Little Bears Pre-SchoolOfsted inspection, 16 Oct 2014

Little Bears Pre-School St Leonards Village Hall, Jenkins Lane, St Leonards, Buckinghamshire, HP23 6NW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 16/10/2014 04/03/2009

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

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This provision is good

 Children make good progress because staff provide them with interesting educational programmes.  Staff have a strong focus on developing children's mathematical skills. As a result, the children confidently count and recognise numerals throughout daily routines.  Staff have strong partnerships with parents. This helps to build continuity for children's learning and development.  Staff build strong links with other settings and professionals. This helps prepare children for their move to school.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not always provide a wide range of opportunities for children to extend their imagination and creativity outside.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children's activities indoors and outdoors.  The inspector undertook a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector had a discussion with the provider and manager.  The inspector talked with staff, some children and parents to obtain their views.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector scrutinised a range of relevant documentation relating to safeguarding, suitability records, policies and procedures.

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Information about the setting

Little Bears Pre-School opened over 20 years ago and re-registered under a new name in 2005. It is managed by a committee of volunteers and is situated in the parish hall in St Leonards, Buckinghamshire. Children have access to a hall for play, an enclosed outdoor area and access to the adjacent park and children's play area. The premises is on one level and has accessible ramps and toilet facilities. The setting is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is open each weekday between 9:20am to 12:20pm, term time only. An optional lunch club is available every weekday, extending the session until 1:20pm. There are currently 11 children on roll. The setting employs six staff. Of these, five, including the manager, hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3. The setting is a member of the Pre School Learning Alliance and receives support from the local authority.

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

 Enhance the opportunities for children to further develop their imaginative and creative skills outdoors.

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who attend

Children make good progress in their learning and development because staff provide them with interesting educational programmes. They are extremely active learners and benefit from good opportunities to make choices. This encourages them to develop their own ideas in play. Staff recognise the importance of first-hand experiences to promote their understanding. They know when to intervene to extend the children's activities or offer support. For example, children made their own cement mixture with sand and water. Staff started discussions on what cement is used for, to extend the children's interest and learning. Children suggested making walls for houses so staff supported their ideas by providing the children with foam bricks. The children then used their cement mixture to build a wall of bricks, using design and creativity skills.

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who attend

Staff offer good support to develop children's communication and language. They consistently use effective strategies to encourage the children to speak. For example, staff ask skilful questions to extend children's conversations. For younger children, they use lots of clear words and repetition to help these children to build on their vocabulary. Staff plan small group activities which help children to build the confidence to talk in front of others. They promote children's physical skills well by offering plenty of resources to develop their coordination and movement. For example, children climb confidently up the steps of the slide. In addition, they go on nature walks and make good use of the community park opposite the pre-school. However, staff do not regularly provide a wide range of resources and activities outside to encourage children to extend their imagination and creativity in different ways.

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who attend

Staff have a strong focus on developing children's mathematical skills. They encourage children to compare different weights and textures of wet and dry sand. They skilfully support children in describing the changing properties as they add water to it. Staff provide them with useful resources such as sand timers to measure time. They help them to learn about capacity through water play with jugs and bowls to fill and empty. Staff encourage children to count and recognise numerals through daily routines, which builds children's confidence in using numbers. For example, they count how many children are present and find the numeral which represents this amount.

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who attend

Staff implement clear systems to observe and monitor children's progress. Staff specifically plan activities which reflect and extend children's individual needs. Staff build and maintain strong partnerships with parents. They carry out home visits before children start to share thorough information with parents and meet the children. This enables them to get to know the families in their secure environment. Staff form starting points for each child to help to plan their learning needs before they join the pre-school. There are very good systems for regularly sharing information about children's progress. Parents regularly contribute by writing observations of their child's learning from home in the learning journals. Staff provide parents with good suggestions for further learning at home, following their child's interests at the pre-school. All of this helps to build continuity for children's learning and development.

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

Children form trusting relationships because staff are very sensitive towards children's emotional well-being. They use home visits to get to know children and parents well which helps them to settle quickly into the nursery. As a result, children develop a strong sense of security. They access the vast array of resources inside and move them around the room to support their own imaginative play. For example, children were pretending to cook in the role-play kitchen. They used jugs to transport water from the tray into their saucepans to cook pasta. They used the pasta to feed the dolls, in highchairs.

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

Staff act as good role models. They encourage children to take turns and share. As a result, children behave well and learn to help each other and adults. For example, one child pulled over chairs for adults and children to join them at the table. Children develop self-help skills and independence well because staff provide them with good opportunities to make choices and decisions about their play. The children feed themselves at meal times and pour their own drinks, which helps children to prepare well for their eventual move to school.

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

Staff teach children how to follow healthy lifestyles well. The children learn to wash their hands after toileting and when sitting down to eat. They discuss their favourite fruits as they learn about healthy eating. Staff deploy themselves well. This helps them to closely supervise children and teach them how to keep themselves safe. For example, they remind children to walk in the room so that they do not fall or hurt others. They plan experiences for children to actively learn about safety. For example, fire fighters attended a session to teach children about fire safety.

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

Staff plan effectively to prepare children emotionally for their move to school. They work in strong partnerships with parents and with local schools to help to make sure that children's needs are fully recognised. For example, staff meet with new teachers in both the school and the pre-school. This helps to share information on the children's progress to provide consistency in each child's learning and development.

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provision

The management team implements a good system to support the professional development of all staff. They meet weekly with staff to look at children's next steps in learning and development. This provides them with chances to monitor the accuracy and effectiveness of the educational programmes. The manager oversees staff practice and uses peer observations well to help her to identify the staff's strengths and areas for further support. Staff attend regular training to update their knowledge and skills. This all helps to build consistency in the quality of care and teaching between the staff team.

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provision

There are effective arrangements in place to promote children's safety. The staff all attend training to increase their understanding of their roles and responsibilities to protect children's welfare. As a result, they are all clear on the actions to follow should they have a concern about a child's welfare. Robust recruitment procedures mean that suitably qualified and vetted staff care for the children. Staff complete daily safety checks and regular risk assessments of the premises. They identify potential hazards and what actions staff must take to minimise any risk to children to keep them safe.

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provision

There is a good focus on reflection and self-evaluation. Staff identify the strengths as well as the areas for further development. The management team implements different ways of seeking the views and suggestions of parents. For example, they leave a comments book in the entrance and parents add their thoughts regularly. Staff add their ideas to future plans to help drive improvement in the quality of the pre-school provision and the outcomes for children. They work in close partnerships with other professionals, such as early years advisory teachers to audit the premises and plan future improvements to raise standards further.

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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 EY234843 Local authority Buckinghamshire Inspection number 832845 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 24 Number of children on roll 10 Name of provider Little Bears Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 04/03/2009 Telephone number 01494 758 081

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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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