St Andrews Playgroup

St Andrews Playgroup Watling Street, Dartford, Kent, DA1 1RF

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10/06/2014 21/09/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Staff have good relationships with children, which helps them to feel emotionally secure in the setting.  Staff provide a wide range of good quality toys and equipment with which children can explore their environment.  Staff use good methods to teach children and help them make good progress in their learning.  Staff have good relationships with parents. They work well together to support children in their learning and development.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not take full advantage of opportunities to teach children about healthy eating and having a healthy lifestyle to help them progress further in their personal, social and emotional development.

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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 the interaction between staff and children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled the setting's policies and procedures, including those dealing with confidentiality, accident reporting and safeguarding.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the person in charge.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector talked to staff, children and some parents and took account of the written accounts of others.

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Information about the setting

St Andrews Playgroup has been registered since 1977 and is registered on the Early Years Register. It is owned and managed by a parent committee. The playgroup operates from a church hall in Dartford, Kent. The children have access to the large hall, side hall, and a large enclosed garden. There are currently 37 children, aged from two to four years on roll. The playgroup receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged three and four years. They also receive funding for two-year-olds for children who meet the appropriate criteria. The playgroup supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. The playgroup opens each weekday from 9.30am until 12.30pm during school term times. There are eight members of staff, four of whom have appropriate early years qualifications. They are all are very experienced. There are four members of staff who are

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Information about the setting

working towards childcare qualifications. In addition the playgroup has an administrator who is regularly on the premises.

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

 provide more opportunities for children to learn about healthy eating and healthy lifestyles.

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who attend

The children attend for various sessions and some only attend once a week. Children attend the playgroup for taster sessions before they start and often do not want to leave. This gives the allocated key person the opportunity to assess children's interests so that they can incorporate these activities into the first few days the children are present. They also talk with parents to get information about the children to help staff to meet each child's needs successfully.

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who attend

The staff are proficient in accurately assessing children's starting points and identifying their next steps for learning. They use these to inform the activity planning so that the children can progress in their development and learning given their starting points and abilities. The staff maintain the children's records well and keep them up to date. Records show that children are making good progress towards the early learning goals and are acquiring skills to help them to be ready for school or the next stages of their learning.

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who attend

The educational programmes are interesting and varied. Children competently use the laptop computer and can operate the different programmes and the mouse on their own as they become confident technology users. The children role play in different areas. They like to use the hospital and enjoy working out how the different role-play apparatus, such as stethoscopes, work. The children work together creatively to make pictures. For example, children make a picture of a world globe showing the land and sea in different colours. This is to go with the different national flags they are making to identify the national football teams of the world cup. Children have chosen different teams and will be following them until one team wins. This demonstrates that children have opportunities to understand the world and respect diversity.

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who attend

Children use the book area to look at the good variety of factual and fictional books and to chat with friends. They enjoy story time in small groups so that all children have opportunities to engage in the stories and demonstrate their letter recognition and language skills. The children are creative as they use a diverse range of musical instruments and particularly like to use the metal drums and hanging pipes. Large and small construction blocks are used indoors and outside, enabling children to develop their hand-to-eye coordination skills. Children use a good range of puzzles suitable for different ages and abilities so they learn to solve problems.

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who attend

Staff teach children number and shape recognition and are beginning to introduce measurement. The children have a good selection of outdoor play equipment and know to wear sun hats in sunny weather. However, staff do not always make effective use of opportunities to reinforce teaching about being healthy; as they prepare to go outside, and at snack time when conversations about healthy food have a greater impact.

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who attend

Parents are regularly involved in their children's learning. They sometimes choose to stay and play; they have regular meetings with their child's key person and sometimes use suggested activities at home with their children. Children receive good consistent support at home and in the setting, resulting in the good progress they make in readiness for school.

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

The children demonstrate they are very happy at the playgroup as they move confidently around the play areas selecting their own toys and activities. They competently use equipment and like to chat with visitors, showing they are inquisitive and interested in others. Children spend some time each day with their key person which means that they form strong bonds.

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

Staff are good role models for the children as they show respect to them. They competently teach children how to play well together, share toys and take turns. Children demonstrate that they have concerns for friends as they comfort them if they are upset. The children explore the well-resourced environment, moving equipment to where they want and combining activities together. For example, they take dolls and prams outside and utilise the book area for puzzles. This shows that the children are confident in the playgroup and are motivated to learn. Staff teach the children to be proficient in self-care routines such as taking themselves to the toilet and washing their hands afterwards. Children are also taught to be independent at snack time too as they spread their own bread with butter and toppings. Children learn to pour their own drinks with help from staff, enabling them to develop control in their

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

The staff supervise children closely at all times to help them keep safe. They teach children to handle toys safely as they move them about and how to behave on the large outdoor play equipment. This gives children a good understanding of risk and how to manage their own behaviour. Therefore, children make good progress in their personal, social and emotional development.

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provision

A committee of parents own and effectively operate the playgroup. They employ a competent staff team who run the group on a day-to-day basis. The committee ensure that all staff and people who have contact with children on a regular basis have been vetted to make certain they are suitable to have regular contact with children. The committee have rigorous and robust procedures in place to employ staff, conduct staff inductions, complete staff appraisals, and deal with any issues of misconduct and staff grievances. The supervisor ensures that staff attend regular in-house training and that their individual professional development needs are a high priority. This means that the playgroup is developing a strong staff team who understand how young children learn. The inspection took place following concerns regarding child supervision, accident recording and how this is shared with parents. The inspection found that a recent accident

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provision

was not recorded as there was no visible injury. A discussion about the incident between staff was overheard and repeated to others. Following this, the committee and supervisor have taken prompt and effective steps to review the playgroup's safeguarding procedures. These include the accident and injury reporting systems, the confidentiality policy and the complaints procedures. All staff are aware of the need for confidentiality at all times. The children benefit from these reviews because the improvements ensure that their well- being is protected and continue to be a high priority.

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provision

The supervisor and staff are proficient in meeting the learning and development requirements. The supervisor competently monitors the children's progress by discussing their learning with their key person. They review entries in the children's learning journeys to ensure they are accurate and monitor the weekly activity planning to ensure it meets the needs of each individual child. Through the monitoring the supervisor is able to identify those children who are not developing in line with expectations and who may require additional support. She works in conjunction with the playgroup's special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) to make good links with other agencies and settings, for example, the speech and language assessment centre.

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provision

The supervisor regularly considers the service the playgroup offers to the families. She consults with staff about ways to improve, uses recommendations provided by her service improvement partner (SIP) from the local authority, and canvasses parents with questionnaires and activity feedback forms. Parents report that they are happy with the care offered to their children. They consider they receive good information about their child's progress and know who to talk to if they have concerns. The supervisor has compiled a good action plan showing achieved improvements, such as the reviews of policies and the purchase of equipment. It also shows planned future improvements which include changes to the outside space and plans for further training opportunities for staff. This shows that the supervisor has a good understanding of how to maintain the continuous improvement of the setting for the children's benefit.

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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 127575 Local authority Kent Inspection number 973129 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 4 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 37 Name of provider St Andrews Playgroup Committee Date of previous inspection 21/09/2011 Telephone number 07979092993

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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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