St. John's C.E. Preschool

St. John's C.E. Pre-School St. Johns C of E School, St. John Street, WIGAN, Lancashire, WN5 0DT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 06/11/2014 11/02/2009

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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

 Practitioners have a good understanding of child development and how children learn. Their interactions with children are very good and they skilfully support children to make good progress across all areas of learning.  Practitioners have a secure understanding of how to safeguard the welfare of children and what to do if they have any concerns. Therefore, children are protected from harm.  Practitioners have extremely consistent strategies in place to support children to manage their own behaviour. As a result, children are very well-behaved in relation to their age and stage of development.  Self-evaluation is used effectively to identify and drive improvements forward. Practitioners ensure the views of parents and other professionals, such as their local authority worker are obtained and included in order to improve the quality for children.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Opportunities to promote mathematical activities in children's everyday routines and experiences are not always promoted as well with parents as they are within the pre- school. This does maximise opportunities to emphasise the value of these experiences.  Opportunities to support children to be independent are not always maximised because practitioners do not consistently allow children to do things for themselves, such as prepare their own snack and pour their own drinks.

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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 had a tour of the pre-school and observed activities in the children's room.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a meeting with the manager and they completed a joint observation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked the evidence the suitability and the qualifications of practitioners and some documentation, including the pre-school's self-evaluation and policies.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's development files and individual planning documents.  The inspector talked to parents to ensure their views were included.

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Information about the setting

St John's C.E Pre-School was registered in 2008 and is on the Early Years Register. It is situated in St John's C.E Primary School in the Pemberton area of Wigan. It is managed by private providers. The pre-school serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from a classroom within the school and children have access to their own enclosed area. In addition, they have use of some of the outdoor spaces within the school grounds. The pre-school employs three members of childcare staff. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications at levels 3, 5 and 6. The pre-school opens Monday to Friday, term time only from 8.45am until 3.30pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 28 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 build on the existing good partnerships with parents by reviewing some of the activities that are sent home in order for them to further support their child's mathematical learning at home

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

 provide further opportunities for children to develop their independence, for example, by encouraging them to serve their own snacks and pour their own drinks.

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who attend

Practitioners have a good understanding of child development and how children learn. They skilfully interact with children challenging and extending their learning and the quality of teaching is good. Prior to admission, practitioners obtain a wealth of information from parents regarding their children, such as, their likes, dislikes and prior skills. They successfully use this information to support them while they settle and take their learning forward. Practitioners regularly observe children and plan the next steps in their learning, taking into account their age and stage of development, their interests and discussions with parents. Practitioners routinely monitor children's progress across all areas of learning. The manager maintains an overview of the progress they make to ensure there are no gaps in individual or groups of children's progress. Therefore, all children make good progress from their individual starting points and successfully acquire the skills

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who attend

needed for their future learning at school. Practitioners have implemented many ways for parents to be involved in their child's learning and development. For instance, progress reports are shared with parents on a termly basis; parents are encouraged to complete observations of the children's achievements at home with their child's key person. Furthermore, practitioners send home a range of activity bags, such as mathematical activities so that parents can take part in activities at home. However, not all the activities that are sent home to support children's mathematical development, such as worksheets, are as equally effective in capturing children's interest and promoting the value of everyday routines, such as shopping and observing numbers in the environment.

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who attend

Practitioners support children's communication and language skills extremely well. They constantly interact with children challenging and extending their thinking. Children are highly motivated when engaged in meaningful conversations with practitioners that are focussed on their experiences and interests. For example, children enthusiastically talk about fireworks and bonfires while painting. They give in-depth accounts while representing their experiences with the marks they make. During activities such as these, children display a high level of concentration and maintain their attention for sustained period of time. Practitioners introduce lots of new words and ask lots of open-ended questions and because they know the children so well they include the children's extended families in the conversations. Children who have been identified with special educational needs and/or disabilities are very well supported by the pre-school's special educational

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who attend

needs co-ordinator. She works closely with parents and other professionals to ensure appropriate interventions are in place that meet children's needs very well. In addition, story times are extremely interactive. Children snuggle in close with practitioners while they share the book and take turns to read the story. Children join in with repeated refrains and clearly have a love of books as they confidently re-tell some of the story from memory and enjoy talking about the characters, such as sharks. Consequently, children acquire a very good acquisition of language.

