Brookside Pre-school

Brookside Pre-school Gusford School Grounds, Sheldrake Drive, IPSWICH, Suffolk, IP2 9LQ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 23/10/2014 09/12/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 Children are inadequately safeguarded because not all staff are sufficiently vigilant or follow basic procedures, to ensure children are kept safe at all times.  Children's learning and development opportunities are not always fully exploited due to variable levels of the quality of teaching. Staff do not always sufficiently plan and make best use of the resources and environment.  Staff supervision and performance management is not sufficiently robust. Consequently, weaknesses in some staff's knowledge of safeguarding or their quality of teaching is not promptly and effectively addressed.  Staff do not always communicate sufficiently with parents about their child's activities, learning and well-being on a daily basis. Limited feedback is offered to parents when they collect their children.

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It has the following strengths

 The new manager and the deputy manager have a very good understanding of their responsibilities. They have clear vision and drive and have a focused action plan to make improvements to raise the quality of provision for children's welfare, learning and development.  Children's independence is encouraged well through everyday activities.

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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 activities in the main playroom, the outdoor areas and on the school field, and when appropriate, interacted with the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with staff and the manager at appropriate times throughout the inspection and discussed activities with them.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector had a discussion with the manager and undertook a joint observation with her.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's development records, planning documentation, the setting's self-evaluation form, a selection of policies and children's registration records.  The inspector checked evidence of the suitability and qualifications of staff.  The inspector also took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Brookside Pre-school was established in 1987 and registered in 1995 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The pre-school is managed by a voluntary committee. It is operates from a purpose-built building situated in the grounds of Gusford Primary School in Ipswich, Suffolk and is accessible to all children. The pre-school has a variety of enclosed areas available for outdoor activities. The areas are partially canopied, enabling outdoor play in all weathers. The pre-school also has access to the school field and playground. It operates from Monday to Friday, during term time only. Sessions are from 8.45am until 11.45am and from 12.15pm until 3.15pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 38 children on roll, all of whom are in the early years age group. The pre-school employs six members of childcare staff. Five staff hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 or above.

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Information about the setting

The manager and one member of staff are trained to Early Years degree level. The pre- school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. An after-school club is offered for children from Reception to Year 6. The after-school club operates from 3.15pm until 6pm during term time. During some school holidays, the setting offers a holiday club, which opens from 8.30am until 4.30pm.

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must:

 ensure that all staff looking after children are suitable to fulfil the requirements of their role and have a robust understanding of how to implement safeguarding procedures, to ensure children are well safeguarded at all times

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must:

 ensure all staff have a good knowledge and understanding of the characteristics of effective teaching and learning to ensure that opportunities for children's learning and development are improved and fully exploited, for example, by improving staff's understanding of effectively promoting children's communication and language and improving planning and the use of the environment and resources

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must:

 implement a systematic, robust and effective method of staff supervision and performance management to promote continuous improvement and to address any under-performance promptly, to ensure children's welfare and learning is successfully promoted and maintained.

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

 improve communication with parents to ensure they are fully informed and involved with their child's welfare, learning and development.

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who attend

Staff establish children's initial capabilities through discussions with parents, All about me documents and their own observations. This helps them to ascertain children's starting points and plan for the next steps in their learning. Individual learning journals are used to record and monitor children's ongoing progress. Brief written observations, often supported with photographs, are used by staff to identify any possible lines of development and inform future planning. All the areas of learning are covered and children are mostly working within the expected range for their age. This ensures they are developing the skills to support their future learning and to prepare them for school. The learning journals are readily available for parents to view at any time and their contributions are welcomed. Termly progress summaries are completed for each child, to monitor their progress through the areas of learning. Staff complete the progress check

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who attend

for children between the ages of two and three years, to ensure children are progressing within the expected range for their age. These are shared and discussed with parents. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported by staff. Individual education plans are implemented, with close involvement and discussion with parents, to help minimise any gaps in children's learning and development. Any advice from other professionals is heeded and implemented to provide a cohesive approach.

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who attend

Some staff are skilled at engaging with children to support their learning. For example, they play alongside them and encourage their conversation through mirroring what children say and open-ended questioning. Children's vocabulary is well promoted by staff through spontaneous play activities. One member of staff supports children's understanding of up and down through active demonstration and using the words in context. Another plays with children at the water tray and encourages them to consider what may float and what will sink. However, the quality of teaching is variable and some staff do not always plan sufficiently and make best use of resources to engage and motivate children. For example, at story time, a member of staff reads a book to the whole group of children. She asks children some questions to try to involve them. However, the book is not easy for all children to see, and no props are used to engage

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who attend

and capture the imagination of the children, causing several children to lose interest and become restless.

