Whalley Pre School Playgroup

Whalley Pre-School Playgroup Whalley Adult Education Centre, Station Road, Whalley, CLITHEROE, BB7 9RH

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 26/09/2014 17/10/2011

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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 respond quickly to children's interests and ideas to support independent exploration. As a result, children explore with excitement and play very confidently together.  Children make good progress in relation to their starting points. This is because staff plan and monitor activities collaboratively as a team, thus learning is tailored to individual needs of the children.  Children have strong relationships with staff, are safeguarded and are supported well in their individual needs and requirements. Consequently, children's emotional well-being is effectively promoted and they feel safe, secure and are confident individuals.  Management and staff strive to maintain continuous improvements; they actively involve parents in their successful development for the pre-school.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not always maximise opportunities for children to make marks across all areas of learning, both indoors and outside, so children can write for a number of purposes.  While children have opportunities to learn about the world they live in, there are too few resources, for example, posters and toys, which reflect diversity to enable children's understanding of the similarities and differences of people to be enhanced.

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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 play room and the outside learning environment.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector went with the children to a local library for story time.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager of the provision and the committee member.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation. The inspector also checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of practitioners 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.

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Information about the setting

Whalley Pre-School Playgroup has been registered since 1993 and is run by a voluntary committee. The playgroup operates from a rented hall within Whalley's The Old Grammar School, a listed building close to the centre of Whalley, near Clitheroe, in Lancashire. There are currently 25 children on roll in the early years age range. Sessions are offered from 9am to 3pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and 9am to 12noon Tuesday and Thursday, term time only. There is a secure play area within the grounds of the Education Centre, a short walk from the building. Children come from the local and wider community and the setting supports a small number of children with English as an Additional Language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. There are seven staff in total, of which six hold relevant early years qualifications. The playgroup receives support from the local authority and belongs to the Pre-School Learning Alliance. The

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Information about the setting

setting is registered on the Early Years Register.

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

 develop innovative ways to promote cultural diversity in the setting, so children's understanding of the similarities and differences of people are enriched

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

 enhance further the already good opportunities for children to make marks, for example, by adding pens and paper to all areas of play both indoors and out, so children can write for a variety of purposes.

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who attend

Staff have a good understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They plan and assess children's learning accurately according to the children's needs. Staff use their observations to plan next steps for learning and plan activities as a team to ensure that they help children progress in these areas. As a result, children make good progress in relation to their starting points. However, opportunities are missed to help develop children's mark-making skills which enable children to become more skilful in this area and write for a variety of purposes. Staff inform parents about their children's ongoing achievements by the accessibility of the children's learning journey, and completing the required progress check for children aged between two and three years. Consequently, children's learning is tracked, monitored and assessed regularly.

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who attend

Children are happy and confident to enter the setting as they readily talk to staff which confirms their strong sense of safety and security. On arrival, children delight in selecting their name card and putting it into the basket, hanging their coats and bags on their name pegs. This means their self-help and literacy skills are promoted as they manage their own needs and recognise their own name. Parents are given importance and time, as staff readily discuss issues and share their children's achievements with them.

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who attend

The children delight in choosing an area of interest to them, as they play alongside others, communicating and expressing their views. Children enjoy the large slide as they learn to control their movements. Staff remind them about safety and taking turns as they learn to socialise and follow rules. Their physical development is promoted as children enjoy climbing, jumping and pretending to be superheroes. Sensitive care provides a strong foundation for children, who have recently started at the pre-school. As a result, children are confident and relaxed, consequently are ready to learn effectively. Parents are happy and feel highly supported. Partnerships with parents are good, as the setting has a parent liaison book as well engaging in as verbal discussions. The effective daily communication system in place ensures staff communicate well with parents. Consequently, a two-way approach is embedded. For example, an activity of the week was for children to decorate

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who attend

an autumn leaf, at home, with their parents. As a result, parents are actively involved and engaged in their child's learning and development. This helps to consolidate children's learning through a continuous process between the pre-school and home. New children are supported within the settling-in process where parents share information with their child's key person, through a parent liaison book. For example, staff learn about children's likes, dislikes and favourite activities. The information gained contributes to the initial assessments of their child's starting points and helps children to settle well into the nursery. As a result, staff know children very well and talk to them about their home life, which helps them feel valued.

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who attend

Staff have strong knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage and effectively plan and meet the individual needs of the children. The planning is consistent and well-tailored activities meet the individual needs, next steps and stages of children's development. All children, including those learning English as an additional language, are working well within the typical range of development expected for their age and some are working above their development range. Staff manage and support this by using a robust tracking system, which is fully embedded throughout the pre-school to ensure that all children make good progress. The educational programme covers the seven areas of learning well for all age groups and abilities. The environment is well resourced and children are able to select their own resources and make choices with what they would like to play with. The activities that are in place are highly interesting and challenging and this results in children

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who attend

being motivated and engaged in their own learning.

