St Bridget's Pre-School

St Bridget's Pre-School St Bridget's Church Centre, St Bridget's Lane, WIRRAL, Merseyside, CH48 3JT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 01/10/2014 10/05/2011

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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

 Staff have a very good understanding of how children learn and plan activities to excite them and enhance their existing knowledge. As a result of the good quality teaching, children are motivated to learn and are making good progress in their learning.  Children are well protected at the pre-school due to staff's secure understanding of the detailed safeguarding policies and procedures.  The committee have a clear drive to improve the pre-school and achieve the best outcomes for children. They have developed strong links with the school in order to effectively support children's emotional well-being during their move to school and provide continuity in their next steps in their learning.  Children are confident and happy attending the pre-school and they have good relationships with their key person. As a result, their behaviour is excellent and they are kind and respectful to their peers.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not always maximise opportunities to talk with children at snack time about healthy food options.  Children's independence is very well supported by daily routines; however, there are fewer opportunities for younger children to be fully engaged in the routine for snack time.

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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 indoor and outdoor learning environment and spoke with staff and children at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector met with the provider and reviewed the pre-school's self-evaluation form, as well as a sample of policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of staff suitability to work with children and their qualifications, including paediatric first aid.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector conducted a joint observation with the provider and reviewed observation, planning and assessment documents.

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Information about the setting

St Bridget's Pre-School was registered in 1992 on the Early Years Register. It is run by a voluntary committee, made up of parents and members of the local community. The pre- school operates from a church hall in the grounds of St Bridget's Primary School, in the West Kirby area of Wirral. There is a designated playroom and an enclosed outdoor play area. The pre-school operates term time only, from Monday to Friday, 8.50am to 3.50pm. Children can attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 50 children on roll, all of whom are within the early years age range. The pre-school supports children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The pre-school committee employs six staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications. The pre-school is a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance.

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

 maximise all opportunities for staff to talk with children during snacktime about healthy foods

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

 review the routine for snacktime to provide even more opportunities for younger children to be fully engaged.

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who attend

Staff have a good understanding of how children learn and develop, and the quality of teaching is good. As a result, children are provided with a range of activities that engage, enthuse and motivate them to learn. They are well prepared for their next steps in learning or a move to school. Staff skilfully interact with children and ask good quality questions. This helps children to consider what might happen next and provides children with encouragement to keep trying with activities they find more difficult. Staff do not always engage directly in children's play as they have a good understanding that some play requires minimal intervention and should continue until its natural conclusion. The careful balance of both approaches ensures that children are motivated and helps to foster the attitudes and dispositions they need to be ready for their next steps in learning.

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who attend

Children are provided with a wide range of activities to stimulate their interests. They happily engage in free play with small world resources, construction, soft play and craft materials. Children have pretend picnics and laugh as they mime eating spaghetti with staff. In the outdoor area, children use large play apparatus to develop their physical skills, balance and coordination. They visit a smaller garden in the church grounds and begin to develop an understanding of the natural world by picking wild flowers to press as part of a craft activity. Children are delighted as staff read the group a story in animated tones and ask them if they can recall what happens next and other questions relevant to the story. Staff use children's existing interests to plan imaginative and exciting group activities, for example, an indoor music festival. This helps children to consolidate their learning experiences outside of the pre-school. A number of external providers also run

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who attend

sessions for the pre-school, including French lessons, physical exercise and music sessions. This means that children are offered a varied and exciting curriculum to extend and promote their learning.

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who attend

All children are making good progress in their learning. The committee has implemented comprehensive systems for observation, planning and assessment. This enables staff to effectively plan to meet children's individual learning needs, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language. Staff complete baseline assessments of children when they begin attending the pre-school and take into account information provided by parents. Children are also assessed using the progress check for children between the ages of two and three years, where relevant. Termly progress and planning updates are shared with parents to ensure a consistent approach between the pre-school and home learning environment. The committee have implemented measures to track all children's progress who are attending the setting and this ensures that interventions can be secured for children whose progress

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who attend

is less than expected in any area. Planning is overseen by the manager and a teacher from the school. This helps staff to promote specific areas to ensure children are well prepared for their next steps in learning or a move to school.