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who attend

Children's literacy skills are promoted well. For instance, they make marks in shaving foam or with water and brushes outdoors. They are encouraged to write their own names on their creative work and they self-register upon arrival. Furthermore, they take part in regular letters and sounds sessions. As a result, children draw lines and circles and give meaning to their marks. Children have good opportunities to investigate technology. For example, they access programmable toys, such as, robots and use recording equipment and interactive toys. Children have constant access to the outdoors where they climb and engage in a good range of activities that support their all-round physical development well, such as digging in the sand and emptying and filling in the water trays. In addition, they have access to the very spacious school grounds where they have ample space to run around. Children play and learn in an inclusive environment where they learn to value and

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

Children are confident, happy and settle-in well. Individualised settling-in procedures and a well-established key person system supports them well while they are familiarising themselves with their new surroundings. Children demonstrate they have formed strong attachments with practitioners by snuggling in close to them, approaching their key person for reassurance when they need it. Practitioners make sure children are emotionally prepared for school by ensuring they have the confidence and skills needed. Practitioners are excellent role models for children. They set clear boundaries and use consistent strategies to manage children's behaviour. Practitioners get down to children's level and hold their hands while they sensitively explain why it is important to share. As a result of the consistency, children are over heard during their play explaining the rules of the pre-school to other children. For instance, they explain to other children that they do

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

not throw toys on the floor. Consequently, children behave well in relation to their age and stage of development. Children's awareness of keeping themselves safe is very well promoted by practitioners. Every opportunity is capitalised upon by practitioners, during spontaneous and planned activities. For example, children explain to practitioners that children have to stay away from fires on bonfire night and they discuss road safety while reading stories. In addition, children take part in regular evacuation practises and, therefore, know how to proceed in an emergency, such as a fire. Children have access to a good range of clean, safe and accessible resources and play in a stimulating environment that fully supports their care and learning needs.

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

Children's health is effectively promoted. Children are served healthy snacks and practitioners offer advice to parents on the benefits of providing healthy packed lunches, for the children who stay over the lunch period. Children learn about healthy eating because practitioners sit with children while they are eating and discuss healthy foods. However, children do not consistently serve their own snacks and pour their own drinks. This does not maximise opportunities for children to further develop their independence skills in preparation for school. Children take part in healthy practices that support their understanding of leading healthy lifestyles, such as washing their hands before meals and having plenty of access to the outdoors where they exercise in the fresh air.

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provision

The leadership and management of the pre-school demonstrate a good understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements. Practitioners know the possible indicators of abuse and what to do if they have any concerns about the welfare of a child in their care. In addition, they are all sure of the procedures they would follow should there be any allegations about any adults working at the pre-school. Recruitment procedures are robust and ensure all practitioners that work alongside the children are suitable to do so. Practitioners complete daily checks and ongoing risk assessments of the premises to ensure they are safe for children to play and explore in. This ensures that children are protected from harm.

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provision

All practitioners demonstrate a good understanding of the learning and development requirements. They are well qualified and have attended lots of training courses to further their professional development. Furthermore, they cascade what they learn successfully to the other practitioners and this impacts positively on the quality of teaching for children. For instance, practitioners have attended letters and sounds training and this has raised the quality of the programmes for literacy. The manager successfully monitors the performance of practitioners. She works directly with them during each session. Staff have regular whole team meetings, regular supervisions and peer observations. These ensure that any training needs are identified and a programme of professional development is put in place to support them. Self-evaluation successfully identifies and prioritises areas for improvement and the manager ensures the views of parents are obtained and valued

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provision

through verbal discussions and questionnaires. The manager also works alongside the local authority development worker who also supports staff to identify improvements and write action plans to address them. In addition, the action and the recommendations from their prior inspection have been addressed. As a result, written medication forms are maintained and practitioners have improved the quality of observation, assessment and planning and the learning environment outdoors for children. This demonstrates their strong commitment to continually improving the service they provide for children.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are positive. Parents are extremely complimentary about practitioners and the quality of service they receive. They state that their children make good progress; they say they feel thoroughly involved in their child's learning and the practitioners are brilliant. Partnerships with other professionals are equally as effective and contribute well to ensure the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are met. Practitioners demonstrate an excellent understanding of the importance of liaising with teachers when the time arrives for children to move on to school. This ensures they have a consistent and complementary approach to their learning and teachers are fully informed in order to meet children's individual needs.

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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 EY374714 Local authority Wigan Inspection number 873786

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 23 Number of children on roll 28 Name of provider St John's C.E. Pre-School Partnership Date of previous inspection 11/02/2009 Telephone number 01942 222133

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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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