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who attend

Staff do not always fully plan and consider opportunities to extend children's learning. For example, on a leaf-gathering outing to the nearby school field, opportunities are missed to help children discover and learn about their environment. There is no mention of the wind that is blowing or why leaves fall off trees. During the outing, children are directed to move and run until they become tired and out of breath. However, there is no discussion about the effect the exercise has on their bodies, to extend their learning. Children help to scoop seeds out of two pumpkins. A member of staff encourages some learning by counting seeds and talking about the shapes she cuts out for the face. However, there is little opportunity for the children's ideas or designs to be used on the pumpkins. Resources are changed and refreshed by the deputy manager while children are out on the school field. This provides children with fresh interest and they soon become absorbed

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who attend

and engaged, and play purposefully with the new variety of toys.

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

Not all staff are sufficiently vigilant to ensure children's safety at all times. For example, on an outing to the nearby school field, staff do not count children prior to leaving the pre- school premises. Consequently, children are put at risk because staff are not aware of the total number of children out of the pre-school building. Risk assessments are undertaken and the premises are safe and secure. Staff monitor the entrance and exit doors at arrival and departure, to ensure children are kept safe. Each child is allocated a key person to support their introduction to pre-school and liaise with parents. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are progressing well with additional support. Staff have successfully introduced a family photo album to help reassure and comfort them. Overall, staff are attentive to children to support their emotional well-being.

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

The pre-school is adequately resourced. However, staff do not always make best use of the resources and space available to ensure the environment is inspiring and engaging for all children. For example, there is an imaginative play area but resources and props to encourage role play are in boxes at the opposite end of the room. Overall, children appear happy and confident at the pre-school and their behaviour is good. Children's independence is encouraged well through everyday activities. They freely and independently access the water dispenser and at snack time, they pour their own drinks and cut up pieces of fruit, with adult help available if required. Staff support children with their move up to school and nursery through visits to the adjacent school, discussion and sharing books about school. However, they recognise the need to strengthen links with other settings even further to enhance children's transitions.

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

Children have daily opportunities for fresh air, daylight and exercise in the outdoor areas, promoting their health and physical development. Staff recognise that some children prefer to play outdoors and the resources and activities available to children in the garden area cover all the areas of learning. Children manage their own personal needs well, according to their age and stage of development, with older children independently using the toilets and washing their hands. Reminders and consistent routines promote children's understanding of good hygiene habits. Snack time offers a small group, sociable time together and children learn to wait their turn for a space. Children are provided with a healthy variety of snacks and children are encouraged to try a variety of tastes and textures, while staff remain acutely mindful of any dietary needs. Staff have sent information sheets regarding healthy eating to parents, to encourage more healthy and

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

nutritious items to be provided for children's packed lunches. However, staff recognise that this is an area for ongoing development and improvement.

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provision

All staff have attended safeguarding children training and most are clear of their roles and responsibilities. However, not all staff are vigilant to follow basic procedures regarding staff deployment to protect children. Therefore, children are inadequately safeguarded. For example, an established member of staff left a new member of staff, who is awaiting suitability clearance, to supervise a group of children unattended. This potentially puts children at risk of harm. Written safeguarding policies and procedures are clear and comprehensive and are made available for all staff to read. However, they are not consistently or rigorously applied by all staff. Suitable monitoring of the educational programmes ensures that each area of learning is covered and adequately supports children's learning and development.

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provision

The recently appointed manager and the highly competent deputy have strong drive and commitment to improve the pre-school. They have already identified many of the current weaknesses at the group and have written an action plan, which clearly outlines areas for improvement and further development. Regular staff supervisions are not currently in place, therefore weaknesses or inconsistencies in staff performance and practice are not swiftly addressed. Monitoring of staff's performance is not sufficiently robust to ensure best practice with regard to children's welfare or to effectively improve the quality of teaching and learning. A recently updated self-evaluation form offers a comprehensive summary of the group. It identifies and prioritises improvements and clearly reflects the drive and aspiration of the leadership to raise quality to benefit children. The pre-school documentation and policies are currently being reviewed and updated as required. The

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provision

recommendations from the previous have been adequately addressed, although there is capacity for further improvement with regard to the quality of teaching.

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provision

Staff establish positive partnerships with parents. Parents receive an initial information pack and some additional information is available on the notice boards. Staff work closely with parents and act on advice or input from other professionals, to support children who may have any special educational needs and/or disabilities. This provides a cohesive and consistent approach to support and meet children's individual needs. Parents spoken to on the day of the inspection are mostly happy with the quality of care provided. However, several parents comment that, when they collect their children, they receive little feedback about their child's day or their well-being and learning.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 ensure that no individual who is unsuitable to work with children has unsupervised access to a child receiving childcare (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that no individual who is unsuitable to work with children has unsupervised access to a child receiving childcare (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).

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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 251427 Local authority Suffolk Inspection number 876485

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 39 Number of children on roll 38 Name of provider Brookside Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 09/12/2008 Telephone number 07956 254213

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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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