Ruperts Under 5's Pre-School

Ruperts Under 5's Pre-School Seaton Primary School, Valley View,, Seaton, Devon, EX12 2HF

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 16/09/2014 18/05/2009

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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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Staff place a strong emphasis on the prime areas of learning ensuring that children make steady progress in communication and language, physical and personal, social and emotional development.  Staff are skilled in supporting children's emotional well-being and children are extremely well prepared for smooth transitions between settings and in to school.  The environment both indoors and out is stimulating, well resourced and welcoming to children and their families.  Partnership with parents is well developed and there are successful systems to ensure that parents are well informed about their child's time at the setting.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not always promote children's skills, especially around creating and critical thinking to support and extend each child's learning and 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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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the playroom and outside learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector completed a joint observation and held meetings with the manager at appropriate times.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out an in-depth discussion with the manager and viewed documents where appropriate.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a sample of children's assessment records and planning documents.  The inspector spoke to parents and children.

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Information about the setting

Ruperts Under 5's Pre-School registered in 1993. It is registered on the Early Years Register. It is open each weekday with morning and afternoon sessions from 9am to 11:30am and from 12:30pm to 3pm term time only. A lunch club runs between sessions giving parents the flexibility to keep their children at the setting from 9am until 3pm. There are currently 32 children on roll. Most children attend three to five sessions each week and all sessions are mixed age. There are nine staff who work with the children, six of whom have appropriate childcare qualifications. The setting meets in a large mobile classroom, located within the grounds of Seaton Primary School, in Seaton, Devon. The setting has weekly use of the school hall and regular use of the school playing fields. The premises have their own kitchen, integral toilets and an enclosed outside play area. The setting is a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance. The setting supports children with

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Information about the setting

special educational needs and/or disabilities. The setting is in receipt of funding to provide free early education for children aged three and four years.

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

 sharpen the focus on teaching children to create, develop and extend their own ideas to build on their learning and thinking skills.

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who attend

Children clearly enjoy coming to pre-school and are quick to settle into well-established routines. Activities set up for children on their arrival engage children immediately, showing that they are planned from their interests and needs. Key persons know their children well and those who need particular support to meet their needs get it; for example reading a quiet story together or letting a child stand back and watch before being encouraged to join in an activity. There is a calm and nurturing atmosphere as children happily cuddle members of staff, chat about their experiences at home and confidently play and explore. Children follow clear signals to join morning circle time which has a strong focus on listening and attention. During this session children were encouraged to develop their mathematics skills as they counted the number of children, find the numeral and write the numeral in the air.

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who attend

There is a sense of democracy as children are involved in choosing which adults are going to work in which areas with them and are given an overview of what is on offer to play with. In addition to planned and purposeful play opportunities, children are also able to select their own resources to play with which promotes their independence and ability to drive their own learning. Adults are quick to provide additional props to extend interests and model enthusiasm for learning through play. Key persons listen to feedback from parents and act on this. For example, children whose parents had noted were not keen to make marks, were encouraged to make a map for the play train stations that they had set up. The children were motivated to do this and the member of staff further extended this by modelling writing labels for the stations and giving the children name cards to support writing their names. The children were encouraged to display their map promoting pride in

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who attend

their achievements. This demonstrates that staff are skilled in igniting children's motivation to learn across the range of educational programmes.

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who attend

Staff encourage children to make links to the world around them as they talk about home and readily share experiences like going on a train journey or flying in a plane. Staff listen to what children have to say, valuing their questions and ideas and modelling good communication and language skills. However, staff do not always promote characteristics of effective teaching and learning. They do not always use open-ended questions, or encourage children to make predictions and develop their own ideas, praising them for their efforts rather than for achieving an outcome.

