schools. There are good procedures in place to help children to settle into their new school quickly.

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It is not yet good because

 There are occasions when activities are not fully matched to children's individual needs or stage of development. As a result, on some occasions, they lack a good level of challenge.  Risk assessments are not sufficiently thorough to identify all potential hazards, particularly in the outdoor play area.  Improvements in the pre-school do not always take account of the views of parents and are not sufficiently focused on teaching and learning.

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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 toured the pre-school with the manager.  The inspector observed activities in the indoor and outdoor learning environment.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector held meetings with the manager of the pre-school.  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, the provider's self-evaluation form and improvement plan.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.  The inspector talked to staff at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Information about the setting

St Georges Pre-School was registered in 2010 and is on the Early Years Register. It operates from St. Georges United Reformed Church in the High Heaton area of Newcastle. Children have access to the church hall and an enclosed outdoor play area. The pre-school employs seven members of childcare staff. Of these, six hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 or above and one member of staff holds Early Years Professional Status. The pre-school opens term time only, from 9am until 2pm Monday to Wednesday and from 9am until 12noon Thursday and Friday. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 38 children on roll in the early years age range. The pre-school provides funded early education for two- and three-year-old children. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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must:

 plan challenging and enjoyable learning experiences that take into account the needs, learning styles and stage of development of each child, ensuring that this is implemented through purposeful play

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must:

 develop the process for risk assessments to ensure that they are thorough enough to identify all potential hazards in the outdoor area.

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

 improve the process for self-evaluation, so that it takes account of the views of parents and effectively identifies priorities for development that are focused on teaching and learning.

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who attend

Children enjoy a suitable range of experiences across the seven areas of learning, both indoors and outdoors, which are planned to support children's interests. Staff plan activities with footballs to support children's interest in a major sporting event. This engages children, who enjoy dribbling balls around cones and scoring goals. Children make steady progress. Staff carry out observations and assessments, which are generally matched to age related expectations. This helps them to identify some areas where further support is needed. Staff use this information to plan activities for the children. However, planning is not sufficiently rigorous to ensure that all activities match the learning needs of all children. For example, large group activities, such as story time, do not always support the learning styles of younger children, who lose interest in these situations. In addition, there are occasions when some children's play is not effectively

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who attend

supported. As a result, on occasions, activities lack a good level of challenge. Staff work with other agencies to incorporate targets for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities into the planning. They also develop a suitable relationship with parents. Parents are invited to various events throughout the year and they are able to look at their children's learning journals. Parents are also encouraged to share information about what their children have been doing at home.

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who attend

Staff place an appropriate emphasis on the development of communication and language. They use different strategies, such as working at a child's level, to support communication. In addition, language is generally altered to suit the different needs and stages of the children. For example, staff use more probing questions with older children, encouraging children to explain their thinking. They make time to listen to younger children and repeat and rephrase what they have said. They also plan opportunities for children to learn about rhythm and rhyme. Children enjoy playing alongside an adult as she taps out a rhythm on the drum. They join in with her, maintaining the rhythm. Children also enjoy singing along to familiar nursery rhymes. They sing along to their favourite rhymes with gusto. Mathematics is encouraged throughout the daily routine. Children count the number of children sitting around the snack table and help staff to get the correct amount of plates

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who attend

and cups. Children demonstrate good counting skills as they accurately count to six and understand that the last number counted represents the quantity.

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who attend

Staff place an appropriate emphasis on the development of physical skills. Children demonstrate good control as they hold pencils correctly to draw figures or write their name. This supports the development of small muscle skills. Children also enjoy using the climbing frame and slide. They kick balls outside, demonstrating increasing control as they score goals. This supports the development of large muscle skills. Staff have thought carefully about how they can support children's literacy. There is an attractive book area, where children enjoy looking at books. Opportunities for drawing and painting are also freely available throughout the session. Children demonstrate good control as they hold their pencil correctly to draw or write. Also, older children write their name with good control. This demonstrates that children are developing the skills they need for school.

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

Staff have an appropriate understanding of how they can support children's safety. However, due to a weakness in leadership and management, the safety of the children's play space in the outdoor environment is not sufficiently robust. Overall, children demonstrate that they feel safe in the pre-school. They show a good awareness of safety as they learn how to leave the church hall safely in an emergency. Children also learn how to use the climbing frame safely, making sure that they have the space to climb up the climbing wall safely. Children behave well in the pre-school. Parents comment that staff have been very supportive and have given them lots of strategies to help them manage children's behaviour at home. Children learn to play alongside each other and begin to share resources together. For example, staff help children to take turns as they wait to use the chalk easel. These skills prepare children for the next stage in their learning.

