Courtyard Preschool

Courtyard Preschool Courtyard Youth Centre, Launton Road, BICESTER, Oxfordshire, OX26 6DJ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 04/11/2014 20/09/2011

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early years provision

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

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This provision requires improvement

 Staff form trusting relationships with children and help them settle and develop confidence.  Children play with resources and take part in activities which help them to learn about diversity.  Staff successfully teach children to manage their own behaviour and treat others with respect.  Children receive appropriate support to become independent in their personal hygiene.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff do not all know what to do to protect children in the case of an allegation against, or concern about, a colleague.  Children are not encouraged to develop and use their home language in play and learning.  Key persons do not always obtain information from parents to help them determine what children already know and can do when they first start. This affects how well they promote children's learning.  Inconsistencies in the quality of teaching are not effectively identified and acted upon.

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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 undertaken by the children and staff.  The inspector discussed practice with staff.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled documents in relation to children's learning and development, safeguarding and those relating to training, support and skills.  The inspector took account of parents' views through interviews.

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Information about the setting

Courtyard Preschool registered in 2011 under new private ownership. The pre-school has been on the current site in the Courtyard Youth Centre in Bicester, for over 20 years. The intake of children is from the local area and accommodation consists of a playroom and facilities within the centre. There is an enclosed garden for outdoor play. The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 33 children on roll in the early years age range. The pre-school receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. It opens in school term times, on weekdays from 9.10am to 2.50pm. There is an optional lunch club and some children attend for the full day. Support is offered to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff currently support children for whom English is an additional language. The pre-school employs seven members of staff, six of them hold appropriate early years qualifications.

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must:

 ensure that all staff understand and are confident to implement the safeguarding procedures, specifically in relation to allegations against, or concerns about, members of staff

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must:

 ensure that staff are aware of children's home languages, where this is not English, and take reasonable steps to provide opportunities for them to develop and use their home language in their play and learning

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

 undertake more rigorous monitoring to identify and address inconsistencies in the quality of teaching, and provide support where needed

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

 strengthen key-person arrangements to more effectively engage with parents to support children's care and learning from when they first start.

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who attend

Staff are welcoming to children and are generally successful in engaging them in activities. They help children to understand how to use equipment by showing them how to use it. Staff encourage children to try things for themselves and to keep trying when faced with difficult challenges. They encourage children to select activities independently and to care for themselves during everyday tasks. Staff effectively promote children's personal, social and emotional development and praise them for their achievements.

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who attend

Overall, staff promote children's communication and language skills well. They use descriptive and ongoing commentary when supporting children's learning. This includes introducing children to the names of shapes, discussing the life cycle of butterflies and describing the differences between different types of construction. Group story and singing activities feature as important times during the day. These encourage children to enjoy books and understand that written words have a purpose. Singing also helps children practise rhyming and the sound of words. The themes of songs help children to build early counting and subtracting skills. Staff use skilful questioning as they interact with children. They encourage them to solve problems and develop their critical thinking skills.

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who attend

Staff provide opportunities for children to play indoors and outside. They plan the outside space to promote a range of learning opportunities, including physical development. Children are active and lively. They practise skills such as balance and coordination on large equipment. In addition, they handle resources such as tongs, rolling pins and writing materials. This develops their coordination and strengthens their wrists and hand muscles in readiness to develop early writing skills.

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who attend

The quality of teaching is variable but children make sound progress in their learning and development overall. There is inconsistency in the level of support and challenge some staff offer to children. This is partly because staff do not always know where children are in their learning. Staff do not routinely obtain information from parents to help them build a picture of what children already know and can do when they first start. All staff carry out ongoing observations of children as they play. Some staff are slow to begin to use these to monitor children's progress and plan for their individual needs, although others do this well. Therefore, while children make some progress in their learning, staff are unable to be sure that each child is making the best possible progress. Some children speak languages other than English at home. While staff support them to learn English, they do not all know exactly which other languages they speak. Staff are therefore unable to

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who attend

provide opportunities for children to see, hear or use their home languages within the pre- school environment. This does not positively reflect children's individuality or help them to reinforce their learning at home.

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who attend

Staff talk to parents daily about the activities their children take part in. They also discuss issues such as behaviour. These use a shared approach to ensure consistency in behaviour management between the pre-school and home. Some activities, such as a project on the lifecycles of butterflies, successfully engage children and parents in developing learning themes at home. There are appropriate arrangements to complete the required progress check for two-year-old children and to share these with parents.

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

Each child is assigned a key person when they start at the pre-school which helps them to form secure attachments. As a result, children are happy and are developing confidence and self assurance. However, key persons do not always engage promptly with parents. This does not support them to identify children's individual needs in order to plan appropriate care and support from the very beginning.

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

Staff support children to learn how to behave well. They show children how to be kind and helpful towards each other. They are encouraging and praise children for their achievements. Behavioural expectations are clear and staff provide gentle reminders when children forget them. As a result, children learn to treat each other with respect, and manage their own feelings. They are learning to share and take turns, and their behaviour is appropriate for their age. Staff offer some support for children to learn about different people and their communities through activities to mark a broad range of festivals and special days. The environment and resources also reflect positive images of diversity.

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

The environment and equipment are good quality and safe and, overall, these are used well to promote children's learning and enjoyment. Staff show an appropriate awareness of safety, ensuring the premises are secure and areas that are unsuitable for children are inaccessible.

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

There are some effective arrangements for promoting healthy lifestyles. For example, staff promote children's independence in their self-care. They successfully promote good hygiene routines and, as a result, children confidently carry out tasks for themselves. Staff also successfully encourage children to be active. They provide an enjoyable range of opportunities both indoors and outside. This helps children to learn and practise new skills to build their body strength and agility. Staff offer support for parents and children to gain an understanding of the importance of good nutrition and ensure that drinks are constantly available for children to reach.

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

Children are settled and most learn how to focus, listen and pay attention. The freedom they receive to make choices and decisions about their play helps them to become independent in their learning. This helps to prepare them for their move on to school.

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provision

Work is taking place to review and improve many aspects of the pre-school provision. The manager is working with advisors from the local authority to improve quality and has begun to supervise staff and complete appraisals. She recognises that systems to monitor the delivery of teaching and quality of learning are not fully effective and has taken some action to address this. However, not enough time has passed for these improvements to have any significant impact. The manager ensures staff have opportunities to develop their skills. Some staff are working towards higher professional qualifications and others attend local authority training. However, the manager does not provide enough targeted support for staff to address inconsistencies in the quality of teaching. At this time, she does not have a secure overview of her staff's capabilities or systems to monitor how well they support children's learning.

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provision

Arrangements to safeguard children are not fully robust. There is an appropriate safeguarding policy although this is not completely understood by staff. They are aware of the procedures to follow should concerns arise about the well-being of any child. However, they are less confident when explaining how they would manage a concern if it involved another member of staff. There are suitable systems to determine the suitability of staff and the pre-school premises are secure.

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provision

Staff collect parents' views on the setting informally through discussions. The manager takes account of their feedback when determining areas for development. Parents spoken to during the inspection praise the staff, stating that they are approachable, and they feel that their children have fun and are happy to attend. Staff form effective partnerships with other agencies involved in children's care. They share information to promote a consistent approach to children's care and 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 EY425284 Local authority Oxfordshire Inspection number 845349 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 21 Number of children on roll 33 Name of provider Sarah Jayne Boucher Date of previous inspection 20/09/2011 Telephone number 07766913026

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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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