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who attend

Staff structure activities around the children's experiences and interests, which meets their needs well. For example, children enjoy experiences and play eagerly and imaginatively in the outdoor area supporting each other. Additionally, the outdoor area provides a wealth of opportunity for discovery, learning, investigating and promoting a healthy lifestyle. In the garden area, children confidently look for different types of leaves and display them on a bench talking excitedly about their discovery. The children are eager to find insects and bugs, searching for them in different areas of the garden. A delightful and engaging weekly visit to the local library promotes reading for enjoyment and road safety. Staff discuss with children aspects of road safety before they left the setting and make them aware of dangers whilst they were on the walk. Children feel comfortable and are able to relax while listening to stories at the library; these are read by the librarian and are

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who attend

delightful and engaging to the children. Children happily jump in puddles and talk about the conkers and colourful leaves. The good quality of teaching and the skilful questioning by staff, enables children to become involved in developing their language and communication. This good questioning, extends their thinking and develops their understanding of the world around them. Although, children have opportunities to develop their early literacy skills, there are fewer opportunities for children to consolidate their understanding of literacy in making marks. The playroom has an area for writing and making marks, but this is not consistent across all areas of learning for children to make marks for a purpose, for example, in the role play and the construction area, both indoors and out.

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who attend

Staff provide a good balance of free-exploration and organised activities with availability of outdoor play. They effectively link activities to changing topics to help children make connections in their learning. For example, the paint area was set up with autumn colours and the leaves that the children had collected from a previous walk. As a result, children chose their own colour and enjoyed stamping a leaf on their paper, discussing the size, colour, shape and features of the leaf. Children learn about their local community and the wider world by celebrating festivals throughout the year. However, there are fewer resources that help children to explore and find out about the similarities and differences of people. In order to extend their understanding of diversity. Skilled staff extend children's play and ideas through the good use of open-ended questions, which support them to develop the characteristics of effective learning. For example, children are eager

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who attend

to participate in group discussions on the carpet because staff motivate and engage them. They think about what is happening and staff support them to consider solutions to problems by talking about the situation and considering options. As a result, all children are gaining the necessary skills to support their future learning and readiness for school.

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

Children's emotional well-being is effectively promoted throughout the pre-school. Parents know who their child's key person is and this supports and helps to ensure that all children benefit from strong, secure attachments. For example, children arrive happy and excited, seek out their key worker to share their news and find friends to start playing with. The caring and supportive environment helps children to feel safe and secure, which provides a strong foundation for their well-being and independence. Settling-in sessions are used to build relationships with parents, who are encouraged to share details of their child's individual care needs and routines. As a result, staff know and understand children well and support them in their play and learning. Teachers, from relevant schools, are invited into the pre-school to meet the children and spend time with them and the key person, in a familiar environment. Therefore, children are supported well to be emotionally equipped

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

for their next move and onto school. Praise and encouragement are used effectively, which fosters children's emotional well-being. Children at all ages skilfully develop a wide range of self-care skills as they confidently wash hands after visiting the bathroom and use antibacterial wipes before snack time. Children are provided with healthy snack choices. A self-service routine at snack time involves children looking for their name to put into a basket and then they select a plate and snack and then sit around a table. Most children are able to pour their own drink of milk or water and water is available at all times in the playroom. Children are confident to use the toilet by themselves and good health is promoted by staff reminding them about washing their hands. Additionally, there is a poster on hand washing in the toilet area.

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

Staff are good role models and have high expectations of the children, who attend the Pre-school. For example, children are encouraged to say 'please' and 'thank you' throughout the day. Consequently, children learn to show respect to one another, fostering a caring and supportive environment. Behaviour management is consistent and children are encouraged to work together to support one another in managing their own behaviour. Children are involved in the reward system that is in place. Staff are committed to including all children and treat them with equal respect. As a result, this enables children to learn to play safely, take some risks and play harmoniously together.

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

Staff provide a safe, welcoming, stimulating and well-resourced indoor environment, which supports children's all-round development and emotional well-being. For example, two and three year olds enjoy a bubble foam activity where they create shapes and experiment with different utensils to change its form. This provides the children with a range of materials and open-ended resources for them to investigate and develop new experiences. Consequently, children are provided with a wide range of opportunities to challenge them in all areas of learning. Their exploratory skills and curiosity are supported particularly well both in and outdoors.

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provision

The management team and staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities to meet the safeguarding and welfare, and the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. As a result, staff are confident in identifying and reporting any concerns about a child's welfare and children are protected well from harm. Secure recruitment and vetting procedures ensure that all staff are suitable and safe to work with children. Effective risk assessments and daily safety checks are completed to minimise hazards, in order to reduce the risk of accidents to children. All staff have a paediatric first-aid certificate and appropriate accident, incident and medicine records are in place.

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provision

Management and staff monitor and evaluate the quality of the provision successfully by conducting regular supervision and observing day-to-day interaction with children. As a result, management identify the quality of teaching and the impact this has on the children's learning. The setting demonstrates good practice through working with the Lancashire Quality Award, working together to improve quality and embedding the habit of constantly reviewing practice and being open to change. For example, staff are currently discussing the use of books in different languages to improve the quality of children's learning. The documentation on premises, evacuation drills, risk assessments are all kept up to date. All staff undergo appraisals and are encouraged to maximise their professional development through training workshops on 'Letters and Sounds' and the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. As a result,

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provision

staff are dedicated, committed and happy at the setting. Management and staff work alongside each other and management and parents have a close relationship which leads to an energetic drive towards future plans for the setting.

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provision

Partnerships between staff and parents are positive. Parents spoken to comment on the friendliness of the staff and how well they are kept informed of their children's development through daily discussions. Parents have the opportunity to discuss concerns with the key person and are fully informed about their child's learning progress and care needs. Staff value parents' contributions and have sent out questionnaires to obtain feedback. Partnerships working with external agencies and professionals, such as teachers and health visitors, are effective, ensuring that children are well supported and their needs are consistently 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 309525 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 864924

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 25 Number of children on roll 25 Name of provider Whalley Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 17/10/2011 Telephone number 07877 702 186

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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

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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