Widey Court Pre-School

Widey Court Preschool Widey Court ( off Trewithy Drive), Crownhill, Plymouth, Devon, PL6 5UB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 22/10/2014 26/11/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Staff are caring and considerate. They provide good role models for children.  Children are happy in their play and look forward to attending.  Staff provide children with a wide range of activities which cover all areas of learning.  Children have space to play in the fresh air and be energetic.

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It is not yet good because

 The quality of teaching is inconsistent which means that not all children progress well.  The assessment systems are variable and do not always identify children's individual strengths and areas for improvement.  Activities lack a good level of challenge. This means children take part in activities which are either mundane or too challenging and do not help them to develop positive attitudes to learning.  Staff do not always organise the outdoor area well enough and provide sufficient resources so that all children can play freely and safely together.

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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 children engaged in organised and freely-chosen activities.  The inspector observed children playing indoors and outdoors.  The inspector listened to the views of parents.  The inspector conducted a meeting and a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed documentation relevant to children's learning and development.

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Information about the setting

Widey Court Pre-School registered in 1984 and is run by a committee of parents. The pre- school operates from a purpose-built building, adjacent to Widey Court Primary School. There is an enclosed outdoor play area. The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register and operates term time only. Sessions run from 8.30am to 11.30am and 12.15pm until 3.15pm with a lunch club between 11.30am and 12.15pm. There are currently 42 children on roll in the early years age range. The pre-school receives funding to provide free early education places for children aged two, three and four years. The pre-school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. There are nine staff working with the children. The manager has an appropriate early years qualification at Level 5 and the remainder of the staff team are qualified at Level 3. The pre-school receives support from the local authority development team.

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must:

 ensure observations and assessments consistently identify children's progression and are used accurately to plan the next steps for each child

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must:

 improve the quality of teaching by closely monitoring staff practice to ensure all activities are tailored to meet children's individual needs and provide them with appropriately challenging experiences.

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

 strengthen opportunities in the outdoor area to enable all children to play freely and safely with the full range of equipment available.

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who attend

Staff gather information about children before they start to attend, such as likes and dislikes. This helps them to settle children quickly into the routines of the pre-school. Staff also visit children and their families at home, as it helps children to settle because they already know some of the staff. Consequently, children are comfortable and at ease in the pre-school and ready to learn.

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who attend

The management team set loose termly plans and key staff organise activities of their choice. However, the plans do not always relate to individual children's needs because the systems for monitoring progress are inconsistent. The majority of observations do not clearly identify children's achievements. Consequently, this does not enable staff to demonstrate how children progress or help them to plan activities that target their next steps for learning. As a result, staff do not always provide children with appropriate levels of challenge.

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who attend

Staff create learning journals for each child with examples of art work, a few observations and photographs of them engaged in a variety of activities. Staff share these journals with parents and regularly exchange information verbally. Usually when parents are dropping children off or when they are collected. Parents comment they are very happy with the staff and feel their children are progressing well.

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who attend

Staff provide a wide choice of activities which are balanced well with routine and self- selection. Children take part in circle time activities morning and afternoon. Children and staff talk about the choice of activities for the day, which helps children make decisions about what they want to do. Staff introduce the number, letter sound and colour of the week, helping children to develop their language and communication skills. During the inspection, staff spoke to children about pumpkins as they cut one open to show children inside. Children explored the inside of the pumpkin further when they used spoons to scoop the flesh out. Consequently, this helps children learn about the natural world and develop their hand-to-eye coordination as they use tools for a purpose.

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who attend

Teaching methods are inconsistent which means staff do not always support children to make good progress in their learning. For example, staff encourage children to draw over lines to practise writing their names. However, staff do not recognise when children have not developed the muscles they need to hold small pens correctly. Additionally, staff do not encourage children to make meaningful marks during their play. This means that children do not always develop positive attitudes to learning. Staff expect them to complete tasks which are either extremely challenging or too simple and not suited to their current development levels.

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who attend

The outdoor area is interesting and staff recognise that some children prefer to play and learn outside. Staff take activities outside to extend their learning from indoors. For example, children wanted to plant the pumpkin seeds that they found while scooping the flesh out. Staff responded positively. Consequently, this enabled children to extend activities in their preferred way and develop further learning experiences.