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who attend

Children can choose where they learn as they have free-flow access to an enclosed outside area as well as the indoor playroom. This gives children flexible space indoors and outdoors to explore and move around freely. The outdoors is well set up with activities and resources that allow children to develop skills across all seven areas of learning. The new area devoted to nature is especially popular as children search for insects in the bug hotel and dig for worms. Children are also able to use the facilities at the primary school which shares a site with the pre-school. This gives the children access to a larger area for physical development, a nature garden to explore as well as time to do physical activities in the school hall each week.

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who attend

Children are regularly observed and these observations are fed into the planning system. This helps staff to ensure that they build upon children's interests. For example, the water tray was set up with baby clothes for children to wash in soapy water. This was planned from a spontaneous interest the day before. Staff had a focus on key skills which were linked to physical development. Children were encouraged to twist the washing to wring out water and use pegs to hang up washing on the line, promoting their fine muscle skills. Children were also encouraged to count pegs and talk about how much space was left on the washing line to develop their mathematical skills. As children decided to add plastic animals to the activity this allowed the staff member to explore the concepts of floating and sinking with interested children to develop their understanding of the world.

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who attend

Parents are encouraged to look at their child's learning journeys which are a record of their children's achievements and detail progress monitored using smiley faces to engage children as well as adults. Parents are invited to parents' evenings or offered alternative dates for more formal reviews as well as being given a written report each term. This helps them to be involved fully in their children's learning and development. Parents are able to read what is planned for the session on the whiteboards outside of the setting and these are consistently updated after each session with what the children enjoyed doing, based on the children being given time to review their learning. This gives parents and their children a focus to talk to children about on the way home. Staff promote home learning links with a weekly list of ideas written on the board and they also send home paper copies of this. This includes ideas like making shopping lists together at home and is

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who attend

highly valued by parents. There is also a toy library where parents can borrow toys for children to play with at home.

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

Children are very well settled and develop strong bonds with their key person. Excellent communication between parents and key persons means that children's individual needs are well known to all staff and valued and respected at all times. Parents are confident to share any concerns with staff and they deal with any issues efficiently and sensitively. Parents comment on how much their children grow in confidence and independence while at the setting and on the excellent relationship they have with their key person.

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

Staff remind the children about rules, and encourage them to be thoughtful and kind towards their friends. This means that children learn extremely good skills that help them play well together and build highly positive relationships. Behaviour is excellent with staff having clear and consistent expectations about children's behaviour. They remind children sensitively of the simple rules that are in place. For example, staff get down to children's level to talk to them about taking turns and sharing and reassure children who are finding this difficult. Extremely successful open mornings allow new parents and children to visit the setting together before the term starts. This gives them time to talk to their key person and get used to the environment and routines before children formally start the term. Children confidently separate from parents and, where there are any difficulties, staff are quick to offer reassurance and systems to support this process, including

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

transition toys and comforters from home. This supports children's emotional well-being extremely well. Children develop a very strong sense of belonging and feel fully included in the setting. Photographs from home are put up on display; scrapbooks that parents have made with children at home are readily available for children to browse through and share with their key persons. The learning journeys are also popular ways of children seeing photographs of themselves and examples of their work and achievements.

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

Children manage their personal care needs very well. They are encouraged to use tissues and anti-bacterial gel after sneezing or blowing their noses. This helps children to understand about germs and keeping each other safe. Children greatly benefit from eating healthy snacks and having regular drinks to support their good health. They develop independence during snack times as they serve themselves. Lunchtimes are calm and staff eat their lunch with the children, modelling talking and also eating healthy food. The staff also encourage children eat their sandwiches and fruit before yoghurts or cereal bars, to promote good eating habits in readiness for school.

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

Children benefit from regular trips to the adjacent primary school, to which most of them move on to. The setting shares information comprehensively to support transitions and ensures that timely interventions are put in place for any children who may not be working at the typical stage of development for their age. This helps to ensure that teachers are well prepared for all children coming up from the setting and children and parents feel reassured by the process.