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

Children's emotional well-being is supported effectively by the well-embedded key-person system. Children evidently feel confident at the setting, including those who have only recently started attending. They ask the inspector her name, where she is from and whether she would like a cup of tea. Children also show care and consideration towards each other as they play. Staff get to know children quickly due to the detailed information they gather from parents prior to them attending the setting. This ensures staff are able to cater for children's individual needs, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or specific dietary requirements. Staff have developed caring relationships with children and this fosters their self-esteem and self-confidence. They place a strong emphasis on developing children's independence in order to prepare them for a move to school. Children wait in line at snack time to collect a plate and a drink of

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

their choosing. They find their names at each table, which tells them where to sit. Some children act as helpers and carry around bowls of fresh fruit to enable children to choose their preference of snack. At the end of snack time, all children place their dirty plates and cups onto a tray for them to be washed in the kitchen. While this routine is effective in supporting children's growing independence, there are fewer opportunities for younger children to be fully engaged. Children from the school visit the pre-school each week to befriend younger children. The committee have arranged this to help children develop relationships with their peers before they move across to school, to fully support their emotional well-being. The committee have also arranged for older pre-school children to visit the school on a weekly basis so they become familiar with the surroundings. Some children eat lunch in the school hall, to further support their emotional readiness to move

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

Children's health and safety is well supported. The committee have engaged in a health promotion scheme and changed their provision and menu as a result to support children's physical health. Staff discuss healthy lifestyles with children during stories or free play. During snack time, staff do not always talk with children. As a result, opportunities to enhance and consolidate their understanding of healthy foods are not maximised. Children are offered outdoor play every day and undertake a physical exercise session, ran by an external provider, on a weekly basis. They are taught to understand when they are hot they should take their jumper off or have a drink of water. Staff are fully aware of all children's individual dietary requirements and medical needs, which further promotes their physical good health. Hygiene routines are well embedded, which reduces the risk of cross-contamination and promotes children's understanding of how to look after their

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

bodies. Children are extremely well behaved and have a clear understanding of the rules. For example, they know they must hold hands with another child when walking to the outdoor play area and line up readily to do so. This also supports their sense of personal safety as staff explain why rules are in place and how they protect children. The learning environment is welcoming, safe and well resourced. Children can access a range of resources independently to follow their own interests. Their artwork and pictures are displayed on boards and the pre-school computer, which fosters their self-esteem and sense of belonging. Staff are conscious of this as the rooms used by the pre-school are shared with other community groups and therefore, staff cannot have permanent displays. However, they acknowledge the importance of supporting children in this way and take all reasonable steps to do so.

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provision

The committee has a good understanding of its responsibilities in meeting the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. The planning and delivery of educational programmes is monitored by the committee and overseen by the provider. There are strong links with the host school, which support the delivery of the educational programmes to ensure they are effective. Consequently, children are well prepared for their next steps in learning. Children's progress is tracked individually and as a whole to provide the committee with visibility of their progress. As a result, interventions can be sought for children in a timely manner where appropriate. The committee has an equally good understanding of its responsibilities regarding the safeguarding and welfare requirements. Robust safeguarding policies and procedures are in place to ensure that children are protected and all staff routinely update their safeguarding training to underpin

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provision

their existing knowledge. Risk assessments and detailed records ensure that children's health and safety is protected and maintained.

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provision

The long-standing staff team are well supported by the committee. They have weekly meetings to discuss their plans for learning, information about safeguarding and interventions. Staff have annual appraisals with the committee to discuss their progress and development and more frequent meetings are available to staff. The committee have recently implemented peer observations for staff to evaluate practice more frequently and swiftly identify any areas for improvement. Staff are provided with a targeted programme for professional development and are supported to access training, which interests them and enhances their existing skills. As a result, practice is monitored well, which results in good outcomes for children. The committee is aware of the strengths of the pre-school, as well as areas for improvement. The provider has recently updated the pre-school's formal self-evaluation document, which details plans for improvement in the future. Since the last

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provision

inspection, the committee has been working closely with the local authority to improve provision. For example, observation, planning and assessment are now very detailed and comprehensive to clearly track children's progress. Risk assessments are in place for all areas used by the pre-school and the committee is aware of the need to reflect on these as other community groups share access to some parts of the building. Since the last inspection, all staff have gained relevant childcare qualifications, supported by the committee. This has resulted in a higher quality of practice and teaching, which engages children and provides them with an appropriate level of challenge.

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provision

Staff understand the importance of partnership working with parents and other professionals. They build good relationships with parents through settling-in sessions, verbal communication, daily sheets and a termly newsletter. Parents comment that they are very happy with the pre-school and feel the staff are, 'nurturing, lovely, approachable people'. They feel they receive a good amount of information about what their children have been doing, what they have learned and support to extend their children's learning at home. Good links are also established with other settings to share information about children where appropriate. Staff track children effectively and interventions are made in a timely way. This ensures children have the best opportunities to make good progress and a consistent approach is being taken to their learning and development. The committee have established very strong links with the school and it uses these links to improve the

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provision

quality of their practice, as well as to provide excellent support for children to be ready for their next steps in learning.

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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 306492 Local authority Wirral Inspection number 876779

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 50 Number of children on roll 50 Name of provider St Bridget's Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 10/05/2011 Telephone number 07831 431 093

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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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