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

Staff build positive relationships with children. This helps to support their emotional well- being when separating from their parents. Staff communicate regularly with parents, sharing concerns and achievements. This enables parents to be fully aware of how staff support their child in the setting and how they can support them at home to progress.

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

Staff are appropriate role-models to children and interact respectfully with one another. This sets a good example for children who learn to build good social skills, which help them to settle well at school. Staff encourage children to behave well and generally help to resolve minor disagreements, such as sharing, by talking through the problem. They get down to children's eye level and help children to resolve their problems.

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

Staff help children to develop their independence well. For example, children used spoons to serve snack for themselves and recognised that that they need to wash their hands before eating to wash away germs. Children blew their noses with tissues, disposed of the tissues appropriately and then washed their hands without a reminder. Staff support children where necessary, such as zipping coats and putting on boots to go into the garden. Staff praise children when they manage to do this for themselves, helping children to develop confidence.

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

Staff help children to develop their physical skills in the outdoor area. There is a wide range of equipment available for children to learn to manoeuvre their bodies and develop good coordination. All children are busy and engage in physical activities to exert their energy. Children explore climbing frames and dig in mud to investigate worms and plant materials, such as roots and stems. Some children roll hoops and others play on balance bikes. However, staff do not always get enough resources out of the storage cupboard even though there are plenty. Consequently, there were not enough wheeled toys for everyone who wanted to play on them. This meant that occasionally children become frustrated because they were unable to play with equipment they chose.

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

Most of the large outdoor area provides an interesting area for play and learning. Staff use natural materials to help develop children's imagination. For example, a tree stump is a 'fairy ring' which children investigate to see if they can see fairies. Children are keen and eager to explore as they use their imagination and senses as they touch and investigate the bark and moss. Staff supported children to search for bugs and look in the 'bug hotel' to see who is the day's resident. Staff make regular risk assessments of the outdoor area to ensure children can play and explore with minimal hazards. The perimeter fence is high and well secure, keeping children safe. However, staff do not organise the whole of the outdoor area well. Broken toys are left in one area, which does not fully enable children to use the entire area freely and safely. Staff provide children with clear boundaries about where they can play and supervise them. Consequently, children follow these rules and

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

know not to play there, which means staff do not compromise their safety.

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provision

The manager is keen and has a sound understanding of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. The management team formulate plans for the term, which link to the learning requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They purposely lack detail so that staff can adapt them and introduce activities suitable for their key children. However, the manager does not consistently monitor staff plans and observations of children to ensure they are sufficiently thorough. Consequently, plans and activities do not clearly identify children's individual strengths or their next steps for learning. This means staff do not always teach in a way that is suitably challenging for them to progress well. Staff complete the required progress check for two-year-old children adequately and provide the details to parents.

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provision

The management and committee follow suitable procedures for recruiting new staff. The manager has attended safer recruitment training. She follows appropriate systems to ensure they only appoint suitable people to care for children. All staff receive a suitable induction into the systems and procedures of the setting to ensure they understand their roles and responsibilities. All staff receive adequate on-going supervisions and annual appraisals, which help ensure staff continue to be suitable to care for children. However, management do not always place sufficient emphasis on the monitoring of staff practice to improve the quality of teaching.

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provision

All staff have a good understanding of the safeguarding systems and procedures they should follow if they have concerns about a child in their care. There is clear information for staff to follow in the child protection policy. Staff are confident to seek support and guidance from the local authority designated person if they need to. Overall, the premises are safe, secure and suitable for children. Consequently, staff safeguard children's welfare appropriately.

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provision

Staff build good relationships with parents. They receive termly newsletters, which inform them about the themes and activities children have been working on. Staff are currently developing systems to find out about children's achievements at home in order to support children's learning in the pre-school. Staff share policies and procedures with parents so they are familiar with how the pre-school operates and expectations of parents, such as the child sickness policy.

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provision

Staff support children with the move onto school. Children visit the local school to watch nativity plays and use the field for their sports day. Staff also share information with other childcare providers involved in children's care to help them provide continuity for children. The management team receive support from the local authority. They have helped them to develop action plans in order to improve self-evaluation systems to highlight strengths and areas for improvement. Additionally, they support staff with some training to help them develop the quality of their teaching. For example, they organised a course for staff to promote children's communication skills. This shows management have a willingness to improve practice.

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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 117247 Local authority Plymouth Inspection number 840107

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 42 Name of provider Widey Court Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 26/11/2008 Telephone number 01752 701187

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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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