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

Children are happy and settled in the pre-school. Staff are caring and recognise the needs of individual children. Parents comment that their children love coming and feel that the staff are very friendly, caring and approachable. Children have developed good bonds with the staff and are emotionally secure. Children have a sound relationship with their key person, who demonstrates a secure understanding of children's individual learning and care needs. Children settle into the pre-school quickly. Staff find out important information, including children's interests and their individual care needs, so these can be met. Children attend for some sessions with their parents. Parents are then encouraged to leave their children in the pre-school for short periods of time, enabling the children to feel more confident in the pre-school. There are effective plans in place to support children as they move from the pre-school to school. Children visit the school with staff from the pre-

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

school on several occasions throughout the year. Teachers also visit the children in the pre-school. This helps children to get to know the teachers. They talk excitedly about their forthcoming visit to the school, where they will see the teachers again. This helps children to settle quickly into school, when the time comes.

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

Children play in a well-organised environment, both indoors and outdoors, which has been arranged to reflect the current interests of the children in the pre-school. Staff plan different learning experiences for the children, linked to the seven areas of learning. The staff have thought carefully about how they can support independence and many resources have been reorganised into storage units to promote children's independence. Staff encourage independence throughout the day, as children are encouraged to pour their own drinks and go to the toilet independently. Children have regular access to the outdoor environment. They have the time and space to be active, as they kick balls and score goals or use the climbing frame. Children learn about healthy lifestyles, demonstrating a good understanding of health and hygiene as they wash hands before snacks and meals. A healthy diet is promoted as children enjoy a balanced diet with plenty

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provision

The manager and her staff have a sound understanding of their responsibilities in meeting the welfare and learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. The manager and staff understand their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding. They have attended up-to-date safeguarding training and they demonstrate a suitable understanding of what they would do if they had a concern about a child. Policies and procedures are well written, easily accessible and reflected in the running and organisation of the pre-school. The manager ensures staff are familiar with the policies by talking about them regularly. Children are generally kept safe because the staff carry out daily checks indoors and outdoors. However, on the day of the inspection, staff had not identified damage to a plastic oven outside, demonstrating that the ongoing risk assessments are not sufficiently robust. As a result, on this occasion, the staff did not minimise hazards for

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provision

children. Although this is a breach of requirements for the Early Years Register, staff demonstrate a good attitude towards taking immediate action to help ensure children's safety and take action to minimise risk immediately. Other risk assessments are effective and ensure all areas children use are safe. For example, doors are kept locked at all times and the indoor area is clear of hazards. Staff have valid first-aid certificates and show a good understanding of how to deal with accidents and injuries. There are suitable recruitment and induction procedures in place and all staff and students have appropriate suitability checks carried out.

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provision

The staff have a good relationship with the local authority and demonstrate a suitable attitude towards self-evaluation. The manager wants to improve the pre-school and she has identified a number of areas for development, which have been successfully addressed. For example, they have recently improved the organisation of resources in the indoor environment. However, staff do not always take full account of the views of parents when evaluating the provision. As a result, they have not identified that not all parents know how they can support their children's learning at home. Consequently, improvements are not sufficiently focused on teaching and learning. The staff recognise the importance of professional development and attend training to support children's learning. The manager monitors assessments of children's progress and highlights gaps in achievement. Appropriate interventions are generally planned, although, there are times

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provision

when this is not sufficiently rigorous. The manager carries out regular supervision meetings with staff, where they discuss their strengths and highlight training needs. The manager observes staff regularly and monitors the quality of teaching and learning through ongoing observations and monitoring of practice.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are sound as staff do a verbal handover at the beginning and end of the day. Parents comment that their children are very happy in the pre-school and know what their children have been doing. The staff also send home speech bubbles to encourage parents to share information about what their children have been doing at home. Staff at the pre-school have a good relationship with the staff in nearby primary schools. They recognise the importance of working together and visit each other throughout the year. Children also attend events in school throughout the year and staff meet to share information about learning. This ensures that the school staff have a clear picture of where children are in their learning when they start school. The pre-school has a suitable relationship with health professionals, such as speech therapists. This means that staff can plan appropriate interventions to support children with special education

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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 EY402152 Local authority Newcastle Inspection number 874117

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 35 Number of children on roll 38 Name of provider St Georges Pre-School Ltd Date of previous inspection 15/06/2010 Telephone number 07939828640

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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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