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

The setting plans and hosts regular sessions with other pre-schools in the area with whom they share care of some children. This encourages the sharing of information and promotes a joined-up approach to children's care and support. This demonstrates the proactive approach the setting takes to supporting children's transitions. The setting also invites local children centre staff to attend the new parents' open mornings to make links and promote the valuable services that they offer. Staff regularly talk to children about 'big school' and siblings and former students are often seen talking to the children through the fencing that borders the school and pre-school grounds. The setting has an identified special educational needs coordinator, who links closely with parents and other professionals involved in children's lives. This ensures that there is consistent support for children with special educational needs that is focussed on helping each child reach their

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

full potential. Children make good progress and the setting has a very welcoming, inclusive and supportive environment for all children and their families.

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

Since the last inspection the setting has been building on ways to further engage parents. As well as regular opportunities to review progress, parents are offered the opportunity to come to a Stay and Play session, often bringing younger siblings. These sessions are focussed on a project which has proved a particularly successful way of engaging dads. A recent project was to make insect name plaques for the new bug hotel. This gives children and their families an activity to work together on while building relationships with staff and making links with home and the setting, supporting children's emotional well-being.

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

Children are extremely safe at the setting. The secure outside area is checked before children are allowed outside and children are encouraged to think about safety while engaging in activities inside and outside. All staff complete training in first aid and safeguarding and a well-organised training plan helps the staff to ensure that these are regularly updated. Staff have efficient systems for children's collection ensuring that only specified adults are able to collect children, in order to protect children's well-being.

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provision

There is a strong sense of teamwork and well-organised systems to ensure that staff know their roles and responsibilities. Before each session staff have a brief meeting to outline key roles and objectives for planned activities to support children's care and learning needs effectively. They have daily review sessions to build on ideas and practice to improve outcomes for children further. Staff are given time to assess children's achievements and collate evidence so they monitor children's progress efficiently. All staff have a secure understanding of their responsibilities in meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. All staff receive a thorough induction and ongoing supervision to ensure they understand their roles, policies and responsibilities. The manager benefits from having regular supervision sessions with the committee's chair or vice-chairperson which promotes a culture of openness and support. The committee are

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provision

also involved in supporting recruitment and induction and have attended training with the manager and deputy on recruitment. This helps to ensure they only employ adults who are suitable to work with children. Committee members also regularly help out on trips and with special projects like deep cleaning the premises. This robust system of support for all staff contributes to the very low staff turnover that the setting has and the positive sense of teamwork that is felt at the setting.

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provision

Staff meet formally once a half term to discuss procedures to ensure they are consistent in their approach. Staff are encouraged to further their own skills through attending training. All staff are involved in feeding in ideas to the self-evaluation process and identifying areas for further development to enhance the quality of the provision for children.

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provision

The pre-school communicates very well with parents and asks their opinions. A recent parent questionnaire received a very good number of responses and is helping the setting to make improvements. The pre-school seeks the advice and support of other early years professionals, particularly in the local authority. Staff have made sure that they have acted on recommendations from the last inspection including regarding parent engagement and ensuring that mathematics is embedded in activities and interactions.

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provision

The manager has good systems to monitor children's progress and ensures that there is a broad range of experiences for children across all areas of learning. Staff provide good quality teaching and support children to make strong progress towards the early learning goals. The manager supports staff's teaching by writing prompts for certain activities that help them to focus on aspects of learning, taken from national guidance.

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provision

The partnership with parents and other providers is well established and extremely proactive, contributing to the fact that children, parents, committee members and staff enjoy their time at the setting.

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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. We re-inspect nurseries and pre-schools judged as requires improvement within 12 months of the date of 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

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Grade Judgement Description

is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. Met There were no children present at the time of the inspection. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met There were no children present at the time of the inspection. 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 106022 Local authority Devon Inspection number 839364 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 3 - 5 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 32 Name of provider Ruperts Under Fives Committee Date of previous inspection 18/05/2009 Telephone number 01297 625621

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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

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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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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