Catsfield Pre-School

Catsfield Pre-School Catsfield Village Hall, Church Road, Catsfield, Battle, East Sussex, TN33 9DP

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 15/07/2014 20/05/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 3 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

 The staff team demonstrate a strong knowledge of how to safeguard children and where to refer any concerns they may have about children's welfare and well-being.  The good relationships between the staff and children, and the children themselves support children's growing personal and social skills.  Staff share their regular and informative summary assessments of children's learning with parents.  The support the staff provide children helps them develop good levels of confidence, that helps them to be ready for their move on to school.  Staff promote children's developing understanding of mathematics well.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The staff are not consistently reviewing and using details of how parents and others are supporting children's next steps in their learning when planning activities, to continually promote children's further 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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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 held a meeting with the manager and invited her to carry out a joint observation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at some children's records, including their learning assessments, and spoke to key persons.  The inspector spoke to some parents during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of safeguarding practices, staff recruitment, ongoing professional development and self-evaluation processes.  The inspector observed activities in the playroom and the outside play areas.

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Information about the setting

Catsfield Pre-School is a committee run provision and registered in 1994. It operates from the village hall in Catsfield, East Sussex. Sessions on Wednesday are held in a smaller room than the main hall and so the number of children who may attend is limited to adhere to space requirements. All children share access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 23 children aged from two years on roll, and all are in the early years age range. The pre-school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about the setting

There are four members of staff, three of whom have an appropriate early years qualification to National Vocational Qualification at level 3. The nursery receives funding for the provision of 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:

 Strengthen strategies to successfully engage all parents and others, such as other early years providers, in sharing detail about supporting children's learning.

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who attend

Staff are confidently aware of their key children's individual learning needs. They make observations and plan activities to promote children's next steps in their learning, making effective use of children's interests. Each term, staff share the very informative written assessment summaries for each child with their parents. This provides parents with clear details about how well their children are progressing in all areas of learning, and what the planned next steps in learning are. The information available ensures parents have the detail they need for the written progress checks for two-year-old children. This detail provides information on children's personal, social, emotional and physical progress, as well as their communication and language development. Staff encourage parents to support their children's learning at home. For example, children took a pot of grass seed home with a ruler. The aim was for parents to help children measure the growth and

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who attend

encourage them in caring for the plant. Staff encourage parents to give feedback on how they support their children's learning at home. However, the detail given is often verbal and staff do not always make best use of this detail in their assessments of progress. As a result, planned activities do not always take full account of the information parents and others involved in the children's learning provide. Overall, each key person ably tracks their key children's developmental stages across all seven areas of learning. This enables the staff to identify any learning gaps easily to address in future planning.

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who attend

Staff listen to and value what every child has to say, supporting their language and communication skills well. They recognise the importance of using open-ended questions that encourage children to think of more than a 'yes' or 'no' answer. As a result, children are keen to share their ideas and talk about their play and achievements. There are good relationships between staff and children. These enable staff to motivate children to engage with activities. For example, the cornflour and water tray is immensely popular and is used both indoors and outdoors, during the day. Children spend lots of time exploring the mixture; fascinated by the changes in how it feels and acts. Following a recent theme of different jobs, visitors to the group introduce children to various familiar careers, such as, hairdressing and plumbing. The arrival of a racing car helped create excitement as children became more aware of the role of a mechanic. This visit also

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who attend

helped children learn about the need to keep themselves safe as they tried on the safety helmet. Children made a connection with using a helmet when they ride a bike. Therefore, developing their awareness of how to keep themselves safe. Some older children are keen to attempt writing their name, copying from the name cards, which helps children develop their pre-writing and literacy skills. Staff encourage children's understanding of mathematics well as they learn about numbers and counting. Different games and activities help children recognise numbers and learn to add one more. Children are confident, motivated to learn and keen to communicate with the staff and others. Consequently, children clearly develop the abilities they need for their future learning.

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

Staff successfully develop good attachments with their key children and others. Children's emotional well-being is actively fostered. They develop strong personal and social skills, and relate well with other children, playing cooperatively together. Staff have positive relationships with parents and this helps them to share detail about children's individual care needs. Children are ready for their move on to school. They gain good levels of confidence and independence skills as the staff encourage them to make choices about their play. They go to the toilet when they need or pour themselves drinks at snack time. For parts of the day children decide when they want to play outdoors or stay indoors. Children are keen to communicate with adults and other children, sharing their ideas, achievements and experiences. Staff set up the room each day. They ensure the resources and activities they provide meet children's interests and will promote their learning.

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

Resources are taken out daily for the outside area as the staff are not able to leave items out. The staff try hard to cover all of the areas of learning. To support developing physical development skills they sometimes take children to the play park where they can use the more challenging play equipment.

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

The staff manage children's behaviour well. Children willingly share resources when necessary and learn about taking turns, for example, as they wait patiently to explore the racing car. Staff help teach children about the importance of having a healthy lifestyle and how to keep themselves safe. Children can easily access their own sun hats when the sun shines or happily wear a pre-school hat. They practise fire evacuations and staff ensure all children take part so they learn what to do. Children use scissors competently and safely at the art table. The staff encourage healthy packed lunches and provide healthy, balanced snacks.

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provision

The staff team meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements well. There are written risk assessments implemented that cover the premises and identify potential concerns. Staff minimise these possible concerns effectively. For example, staff put up safety devices to prevent children accessing the kitchen without supervision. The premises are secure and this means children are able to access the outside area and the toilets safely. There are sufficient staff available to be able to supervise children well, both indoors and outdoors. Staff have a secure knowledge of safeguarding practices and receive relevant training. They have a clear awareness of possible child protection issues and a good knowledge of the processes to follow should they have concerns about a child's welfare.

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provision

A thorough recruitment system is implemented and this includes obtaining the appropriate checks to help ensure staff's suitability. There is an induction process implemented for new staff and this enables them to learn about the pre-school practices and procedure, including safeguarding. There is ongoing professional support for staff, with regular supervision sessions and annual appraisals. The committed staff team are keen to improve outcomes for children and, if appropriate, train to obtain a childcare qualification. The staff and parent committee reflect on the pre-school practices to ensure they identify strengths and areas for improvement. For example, they have met all the recommendations set at the last inspection. Although, the staff recognise they need to strengthen communication with some parents and other settings to get useful feedback on children's learning. Development plans are ongoing and demonstrate a capacity to sustain continual

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provision

Staff take the views of parents into account and take note of children's interests and ideas. For example, staff have increased the range of information technology resources after parents requested this. The effective partnerships with parents and others help ensure individual children receive the care and support they need. The staff meet the learning and development requirements well, supporting and promoting children's progress in their learning. The key person is responsible for monitoring their key children's learning development. They share this detail with colleagues so they can all be sure that each child is making good progress, and that they address any identified learning gaps.

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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. 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 109396 Local authority East Sussex Inspection number 816953 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 24 Number of children on roll 23 Name of provider Catsfield Under Fives Playgroup Committee Date of previous inspection 20/05/2011 Telephone number 07532 188610

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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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